JPH10308770A - Electronic mail management method, its device and electronic mail preparing and transmitting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce user's processing burdens in relation to an electronic mail. SOLUTION: This electronic mail management method is realized when a CPU reads and executes an application program that is stored in a storage device 15 or a portable storage medium 17. The electronic mail management method urges a sending source of an incoming mail to cancel a mail if the mail is not important when mails that are not opened exist equally to or more than the prescribed number. Or it urges a sending source of a mail that passes a prescribed time or more since receiving it among mails which are not opened yet to cancel it if it is not important. Or it eliminates an unopened mail from a sending source that is not registered on a specific sending source table 13 in RAM 12. Also, a sending end of an electronic mail adds information of the date and time to eliminate the mail, etc., to it and sends it at the time of sending the electronic mail, and a receiving end refers to a list table 14 of receiving mails and eliminates the mail at the prescribed date and time based on the information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electronic mail management method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, personal computers have rapidly become widespread due to their higher functions and lower prices.
In addition, computer networks such as the Internet and LAN have been developed. Accordingly, an increasing number of people use e-mail instead of telephone and facsimile.

[0003] A general e-mail service is an e-mail service.
A mailbox is set for each user on the server, and the delivered e-mail is stored in the mailbox, and a reception notification is sent to the user terminal of the destination of the e-mail. Then, when there is a retrieval request from the user terminal, the mail is delivered to the user terminal.

[0004] Unlike a telephone, an electronic mail can send an e-mail irrespective of the absence of a destination. Various support functions such as reply, transfer, address management, etc. have been added in addition to the basic functions of mail creation / transmission / reception, and are rapidly spreading as a simple communication means for users.

[0005]

As described above, the e-mail service has been used by a very large number of users as a simple communication means.

[0006] However, the following problems have arisen. In other words, since a mail can be sent unilaterally regardless of the circumstances of the other party, the mail box can be used for e-mails unnecessary for the recipient (junk mails, etc.) or e-mails of less important contents. Is accumulated in For this reason, especially for a user who receives many e-mails, it takes a lot of time to read all the e-mails. Also, when reading only necessary e-mails, it takes time to determine and select necessary e-mails from a large number of e-mails. Also,
Without looking at the contents of the e-mail, it is often impossible to determine whether or not the e-mail needs to be read.

As described above, conventionally, there has been a problem that as the number of users of the e-mail increases, the processing load on the user concerning the e-mail increases. In addition, since the delivery is performed regardless of the presence / absence of the user, it is necessary to read after a certain time, such as "Schedule a new party at 7 o'clock on the day of the month, please let me know the attendance today". Even the lost mail is stored in the mailbox until processed by the user, so that there is also a problem that an unnecessary processing load increases for the user.

An object of the present invention is to provide an e-mail management method and an e-mail management method capable of reducing the processing load on a user which is increased due to e-mail which is not important in terms of contents or e-mail which has become meaningless in terms of time. It is to provide.

[0009]

According to a first electronic mail management method of the present invention, each time an electronic mail arrives, it is determined whether or not there is a predetermined number or more of unopened mails. When it is determined that there is, a cancellation inquiry mail is sent to the sender of the received e-mail as to whether or not to cancel the e-mail, and the sender sends the cancellation inquiry mail to the cancellation inquiry mail. When a cancel mail instructing cancellation of the received e-mail is returned, the e-mail is deleted.

According to the first electronic mail management method,
After a certain number of unopened emails have accumulated, the sender of the email sent thereafter is prompted to cancel any less important emails, and the user is processed by less important emails. It is possible to prevent the burden from increasing.

A second electronic mail management method according to the present invention determines whether or not there is a predetermined number or more of unopened mails at predetermined time intervals. Extracts a mail that has passed a predetermined time or more from the time of receipt among the unopened mails, and sends a cancel inquiry mail that inquires the sender of the extracted unopened mail whether to cancel the mail. When the transmission source sends a cancel e-mail instructing cancellation of the unopened mail to the cancellation inquiry mail, the unopened mail is deleted.

