JPH10336327A - Electronic mail voice reproduction device, electronic mail system, electronic mail reply method, electronic mail receiver and its medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the electronic mail voice reproduction device that sends a message in relation to an electronic mail heard from a voice terminal. SOLUTION: An electronic mail selection section 17 selects at least one electronic mail addressed to the user and reached to a mail server 14. Then a mail address acquisition section 21 acquires the mail address of the electronic mail. On the other hand, a reply message voice storage section 18 stores a reply message to the electronic mail spoken by the user by a telephone set 12. In this case, a reply message specific information generating section 19 generates reply message specific information specifying the stored reply message. Then a notice electronic mail generating section 20 generates a notice use electronic mail including the reply message specific information in its message content and an electronic mail transmission section 22 sends the notice use electronic mail to the mail address acquired by the mail address acquisition section 21. Thus, a sender receiving the notice electronic mail accesses the reply message based on the reply message specific information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an e-mail audio reproducing apparatus, an e-mail system, an e-mail response method, an e-mail receiving apparatus, and a medium therefor. The present invention relates to a technique for transmitting a message in association with an e-mail by an operation from a user, and a technique for reading the message.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electronic mail has become widespread as a communication tool using a computer. However, e-mail is conventionally operated from a computer in an office, and there are cases where it is inconvenient that e-mail cannot be operated from outside.

As a technique for solving such a problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-276940 discloses an electronic mail access method. According to this technology, a user can use a computer (mail server) in an office from a telephone on the go.
By accessing the e-mail, the user can listen to the e-mail that is synthesized by himself.

[0004]

However, according to the above-mentioned technology, the user can only listen to the electronic mail delivered to him / her from the telephone. As a result, no action could be taken on the e-mail that was heard.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a first object of the present invention is to provide an electronic mail voice reproducing apparatus capable of transmitting a message in connection with an electronic mail heard from a voice terminal, It is to provide a mail response method.

A second object is to provide an e-mail sound reproducing apparatus, an e-mail system, an e-mail receiving apparatus and an e-mail receiving apparatus which enable a user to easily grasp the contents of a message transmitted by the e-mail sound reproducing apparatus. To provide a medium.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an electronic mail voice reproducing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is connected to a voice terminal via a telephone line, and makes a call to the voice terminal. In an e-mail sound reproducing device that synthesizes at least a part of the contents of the e-mail arriving at the caller and transmits the synthesized e-mail to the voice terminal, E-mail selecting means for selecting at least one of the following, and response message voice storing means for storing a response message voice that the caller utters at the voice terminal with respect to the content of the e-mail selected by the e-mail selecting means. Response message specifying information generating means for generating response message specifying information for specifying the response message voice stored in the response message voice storage means; A notification e-mail generating means for generating at least including notification e-mail response message specific information generated by the message specifying information generating means,
An e-mail address obtaining means for obtaining an e-mail address of a sender of the e-mail selected by the e-mail selecting means; and a notification generated by the e-mail generating means for notification to an e-mail address obtained by the e-mail address obtaining means. E-mail transmission means for transmitting an e-mail.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect, the response message specifying information generated by the response message specifying information generating means is transmitted from a voice terminal to a communication line. The response message voice transmitting means further reads out the response message voice specified by the response message specifying information from the response message voice storage means and sends the response message voice to the voice terminal.

[0009] An electronic mail receiving device according to a third aspect of the present invention comprises:
An e-mail receiving apparatus for receiving a notification e-mail transmitted by the e-mail sound reproducing apparatus according to the first or second invention, wherein the response specified by the response message specifying information included in the received notification e-mail A response message voice acquiring means for acquiring the message voice from the response message voice storage means, and a response message voice reproducing means for reproducing the response message voice acquired by the response message voice acquiring means.