According to the second electronic mail management method,
For a certain period of time, for a mail that has been left unopened for a long time, the sender of the mail is notified to urge the cancellation of an unimportant mail or a mail that has already become meaningless. As a result, it is possible to prevent the processing load on the user from being increased by an insignificant e-mail or an e-mail that has no meaning after a certain time.

[0013] According to the first and second e-mail management methods, the e-mail receiving side does not delete the e-mail unilaterally but asks the user of the transmission source to judge the e-mail. Emails that the user considers necessary are not automatically deleted.

According to a third electronic mail management method of the present invention, when there is a predetermined number or more of unopened mails, an unopened mail that has passed a predetermined time or more from the reception date and time is searched. Compares the source of the unopened email with a specific source registered in advance, and deletes the unopened email if the source that matches the source of the unopened email is not registered. I do.

According to the third electronic mail management method,
If there are many unopened mails, the mails other than the mails from the specific sender are automatically deleted, so that users who have received large amounts of conventional e-mails (such as junk mails) such as direct mails in the postal mail, for example, , That is, the user can refer to the list display of the transmission source, the subject, and the like, determine unnecessary electronic mails, and instruct the user to delete the electronic mails.

According to a fourth e-mail management method of the present invention, the e-mail transmitting side transmits the e-mail with deletion information indicating a condition for deleting the e-mail included in the e-mail and transmits the e-mail. If the received e-mail includes the deletion information, the e-mail is deleted when the condition indicated by the deletion information is satisfied.

According to the fourth electronic mail management method,
Since the user of the e-mail sender can specify when the e-mail should be deleted during the e-mail transmission process, the date and time at which the e-mail is automatically deleted on the receiving side should be made more appropriate. Can be.

The first, second, third, and fourth e-mail management methods are realized by, for example, an e-mail management device mounted on a mail server.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an electronic mail system.

In FIG. 1, mail servers 1 and 2 are:
E-mail user terminal (terminal 5, terminal 6, terminal 7)
Etc.) in response to a request from the server. For example, each user has a mailbox for storing an e-mail addressed to each user, and if there is a request to retrieve an e-mail from the user, the e-mail stored in the user's mailbox is stored in the user's terminal. Deliver to. When a user requests transmission of an e-mail, the e-mail is transmitted to another mail server having a mailbox at the transmission destination user via a network 3 such as the Internet. Forward.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a connection form between a user terminal and a server, as an example of a dedicated line connection type and a dial-up I connection.
The P connection type is shown. As the leased line connection type, the mail server 1, terminal 5, and terminal 6 are LAN
The configuration connected at 4 is shown. The mail server 1 is connected to a network 3 such as the Internet via a router and a dedicated line 8 (not shown). As the dial-up IP connection type, the mail server 2 installed at the access point of the Internet provider
The configuration connected to the terminal 7 via the public line 9 is shown.

As a dial-up IP connection type, recently, a two-way dial-up IP connection that can be called / connected from a mail server using an ISDN line and an ISDN router is known. Since the incoming mail can be notified from the mail server side (issuance of the reception notification), the periodic polling at the terminal 7 side (checking the incoming mail to the mailbox of the mail server 2) It is no longer necessary, making it possible to use mail services that are almost the same as dedicated line types.

The terminals 5, 6, and 7 are personal computers owned by, for example, each user (user A, user B, and user C) who use the electronic mail service. It has at least a user use support function of an e-mail service such as a function of transmitting and receiving.

Further, in the following description of the embodiment, the electronic mail management method of the present invention will be described as being realized in the mail servers 1 and 2.
6 may be performed. Alternatively, in the case of the bidirectional dial-up IP connection, the electronic mail management method of the present invention can be realized by the terminal 7.

FIG. 2 shows a mail server 10 (mail server 1, mail server 1) for realizing the electronic mail management method of the present embodiment.
It is a block diagram which shows the structure of 2). In FIG.
The PU 11 is a central processing unit that controls the entire system of the mail server 10.

The RAM 12 is a memory for temporarily storing a specific transmission source table 13, a received mail list table 14, and the like, which will be described later, from the storage device 15 and the like.
Each of these tables will be described later with reference to FIGS.

The storage device 15 is, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD),
3. In addition to the received mail list table 14, an OS (operating system), various application programs, and the like are stored. Further, an application program for providing an e-mail management function according to the present embodiment may be stored. Further, the storage device 15 has a storage area in which a mailbox is installed, and stores e-mail data in the storage area.

The medium drive device 16 is a device for controlling the CPU 11 to execute reading and writing of application programs and data stored in a portable storage medium 17 to be described later, for example, an FDD, a CD-ROM drive, and the like. And so on.

The portable storage medium 17 stores at least an application program for providing an electronic mail management function according to the present embodiment in a format that can be read by the medium drive device 16 and executed by the CPU 11. In addition, the portable storage medium 17 stores the mail server 1
0 is a portable storage medium independent of the computer system. The portable storage medium 17 includes, for example,
FD (floppy disk), MO (magneto-optical disk), CD-ROM, IC card, etc., which provide the above electronic mail management function of the present embodiment magnetically, optically, or electrically. The program is stored in a computer-readable format.

The application program of the present embodiment can be downloaded from an external device to the storage device 15 via the network 19 by the network connection device 18.

Note that the above configuration is an example of a mail server. However, when the electronic mail management function of the present invention is realized by terminals (terminals 5, 6, and furthermore, terminal 7) of each user, the above-described configuration is used. The configuration of the terminal is, for example, a configuration in which an input unit such as a keyboard and a display unit such as a display are further added to the configuration illustrated in FIG. In this case, the storage device 15 stores the electronic mail downloaded from the mail server 10.

Hereinafter, the first to fourth examples of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 12. The description of these examples is based on, for example, the case where the user B In this case, the e-mail is transmitted from the user 7 to the user A (terminal 5).
Server ".

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of processing an electronic mail in the mail server (mail server 1) on the receiving side according to the first embodiment. The process shown in the figure is performed every time an electronic mail arrives.

When an electronic mail arrives, it is first determined whether the electronic mail is a "cancel mail" (step S11). The "cancel mail" will be described in detail later, but is transmitted from the mail server (mail server 2) on the transmitting side in response to the "cancel inquiry mail" in step S15 described later in step S25 in FIG. This is the e-mail that is returned.

If the received mail is not a cancel mail (step S11, NO), that is, if it is a normal incoming mail (for example, an outgoing mail from the user B in the above example),
The mail box of the destination user (for example, user A) of the incoming mail is searched, and the number of unread mails (unopened mails) is counted (step S12). continue,
It is determined whether the counted number of unopened mails is equal to or greater than a predetermined number (step S13).
This predetermined number can be set for each user. The predetermined number of settings is not limited to one, and a plurality of settings may be made and the set values may be automatically changed depending on the time zone or the like.

If the counted number of unopened mails is equal to or greater than a predetermined number (step S1).
3, YES), an identification code is assigned to the incoming mail (step S14), and the sender of the incoming mail (user B)
To "cancel inquiry mail" (step S15). The “cancel inquiry mail” includes the identification code. Then, the incoming mail is stored in the mailbox of the destination user (user A) (step S16), and the reception date and time of the incoming mail is stored in association with the incoming mail (step S17).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S11 that the incoming mail is a cancel mail, a corresponding electronic mail is detected based on the identification code included in the cancel mail. That is,
Detecting an e-mail with an identification code that matches the identification code included in the cancellation mail from among the e-mails stored in the mailbox of the destination user of the cancellation e-mail (the mailbox of the user A); This mail is deleted (step S18).

If the number of unopened mails is less than the predetermined number, after the processing in step S13 (to the terminal 5 of the user A)
A reception notification may be sent. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of processing an electronic mail in the mail server (mail server 2) on the transmission side according to the first embodiment.

In the figure, when an e-mail arrives,
First, it is determined whether or not the incoming mail is a "cancel inquiry mail" (step S21). If it is not "cancel inquiry mail" (step S2
1, NO), and sends a reception notification to the destination of the incoming mail (step S26).

On the other hand, if it is determined that the message is "cancel inquiry mail" (step S21, YES),
A process is performed to display a message on the display of the user terminal (the terminal 7 of the user B) to which the "cancel inquiry mail" is sent (step S22). This is, for example,
A fixed phrase corresponding to the "cancel inquiry mail" is stored in advance, and a message is displayed using this. For example, a message of a fixed phrase “There are many unopened mails. Do you want to cancel? [Y / N]” is displayed, and input from the user (user B) is waited for. The user designates cancellation when the e-mail is not so important or when the business is completed by another communication means (such as a telephone).