An electronic mail system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention
An e-mail system including an e-mail audio reproducing device according to a second invention and an e-mail receiving device for receiving a notification e-mail transmitted by the e-mail audio device, wherein the e-mail receiving device is A notification e-mail processing unit for transmitting response message identification information included in the notification e-mail to be received and telephone number information representing a predetermined telephone number to the response message audio transmission unit; The voice message voice sending unit included in the telephone call to the telephone number indicated by the telephone number information received from the notification e-mail processing means, and the response message specification information received from the notification e-mail processing means is specified. To output a response message voice.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the notification electronic mail transmitted by the electronic mail transmitting means arrives. In this case, the voice synthesis of the content of the notification e-mail is restricted, and the response message voice specified by the response message specifying information included in the notification e-mail is obtained from the response message voice storage unit, and the obtained response is obtained. It includes a notification e-mail processing means for sending a message voice to the voice terminal.

An electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is connected to a voice terminal via a telephone line.
In an e-mail audio reproducing apparatus for synthesizing at least a part of the content of an e-mail arriving at the caller of the voice terminal and transmitting the synthesized e-mail to the voice terminal, the e-mail is reproduced at the caller. E-mail selecting means for selecting at least one of the e-mails, and a response representing a response message voice spoken by the caller at the voice terminal in response to the contents of the e-mail selected by the e-mail selecting means Response message voice information generating means for generating message voice information; notification e-mail generating means for generating notification e-mail attached with response message voice information generated by the response message voice information generating means; Mail address obtaining means for obtaining the mail address of the sender of the electronic mail selected by the mail selecting means; Electronic mail transmission means for transmitting the notification email generated mail address acquired by the Email address acquiring means by said notification e-mail generation unit, is intended to include.

An e-mail audio reproducing apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is connected to a voice terminal via a telephone line.
In an e-mail audio reproducing apparatus for synthesizing at least a part of the content of an e-mail arriving at the caller of the voice terminal and transmitting the synthesized e-mail to the voice terminal, the e-mail is reproduced at the caller. E-mail selecting means for selecting at least one of the e-mails, a notifying e-mail generating means for generating a notifying e-mail having predetermined message contents, and an e-mail selected by the e-mail selecting means Mail address obtaining means for obtaining the sender's mail address, and e-mail transmitting means for transmitting the notification e-mail generated by the notification e-mail generation means to the e-mail address obtained by the e-mail address obtaining means, Is included.

An electronic mail sound reproducing apparatus according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is the electronic mail sound reproducing apparatus according to the seventh aspect, further comprising response message storage means for storing a plurality of types of response message. The e-mail generating means reads out a response message corresponding to an operation performed by the voice terminal from the response message storage, and generates a notification e-mail including the response message in the message content.

An electronic mail sound reproducing apparatus according to a ninth aspect of the present invention is the electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus according to the seventh or eighth aspect, wherein the electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus according to the seventh or eighth aspect is adapted to transmit the electronic mail selected by the electronic mail selecting means. Response message voice storage means for storing a response message voice uttered by a caller at a voice terminal, and response message specification information generating means for generating response message specification information for specifying the response message voice stored in the response message voice storage means And the notification e-mail generating means generates the notification e-mail including the response message specifying information generated by the response message specifying information generating means in the message content.

An electronic mail voice reproducing apparatus according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is configured such that a voice communication terminal is connected to a voice terminal via a telephone line, and at least the content of an electronic mail received to a caller of the voice terminal is received. An e-mail audio reproducing apparatus for synthesizing a part of the e-mail and transmitting the synthesized e-mail to the audio terminal; e-mail selecting means for selecting at least one of e-mails arriving at the caller; Transfer e-mail generating means for generating a transfer e-mail including the message content of the e-mail selected by the mail selection means, e-mail address selecting means for selecting at least one of predetermined mail addresses, The transfer e-mail generated by the transfer e-mail generation means is transmitted to the mail address selected by the address selection means. It is intended to include, and e-mail transmission means.