If there is an input from the user (step S23, YES), it is determined whether or not cancellation is designated (step S24). If it is a cancel designation (step S24, YES), a cancel mail is returned (step S25). At that time, the cancellation mail is returned including the identification code of the cancellation inquiry mail. Thus, the receiving side (mail server 1) can detect the mail to be deleted by using the identification code in step S18 in FIG.

In the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4, the operation of the mail server is functionally divided into a transmitting side and a receiving side. It is determined whether the received e-mail is a normal mail, a cancel mail, or a cancel inquiry mail, and a process according to a result of the determination is performed. The same applies to the following description. In these determinations, for example, a normal electronic mail and a cancel mail / cancel inquiry mail may be distinguished based on whether or not the identification code is included. Also, the transmitting side adds identification data for distinguishing whether the mail is a cancellation mail or a cancellation inquiry mail to a header portion of an e-mail to be transmitted, and based on the identification data on the receiving side. Alternatively, the type of mail may be determined.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the basic processing related to electronic mail at each user terminal. In the figure, a standby state is set until a reception notification is received or a mail creation instruction is given.

If there is a reception notification (step S3
1, YES), the user is notified of the arrival of the mail, and is in a waiting state until an input as to whether or not to open the mail is made. If there is an instruction input to open the mail (step S32),
Subsequently, the process downloads the mail from the mail server 10 and displays the contents of the mail on a display (step S33).

When an instruction to create a mail is input by the user (step S34, YES), processing for supporting mail creation is performed (step S35). FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are flowcharts for explaining processing on the receiving side according to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the processing of the mail server on the transmitting side (mail server 2) is substantially the same as that shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the normal processing of the mail server (mail server 1) on the receiving side according to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the mail server 1 on the receiving side does not perform processing such as detection of the number of unopened mails every time an electronic mail arrives as in the first embodiment. Normally, the processing shown in FIG. 6 is performed. That is,
When the electronic mail is transmitted from the user B to the user A as in the above example, the processing in FIG. 6 is performed.

In FIG. 6, for each incoming mail, it is determined whether or not the incoming mail is a cancel mail (step S41). If the incoming mail is determined to be a cancel mail (step S41, YE
S), similar to the processing of step S18 in FIG. 3, an e-mail having an identification code matching the identification code included in the cancel mail is searched in the mailbox, and
This e-mail is deleted from the mailbox (step S43).

On the other hand, if the incoming mail is not a cancel mail (step S41, NO), a normal mail receiving process is performed (step S42). That is, the incoming mail is stored in the mailbox of the destination user (for example, user A), and a reception notification is transmitted to the terminal (terminal 5) of the user.

In the second embodiment, the processing shown in FIG. 6 is normally performed, and the processing shown in FIG. 7 is performed at predetermined time intervals (periods). For example, the processing in FIG. 7 is performed every day before the start of business (for example, at about 8:00 am) or every 12 hours, for example. This fixed time (period) can be set arbitrarily for each user.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an electronic mail processing method in the mail server (mail server 1) on the receiving side according to the second embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 7 is performed for all users managed by the mail server 1.

In FIG. 7, when the process is started, the mailbox of each user (for example, user A) is sequentially searched to determine whether or not there is an unopened mail in the searched mailbox (step S51). .

If there is no unopened mail in the searched mailbox (step S52, NO), the process for the user who owns this mailbox ends, and the same process is performed for the next user.

When there is an unopened mail (step S
52, YES), then, it is determined whether or not the unopened mail has passed a certain time or more from the reception date and time (step S53). If the mail has passed a predetermined time or longer (step S53, YES), the mail is given an identification code (step S54), and the sender of the mail with this identification code (eg, user B)
Sends a cancellation inquiry mail to (Step S5
5). At that time, the cancellation inquiry mail is transmitted including the identification code. The cancellation mail returned from the transmission source (user B) to the cancellation inquiry mail includes the identification code by the processing shown in FIG. Therefore, in the above-described processing of step S43 in FIG. 6, an unopened mail to be deleted from the mailbox is determined based on the identification code of the received cancel mail, and the unopened mail is deleted from the mailbox.

When the processing for the unopened mail is completed, it is determined whether or not another unopened mail exists (step S56).
YES) The processes of steps S53 to S55 are repeated. When the processing for all unopened mails is completed (step S56, NO), the processing for the user ends, and the same processing is performed for the next user.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an electronic mail processing method in the mail server 10 according to the third embodiment. In the figure, a mail server 10
Normally, the processing of FIG. 6 is performed as in the second embodiment, and the processing shown in FIG. 8 is performed at predetermined time intervals.

When the process is started, an unopened mail is first searched for each user's mailbox (step S).
61). Next, it is determined whether or not there is a predetermined number or more of unopened mails (step S62). If the number of unopened mails is less than the predetermined number (including the case where there is no unopened mail) (step S62, NO), the process for the user ends, and the same process is performed for the next user. .

If the number of unopened mails is equal to or more than the predetermined number (step S62, YES), it is determined whether or not there is an unopened mail that has passed a predetermined time (this time is set in advance) from the reception date and time. (Step S6)
3). If it does not exist (step S63, NO),
The process for the user ends, and the process proceeds to the process for the next user.

If it exists (step S63, YE
S), it is determined whether the unopened mail is sent from a specific transmission source. For example, based on the information on the source address of the unopened mail, the specific source table 13 created in advance is searched. If the sender address of the unopened mail is not registered in the specific sender table 13, the unopened mail is deleted (step S64).

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the specific transmission source table 13. In the figure, the specific transmission source table 20 has a record field 21 for storing “specific transmission source user name / address”. The user
The user name / address of a specific destination is registered in the specific transmission source table 20 in advance. The specific destination is a destination that should not be deleted even if there are a predetermined number or more of unopened emails, such as a party who frequently exchanges e-mails and an important customer. Alternatively, by registering all persons who have a certain level of communication experience and who are not unknown parties at all, mails for advertising purposes from unknown parties such as junk mails may be deleted. .

FIG. 5 shows an example of a specific transmission source table 20 registered for user A, for example, and shows a mail address used on the Internet as an example of “specific transmission source user name / address”. It is. For example,
The record 22 is "yamada@***.co.jp" (for example, it is assumed to be the user name / address (mail domain) of the user B), and the record 23 is "tanaka@***.co.jp".
Are registered.

Then, in the processing of step S64 in FIG. 8, the information of the source address of the corresponding mail is
The information of each record of the specific transmission source table 20 is compared with each other to determine whether there is a match. In the example shown in FIG. 9, since the mail address of the user B is registered in the specific transmission source table 20 for the user A, when the unopened mail addressed to the user A is equal to or more than a predetermined number, the mail is sent from the user B. Even if the unopened e-mail has been sent for a certain period of time since the reception date and time, this e-mail is not deleted.

In the flowchart of FIG. 8, the processing in step S64 is performed on the condition that there is a mail that has a predetermined number of unopened mails or more and a certain time has passed since the reception date and time. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the condition may be satisfied that either the number of unopened e-mails is equal to or more than a predetermined number or the case where there is e-mail elapses a certain time or more from the reception date and time.

As described above, in the first embodiment, after a predetermined number of unopened e-mails have been accumulated, if the e-mail is not so important, By prompting the cancellation, it is possible to prevent the processing load on the user from being increased by a less important mail.

Also, in the second embodiment, every fixed period,
For emails that have been left unopened for a long time,
Notify the sender of the message,
Prompt for canceling emails that no longer make sense.

In the first and second embodiments, the sending user is not required to delete the message unilaterally but asks the sending user to make a decision. The emails you're thinking about aren't automatically deleted.

In the third embodiment, when there are many unopened mails, mails other than mails from a specific sender are automatically deleted. As a result, the processing load on the user due to reception of a large amount of conventional electronic mail (such as junk mail) such as direct mail in postal mail, that is, the user is considered unnecessary by referring to the list display of the transmission source, subject, and the like. It is possible to reduce an unnecessary processing load on the user such as judging an e-mail and instructing deletion thereof.