An electronic mail sound reproducing device according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention is the electronic mail sound reproducing device according to the tenth aspect, wherein the mail address selecting means converts the sound for identifying each of the predetermined mail addresses into the sound. A predetermined selection operation signal transmitted from the voice terminal and sequentially transmitted to the terminal is detected, and a time period corresponding to a time period in which the predetermined selection operation signal is transmitted is selected from the predetermined mail addresses. To select the one identified by the voice transmitted to the user.

An electronic mail sound reproducing device according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention is the electronic mail sound reproducing device according to the tenth or eleventh aspect, wherein the outgoing call is made for the contents of the electronic mail selected by the electronic mail selecting means. Response message voice storage means for storing a response message voice uttered by a user at a voice terminal; response message specification information generating means for generating response message specification information for specifying the response message voice stored in the response message voice storage means; The transfer e-mail generating means generates the transfer e-mail including the response message specifying information generated by the response message specifying information generating means in the message content.

An electronic mail sound reproducing apparatus according to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention is connected to a telephone of a user via a telephone line and communicates with the telephone of the user. At least a part of the voice is synthesized, and in an e-mail sound reproducing apparatus that transmits the telephone, information for identifying a sender of the e-mail, and a telephone number of the sender,
Telephone number table storing means for storing a telephone number table in which the telephone numbers are associated with each other, e-mail selecting means for selecting at least one of e-mails received to the caller, and e-mail selecting means Sender identification information acquiring means for acquiring information for identifying the sender of the e-mail selected by the e-mail, a telephone number table stored by the telephone number table storage means, and an e-mail acquired by the sender identification information acquiring means. Telephone number obtaining means for obtaining the telephone number of the sender of the e-mail based on the information for identifying the sender, and the telephone of the sender of the e-mail by calling the telephone number obtained by the telephone number obtaining means And a call relay means for relaying a call between the telephone and the user's telephone.

An electronic mail sound reproducing device according to a fourteenth invention is the electronic mail sound reproducing device according to the thirteenth invention, wherein the information for identifying the sender is a mail address, and the call relay means is the telephone of the sender. When the telephone connection cannot be established, an e-mail transmitting means for transmitting a predetermined e-mail to the e-mail address obtained by the sender identification information obtaining means is included.

An electronic mail response method according to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention provides an electronic mail response method, wherein a telephone call is mutually connected to a voice terminal via a telephone line.
An e-mail sound reproducing device that synthesizes at least a part of the contents of an e-mail arriving at the caller of the voice terminal and transmits the synthesized e-mail to the voice terminal; An e-mail response method for selecting at least one of the e-mails received to the caller, and an e-mail response method for selecting an e-mail selected by the e-mail selection means. A response message voice storing step of storing in a storage means a response message voice that the caller utters at a voice terminal with respect to contents, and generating response message specifying information for specifying the response message voice stored in the storage means. Response message specifying information generating step, and response message specifying information generated in the response message specifying information generating step A notification e-mail generating step of generating a notification e-mail including at least: an e-mail address obtaining step of obtaining an e-mail address of a sender of the e-mail selected in the e-mail selecting step; An e-mail transmission step of transmitting the notification e-mail generated in the notification e-mail generation step to the e-mail address to be transmitted.

An electronic mail response method according to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention is that the telephone is mutually connected to the voice terminal via the telephone line,
An e-mail sound reproducing device that synthesizes at least a part of the contents of an e-mail arriving at the caller of the voice terminal and transmits the synthesized e-mail to the voice terminal; An e-mail response method for selecting at least one of e-mails received to the caller, and an e-mail response method for selecting an e-mail selected in the e-mail selection step. A response message voice information obtaining step of obtaining response message voice information representing a response message voice that the caller utters at a voice terminal with respect to the content; and the response message voice information obtained in the response message voice information obtaining step. A notification e-mail generation step of generating an attached notification e-mail, and the e-mail selection step An e-mail address obtaining step of obtaining an e-mail address of a sender of the e-mail to be transmitted, and an e-mail transmitting the notification e-mail generated in the notification e-mail generation step to the e-mail address obtained in the e-mail address obtaining step Sending step;
Is included.