As described above, in the first, second, and third embodiments, for example, the mail server 1 on the receiving side (user A side) extracts mail candidates to be deleted based on predetermined conditions. Then, the extracted mail is checked by the sender user (user B) as to whether it is OK to delete the mail or the mail is deleted as it is. At the time of mail transmission, a condition for deleting the mail may be added to the electronic mail to be transmitted. This will be described below.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a mail creation / transmission process in the terminal (terminal 7) of the user on the transmission side according to the fourth embodiment. In the figure, first, a user (user B) is made to create a normal mail (step S71). When the mail creation is completed, the user is made to select whether or not to specify a deletion date and time before sending the created email. If there is an input of designation of the deletion date and time (step S72, YES), the information of the deletion date and time entered by the user is included in the created mail (step S73), and this mail is transmitted (step S74). . If the deletion date and time are not specified (step S72, NO), normal mail transmission processing is performed as it is (step S74). For example, when transmitting an electronic mail to the user A as described above, the mail server 2 delivers the electronic mail to the mail server 1 via the network 3.

On the other hand, the mail server 1 on the receiving side
Then, when a mail arrives, information such as the sender, subject, and deletion date and time is extracted from the incoming mail, and these information are stored in the list table 14. The list table 14 is provided for each user, for example. FIG. 12 shows an example of the list table 30 for the user A, for example. Note that, in this example, the user B performs step S72,
In the process of S73, the deletion date and time is specified, and the specification information is stored as the record 35 in the list table 30 for the user A as shown in FIG.

Then, at regular intervals, the list table 3
The processing shown in FIG. FIG.
10 is a flowchart for explaining an electronic mail processing method in the mail server 1 on the receiving side according to the embodiment.

In the figure, when the process is started, it is determined whether or not a deletion date and time is specified for each user by referring to the list table 14 for each user (step S81).

When the deletion date and time are specified (step S81, YES), the deletion date and time are compared with the current date and time (step S82) to determine whether or not the deletion date and time has already passed (step S83). ).

If it is determined that the deletion date and time has passed (exceeded) (step S83, YES), the user's mailbox is searched to determine whether the mail after the deletion date and time is an unopened mail. Is determined (step S
84). And the above email is not an unopened email,
If the mail has already been opened (step S
84, NO), this mail is deleted from the mailbox (step S90).

On the other hand, if it is determined that the mail whose deletion date and time has passed is an unopened mail (step S
84, YES), a deletion warning message is displayed on the display of the user terminal to which this mail is addressed (step S85). Then, the user is caused to select and input deletion or opening. When the user performs a selection input (step S86, YES), it is determined whether or not the selection input is "delete" (step S87). When "delete" is selected (step S87, YES), The mail is deleted (step S90).

On the other hand, when "open" is selected (step S87, NO), the mail is opened and displayed (step S88). Then, the user looks at the contents of the mail and closes the mail (step S89, YE
S), the mail is deleted (step S90).

When the processing in steps S81 to S90 is completed, it is determined whether or not there is the next mail (step S91).
YES) The processes of steps S81 to S90 are repeated for the next mail.

If there is no next mail (step S91, NO), the process for the user ends, and the process proceeds to the next user. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the received mail list table 14.

The list table 30 shown in FIG. 9 is composed of fields (data items) of “source” 31, “subject” 32, “reception date and time” 33, and “deletion date and time” 34. The list table 30 indicates that the user is the mail server 1
This table is used to display a list of e-mails addressed to the user when the e-mails are retrieved from 0, and to select a desired e-mail from the list. For example, "sender" 31, "subject" 32 , “Reception date and time” 33 (transmission date and time). In the present embodiment, the data item “deletion date and time” 34 is further provided.

Then, step S81 shown in FIG.
It is determined whether data is stored in the field of "deletion date and time" 34 of each record, and if it is stored, the data of the field of "deletion date and time" 34 and the current date and time are determined in the processing of step S82. Compare with For example, in the case of the record 35 shown in FIG. 12, since the data is stored in the field of "deletion date and time" 34 as described above, this data "1997.01.23" is compared with the current date and time. If it is determined from the comparison result that the e-mail is an e-mail to be deleted,
Based on the data of “source” 31, “subject” 32, and “reception date and time” 33, a mailbox of the user (user A) is searched, and a corresponding electronic mail (from the user B Email).

Although not particularly shown, the list table 30 may be further provided with a field for storing a flag indicating “opened” or “unopened”.
In the description of FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the example in which the date and time at which the e-mail is deleted is set. However, instead of the deletion date and time, for example, a period until the deletion may be set. In this case, first, an elapsed time is calculated from the reception date and time and the current date and time, and this is compared with the period until the deletion to determine whether or not to delete.

As described above, in the fourth embodiment, since the user who sends an e-mail can specify when each outgoing mail should be deleted, the mail server 10 on the receiving side deletes the e-mail. The expiration date and time can be made more appropriate. It is also effective when the contents of the transmitted e-mail are not desired to be kept later.

In the above embodiment, the e-mail management function of the present invention has been described as being realized in the mail server 10. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be realized in each terminal as described above. You may do it.

In this case, instead of starting the process when a mail arrives, the process is started by a reception notification from a mail server in which the user's mailbox is installed, for example. This is as described above for terminal 5, terminal 6
And the terminal 7 can also make the above-described two-way dial-up IP connection. In addition, the above-described determination processing target or information used for the determination processing includes:
It may be downloaded from a mail server. For example, all the contents of the unopened mail addressed to the user (text and header information) are downloaded from the mail server to the storage device in the terminal, and the above processing is performed every time the reception notification is received or at a predetermined time interval. May be performed, and a corresponding e-mail (for example, an e-mail to be deleted) may be searched and deleted from the unopened e-mail downloaded based on the processing result.

Alternatively, without downloading all the contents of the unopened mail, only the information (for example, information in the header portion) necessary for the processing of determining the electronic mail to be deleted is extracted from the mail server and the determination processing is performed. Do
Based on the determination result, a request may be made to the mail server to delete the corresponding e-mail, or to request the transmission source to transmit a cancellation inquiry mail or a cancellation mail to the corresponding transmission source.

[0085]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when the number of unopened e-mails is equal to or more than a predetermined number, the user of the transmission source is notified. By urging the cancellation of insignificant emails or automatically deleting emails from other than the specific destinations registered in advance, the processing load on the user for emails of low importance is reduced. be able to.

Further, the user who sends the e-mail can specify that the e-mail to be sent is deleted at a desired date and time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic mail system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of a mail server that implements the electronic mail management method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of processing an electronic mail in a mail server on the receiving side according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of processing an electronic mail in a mail server on the transmission side according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating basic processing related to electronic mail in each user terminal.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of processing an electronic mail in a normal state of a mail server on the receiving side according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an e-mail processing method in a mail server on the receiving side according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an electronic mail processing method in a mail server according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transmission source table.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a mail creation / transmission process in a terminal of a transmission-side user according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an e-mail processing method in a receiving-side mail server according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a received mail list table.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mail server 2 Mail server 3 Network 4 LAN 5, 6, 7 Terminal 8 Dedicated line 9 Public line 10 Mail server 11 CPU 12 RAM 13 Specific transmission source table 14 Received mail list table 15 Storage device 16 Medium drive Device 17 Portable storage medium 18 Network connection device 19 Network 20 Specific transmission source table (example) 21 “Specific transmission source user name / address” field 22, 23 record 30 Received mail list table (example) 31 “Transmission source” Field 32 “Subject” field 33 “Received date and time” field 34 “Deleted date and time” field 35 Record