An electronic mail response method according to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention provides a method for making a telephone connection with a voice terminal via a telephone line.
An e-mail sound reproducing device that synthesizes at least a part of the contents of an e-mail arriving at the caller of the voice terminal and transmits the synthesized e-mail to the voice terminal; An e-mail response method for selecting at least one of e-mails received to the caller, and generating a notification e-mail having a predetermined message content. A notification e-mail generating step for obtaining the e-mail, an e-mail address obtaining step for obtaining an e-mail address of a sender of the e-mail selected in the e-mail selection step, and the e-mail An e-mail transmitting step of transmitting the notification e-mail generated in the e-mail generating step. It is intended.

An electronic mail response method according to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention provides a method of making a telephone connection with a voice terminal via a telephone line.
An e-mail sound reproducing device that synthesizes at least a part of the contents of an e-mail arriving at the caller of the voice terminal and transmits the synthesized e-mail to the voice terminal; An e-mail response method for selecting at least one of e-mails received to the caller, and an e-mail response method for selecting an e-mail selected in the e-mail selection step. A transfer e-mail generating step of generating a transfer e-mail including a message content, an e-mail address selecting step of selecting at least one of predetermined e-mail addresses, and an e-mail address selected in the e-mail address selecting step. An e-mail transmission step for transmitting the transfer e-mail generated in the transfer e-mail generation step. And, it is intended to include.

An e-mail response method according to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention is a method for reciprocally connecting a telephone to a telephone via a telephone line and transmitting at least a part of the contents of the e-mail arriving at the caller of the telephone. An e-mail response method for replying a response message to an incoming e-mail in an e-mail sound reproducing device that transmits a voice to the telephone, wherein the information identifies a sender of the e-mail, A telephone number table storing step of storing a telephone number table in which the telephone number is associated with the storage means,
An e-mail selecting step of selecting at least one of e-mails arriving at the caller, and acquiring information identifying a sender of the e-mail from the e-mail selected in the e-mail selecting step Based on the sender identification information acquisition step, the telephone number table stored in the storage means in the telephone number table storage step, and information for identifying the sender of the email acquired in the sender identification information acquisition step, A telephone number obtaining step of obtaining the telephone number of the sender of the e-mail, and calling the telephone number obtained by the telephone number obtaining means to make a call between the telephone of the e-mail sender and the telephone of the user. And a call relaying step.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, a medium records a program for causing a computer to function as an e-mail receiving device for receiving a notification e-mail transmitted by the e-mail sound reproducing device according to claim 1 or 2. A response message voice obtaining step of obtaining, from the response message voice storage means, a response message voice specified by the response message specifying information included in the notification e-mail to be received. And recording a program for causing a computer to execute a procedure including a response message voice reproduction step of reproducing the obtained response message voice.

[0027]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment 1 FIG. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an entire configuration of an electronic mail sound reproducing device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic mail sound reproducing device 10 is connected to a user's telephone 12 via a public telephone line 11.
(Voice terminal) and the network 13
And a DNS (Domain Name Service) that sequentially stores e-mails arriving at the user via the Internet
It is connected to the server 15. Also, the e-mail sound reproduction device 10 includes an e-mail sound reproduction unit 16, an e-mail selection unit 17, a response message sound storage unit 18, a response message identification information generation unit 19, a notification e-mail generation unit 20, a mail address acquisition unit 21, e-mail transmission unit 2
2, a response message voice transmission unit 23.

The e-mail sound reproducing section 16 is connected to the telephone 12
The content of the e-mail arriving at the mail server 14 addressed to the caller (user) is synthesized by voice and transmitted to the telephone 12. In addition, user authentication is performed for access from the telephone 12.

The e-mail selection section 17 selects at least one e-mail arriving at the mail server 14 addressed to the user in accordance with a push button operation on the telephone 12.

The response message voice storage unit 18 stores the contents of the e-mail selected by the e-mail selection unit 17 when the user utters a response message on the telephone 12.

The response message specifying information generating section 19 generates response message specifying information for specifying the response message voice when the response message voice storage section 18 stores the response message voice.

The notification e-mail generating unit 20 generates a notification e-mail including the response message specifying information generated by the response message specifying information generating unit 19 in the message content.

The mail address obtaining unit 21 stores the contents of the e-mail message stored in the mail server 14 and the DN.
The e-mail address of the e-mail selected by the e-mail selection unit 17 is acquired based on the service of the S server 15.

The e-mail transmission section 22 transmits the notification e-mail generated by the notification e-mail generation section 20 to the e-mail address acquired by the e-mail address acquisition section 21.

Further, the response message voice transmitting section 23
When the recipient of the notification e-mail accesses the e-mail sound reproducing device 10 from the telephone 12 and inputs the response message specifying information included in the previous notification e-mail, the response message specifying information Is read from the response message voice storage unit 18 and transmitted to the telephone set 12.

Next, the operation of the electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus 10 having the above configuration will be described. First, the operation until the electronic mail is read out to the user on the telephone 12 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic mail sound reproducing device 10 first includes an electronic mail sound reproducing unit 16.
Waits for a call connection from the user (S101). Then, when the user dials the telephone number of the electronic mail voice reproducing device 10 on the telephone 12 (S102), the telephone connection is started (S103). Then the telephone 12
A message prompting the user to enter a user number,
2, the user number is input (S104). The e-mail sound reproducing unit 16 detects the user number (S1).
05), authentication is performed to determine whether the caller of the telephone 12 is a valid user (S106). If it is determined that the caller of the telephone 12 is a valid user, the network 13
The e-mail reaching the user is acquired from the mail server 14 via the mail server 14 and temporarily stored in a temporary memory (not shown) (S107). Then, the content of the e-mail is synthesized by voice (S108) and read out to the telephone 12 (S109). The e-mail addressed to the user is read out to the telephone 12 as described above.

Next, when the user sends a message to the electronic mail read in S109 of FIG.
The operation of the electronic mail audio reproducing device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG.
Is outputting the voice of the e-mail (S110),
When the user performs a predetermined push button operation on the telephone 12 (S111), the e-mail selecting unit 17 detects the push button operation and selects a corresponding e-mail (S112). Subsequently, the user is prompted to speak the response message through the mouthpiece of the telephone 12, and in response, the user speaks the response message through the telephone 12 (S113). Then, the response message voice storage unit 18 starts recording the response message voice (S114). Thereafter, if the user performs a push button operation on the telephone 12 to end the input of the response message voice (S115), the response message voice storage unit 18 ends the recording of the response message voice (S116), and stores the content in a file. (S117). Then, the response message specifying information generating section 19 generates the response message specifying information (ID) corresponding to the file name, and accesses the file stored in the response message voice storing section 18 via the public telephone network. The telephone number is obtained from a system setting file (not shown) (S118). Next, the notification e-mail generation unit 20 generates an e-mail (here, this e-mail is referred to as a “notification e-mail”) including the telephone number and the response message identification information in the content, and the e-mail address acquisition unit 21 Is transmitted to the acquired e-mail address (S11
9). FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the notification e-mail. As shown in the figure, in the mail header portion 24 of the notification e-mail, a telephone number 24a for accessing the response message voice transmitting section 23 and response message identification information 24b are described. Similarly, a telephone number 25a for accessing the response message voice transmitting unit 23 and response message identification information 25b are also described in the message body portion 25. Further, in the message body part, information 25c indicating which e-mail the notification e-mail is a response message to, and the name 25d of the sender of the e-mail for notification are described.

Thus, the electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus 10
According to the above, the user can respond to the e-mail received from the telephone 12 while away from home. As a result, the user can transmit instructions, opinions, and the like to the sender in response to the received e-mail.