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. For each incoming electronic mail, it is determined whether or not there is a predetermined number or more of unopened mails. If it is determined that there is a predetermined number or more of unopened mails,
A cancellation inquiry mail is sent to the sender of the received e-mail as to whether or not to cancel the e-mail, and the transmission source instructs the cancellation inquiry mail to cancel the received e-mail. An e-mail management method, wherein the e-mail is deleted when a cancel e-mail is returned. 2. When an e-mail arrives, if it is determined that the number of unopened e-mails is equal to or more than a predetermined number, an identification code is added to the received e-mail and the e-mail after the addition is temporarily stored. And sending the cancellation inquiry mail including the identification code, and when the cancellation mail including the identification code is returned,
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein an e-mail to be deleted is determined based on an identification code of the cancel e-mail. 3. For each predetermined period, it is determined whether or not there is a predetermined number or more of unopened mails. If it is determined that there is a predetermined number or more of unopened mails,
A mail is extracted from the unopened mail that has passed a predetermined time or more from the time of receipt, and a cancellation inquiry mail is sent to the sender of the extracted unopened mail to inquire whether to cancel the mail. An e-mail management method comprising: deleting an unopened mail when a cancellation mail instructing cancellation of the unopened mail is returned from the transmission source in response to the cancellation inquiry mail. 4. It is determined whether or not the received e-mail is a cancellation inquiry mail. If the received e-mail is a cancellation inquiry mail, it is notified to the user of the destination of the cancellation inquiry mail that there is a cancellation inquiry. An e-mail management method comprising: prompting the user to input the presence or absence of a cancellation designation; and, when the cancellation designation is input by the user, returning a cancellation e-mail to the transmission source of the cancellation inquiry e-mail. 5. When there is a predetermined number or more of unopened mails, search for unopened mails that have passed a predetermined time or more from the reception date and time, and if there is a corresponding unopened mail, the source of the unopened mails And a specific source registered in advance,
An e-mail management method comprising: deleting an unopened e-mail if a transmission source that matches the transmission source of the unopened e-mail is not registered. 6. An e-mail transmitting side, when transmitting an e-mail, transmits deletion information indicating a condition for deleting the e-mail included in the e-mail, and the e-mail receiving side transmits the deletion information to the received e-mail. An e-mail management method comprising: when information is included, deleting the e-mail when a condition satisfying a condition indicated by the deletion information is satisfied. 7. An e-mail management device mounted on a mail server, comprising: a determination unit for determining whether an incoming e-mail is a normal mail, a cancellation inquiry mail, or a cancellation mail. If the determination unit determines that the incoming mail is a cancellation inquiry mail, the cancellation notification is notified to the user terminal of the destination of the cancellation inquiry mail, and it is determined that the incoming mail is the cancellation mail. And an e-mail management control means for deleting an e-mail corresponding to the cancellation mail when the e-mail is canceled. 8. A determining means for determining whether or not the destination of the incoming mail is equal to or more than a predetermined number of unopened mails when the determining means determines that the incoming mail is a normal mail; 8. A cancel inquiry mail issuing means for transmitting a cancel inquiry mail to a sender of the incoming mail when the undetermined mail is judged to be equal to or more than a predetermined number by the determination means. Email management device as described. 9. An e-mail management device mounted on a mail server, comprising: for each predetermined period set for each user, whether or not the mailbox of the user has a predetermined number or more of unopened mails; Determining means for determining whether or not the unopened mail has a predetermined number or more by the determining means, and detecting means for detecting an unopened mail that has passed a predetermined time or more from the reception time in the unopened mail. An e-mail management device, comprising: a cancellation inquiry mail issuing unit that transmits a cancellation inquiry mail to a transmission source of the unopened mail detected by the detection unit. 10. An e-mail management device mounted on a mail server, comprising: a registration unit for registering a specific communication destination for each user; Detecting means for detecting an unopened mail; and deleting means for deleting unopened mail that is not mail from a specific communication destination registered in the registration means among unopened mails detected by the detecting means; An e-mail management device, comprising: 11. An e-mail creation / transmission device mounted on a user terminal of an e-mail system, comprising: e-mail creation means for creating an e-mail to be sent; Setting means for setting a deletion condition to be deleted at the transmission destination of the e-mail; and transmission means for transmitting the e-mail including the deletion condition set by the setting means in the e-mail. Email creation and transmission device. 12. A function of determining whether or not there is a predetermined number or more of unopened mails when used in a computer, and an e-mail meeting predetermined conditions when there is a predetermined number or more of unopened mails. A function of sending a cancellation inquiry mail inquiring whether or not to cancel the e-mail to the sender of the e-mail; and a cancellation e-mail instructing the cancellation of the e-mail is returned from the transmission source to the cancellation inquiry e-mail. And a program for realizing the function of deleting the electronic mail in a case where the computer is readable by the computer.