Next, the operation of the electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus 10 in the case where the recipient of the transmitted electronic mail for notification has accessed the electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus 10 based on the contents thereof will be described with reference to FIG. explain. As shown in the figure, the recipient of the notification e-mail obtains the access telephone number to the response message voice transmission unit 23 and the response message identification information from the notification e-mail (S).
120). Then, when a call is made to this telephone number (S121), the response message voice sending unit 23 in a state of waiting for a call connection from the telephone 12 (S122) starts a call connection (S123). Thereafter, if the response message identification information described in the notification e-mail is input from the telephone 12 by the push button operation (S124),
The response message voice sending unit detects the response message identification information from the push button operation (S125), reads out the response message voice specified by the information from the response message voice storage unit 18, and outputs it to the telephone set 12 (S126). .

Thus, the electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus 10
According to this, the recipient of the notification e-mail can promptly receive a response message to the e-mail transmitted by the recipient. Thus, even when an e-mail is sent to a person who is out, it is possible to receive an instruction for the e-mail.

The notification e-mail is sent to the mail server 1
4, when the contents are to be heard from the telephone 12 using the electronic mail sound reproducing apparatus 10, the following processing may be performed. That is, in this case, the e-mail sound reproducing unit 16 restricts the contents of the notification e-mail from being synthesized and sent to the telephone 12. Then, instead, the response message voice specified by the response message specifying information included in the notification e-mail is read out from the response message voice storage unit and is sent to the telephone 12.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the processing of the electronic mail audio reproduction unit 16 in this case. S130 shown in FIG.
Step S135 is the same as steps S101 to S107 in FIG. 2 described above, and a description thereof will not be repeated. As shown in the figure, when the user receives the notification e-mail, the e-mail sound reproducing unit 16 determines that the e-mail is the notification e-mail from the mail header portion 24 of the notification e-mail, and further, From there, response message identification information is obtained (S136). The e-mail voice reproducing unit 16 reads the response message voice specified by the obtained response message specifying information from the response message voice storage unit 18 and outputs it to the telephone 12 (S137).

In this way, the electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus 1
When the user No. 0 receives the notification e-mail, the contents of the response message can be heard by the telephone 12 without separately accessing the response message voice sending unit 23. In addition, since the voice synthesis of the notification e-mail itself is restricted, the user can avoid listening to unnecessary message contents.

Next, still another mode in which the recipient of the notification e-mail accesses the response message will be described.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing functional blocks of an electronic mail receiving device 26 which can suitably receive a notification electronic mail transmitted from the electronic mail sound reproducing device 10. As shown in FIG.
Are the e-mail storage unit 27 and the response message acquisition unit 2
8 and a response message audio reproducing unit 29. The e-mail storage unit 27 is provided from a mail server (not shown) used by the e-mail
It reads out the e-mail sent to the user and stores it in its own device. The response message acquisition unit 28 identifies the notification e-mail among the e-mails stored in the e-mail storage unit 27, and transmits the response message voice specified by the response message identification information included in the notification e-mail to the network. Via the response message voice storage unit 18 of the electronic mail voice reproduction device 10 via the Internet. In addition, the response message audio reproduction unit 29 reproduces the response message audio obtained in this manner.

Hereinafter, the operation of the electronic mail receiving device 26 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. As shown in the flowchart, the electronic mail receiving device 26 first
An e-mail is obtained from a mail server 14 (not shown),
It is stored in the e-mail storage unit (S140). Then, the response message acquisition unit 28 identifies the notification e-mail from the e-mails stored in the e-mail storage unit based on the contents of the mail header part 24, and reads the response message identification information 24b from the mail header part 24. Is acquired (S141). Further, the response message acquisition unit 2
8 obtains the response message voice specified by the response message specifying information 24a from the response message voice storage unit 18 of the electronic mail voice reproduction device 10 via the network (S142). After that, the response message audio reproduction unit 29 reproduces the response message audio obtained in this way (S143).

According to the e-mail receiving device 26, there is no need to listen to the response message from the telephone 12 by using the telephone number and the response message identification information described in the notification e-mail, and the response message voice reproduction unit 29
You can hear the response message directly from.

In the present e-mail receiving device 26, S
When an e-mail is obtained at 140, a predetermined trigger by the user (for example, designation of a notification e-mail by clicking on the display) causes S
You may make it jump to 142. This way,
When the user of the electronic mail receiving device 26 wants to listen to the response message, it can be reproduced by voice.

The e-mail receiving device 26 obtains a response message voice from the response message voice storage unit 18 of the e-mail voice reproducing device 10 via a network, but responds via a public telephone line. You may make it hear a message.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of such an e-mail receiving device. As shown in FIG. 1, the e-mail receiving device 30 includes an e-mail storage unit 31 and an e-mail processing unit for notification 32. The e-mail storage unit 31 reads the e-mail delivered to the user from a mail server (not shown) used by the e-mail reception device 30 and stores the e-mail in the own device, similarly to the e-mail storage unit 27. It is. Further, the notification e-mail processing unit 32 identifies the notification e-mail from the e-mails stored in the e-mail storage unit 31, and responds to the response message identification information included in the notification e-mail. The telephone number of a predetermined telephone set corresponding to the receiving device 30 and the response message voice transmitting unit 2 of the electronic mail voice reproducing device 10 via a network.
Send to 3. On the side of the e-mail sound reproducing device 10, the response message sound transmission unit 23 is configured to make a call to the telephone number received from the notification e-mail processing unit and output the corresponding response message sound. .

Hereinafter, the operation of the electronic mail system will be described.
A description will be given based on FIG. As shown in FIG.
In this system, the e-mail receiving device 30 acquires an e-mail from a mail server (not shown) and stores it in the e-mail storage unit 31 (S150). Next, the notification e-mail processing unit 32 identifies the notification e-mail from the e-mails stored in the e-mail storage unit 31 based on the contents of the mail header part 24 (S151). Thereafter, when the user clicks a predetermined position on the electronic mail display with a mouse device and designates one of the notification e-mails (S152), the notification e-mail processing unit 32
Acquires the response message identification information 24a from the mail header portion 24 of the notification e-mail (S15).
2). Further, the notification e-mail processing unit 32 transmits the obtained response message specifying information 24a and the predetermined telephone number to the response message sound transmission unit 23 of the e-mail sound reproduction device 10 via the network 13 (S
153). Thereafter, the response message voice sending unit 23 of the electronic mail voice reproducing apparatus 10 stores the response message voice specified by the response message specifying information 24a received from the notification electronic mail processing unit 32 in the response message voice storage unit 1.
8 and read out (S154). Further, the response message voice sending unit 23 calls the received telephone number,
The response message voice read in S154 is read out to the other party (S155).

According to the e-mail receiving device 30, the response message can be heard without the recipient dialing the telephone number described in the notification e-mail. Further, since the response message voice is not stored in the e-mail receiving device 30, the user can hear the response message without worrying about the capacity of the disk storage device or the like of the e-mail receiving device 30. Further, since the response message can be heard using the telephone receiver, the response message can be quietly heard without inconveniencing other people.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing an overall configuration of an e-mail sound reproducing device 40 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic mail sound reproducing device 40 is connected to the user's telephone 12 via the public telephone line 11 and sequentially stores the electronic mail arriving at the user via the network 13. It is connected to a mail server 14 and a DNS server 15. Further, the e-mail sound reproduction device 40 includes an e-mail sound reproduction unit 16, an e-mail selection unit 17, a response message sound acquisition unit 41, and a notification e-mail generation unit 4
2. E-mail address acquisition unit 21, E-mail transmission unit 2
2 is included. Here, the e-mail audio reproduction unit 16, the e-mail selection unit 17, the e-mail address acquisition unit 21, and the e-mail transmission unit 22 are the same as those of the e-mail audio reproduction device 10 according to the first embodiment. Here, the same reference numerals are given and the description is omitted.

First, the response message voice information generator 41
Generates the response message voice information indicating the content of the e-mail selected by the e-mail selection unit 17 from the voice uttered by the caller of the telephone 12 at the mouthpiece.

The notification e-mail generation unit 20 generates an e-mail to which the response message information generated by the response message voice information generation unit 41 is attached. Specifically, a response e-mail is generated by attaching a voice file in which a response message voice is recorded to the e-mail composed of ordinary text data in a MIME format.

According to the electronic mail sound reproducing apparatus 40 having the above-described configuration, an electronic mail with response message information attached to the electronic mail selected by the electronic mail selecting section 17 can be returned to the sender. . Thereby, the recipient of the e-mail does not need to separately listen to the response message by the telephone 12 as in the case where the notification e-mail is received from the e-mail sound reproducing device 10 according to the first embodiment, and the personal computer or the like is not required. The response message can be heard directly from the audio output device attached to the electronic mail receiving device.

Embodiment 3 FIG. FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram showing an overall configuration of an electronic mail sound reproducing device 50 according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the present e-mail sound reproducing device 50 is connected to the user's telephone 12 via the public telephone line 11 as in the case of the e-mail sound reproducing devices 50 according to the first and second embodiments. Are connected via a network 13 to a mail server 14 and a DNS server 15 for sequentially storing e-mails arriving at the user. The e-mail sound reproducing device 50 includes an e-mail sound reproducing unit 16, an e-mail selecting unit 17, a notifying e-mail generating unit 51, a mail address obtaining unit 21, and an e-mail transmitting unit 22. . Here, the e-mail audio reproduction unit 16, the e-mail selection unit 17, the e-mail address acquisition unit 21, and the e-mail transmission unit 22 are the same as those of the e-mail audio reproduction device 50 according to the first and second embodiments. Therefore, the same reference numerals are given here and the description is omitted.

The notifying e-mail generating unit 51, which is a characteristic configuration of the e-mail sound reproducing device 50 according to the third embodiment, is adapted to transmit the e-mail selected by the e-mail selecting unit 17 as shown in FIG. A notification e-mail having the message content shown in FIG. This figure 1
The message content shown in FIG. 3 acquires the subject of the e-mail for which the notification e-mail is to be returned from the e-mail selection unit 17 and obtains the user name of the user who has already been authenticated from the e-mail sound reproduction unit 16, They can be generated by combining them. Then, the notification e-mail is transmitted by the e-mail transmission unit 22 to the e-mail address acquired by the e-mail address acquisition unit 21.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus 50 according to the present embodiment.
It is a figure explaining operation of. As shown in the figure, during the voice reproduction of an e-mail arriving at the user on the telephone 12 (S160), when the user performs a push button operation for returning a notification e-mail from the telephone 12 (S1).
61), the e-mail selecting unit 17 of the e-mail sound reproducing device 50 detects this push button operation, and selects which e-mail to reply to from the detection timing (S162). Thereafter, the notification e-mail generation unit 51 generates a notification e-mail having message contents as shown in FIG. 13 for the e-mail selected in this way (S163). Then, the e-mail transmission unit 22 transmits the notification e-mail to the e-mail address acquired by the e-mail address acquisition unit 21 (S16).
4).

The electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus 5 described above
According to 0, at least the sender can be informed that the e-mail arriving at the user has been confirmed by the user.

It should be noted that the above-described electronic mail sound reproducing device 50
Although the notification e-mail transmitted in step 1 has a message content indicating that the e-mail has been confirmed by the user as shown in FIG. 13, a plurality of types of response message , A predetermined one corresponding to the push button operation from the telephone 12 may be selected, and the content may be used as the message content of the notification e-mail.

FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram showing the overall configuration of an electronic mail sound reproducing device 50a according to this modification. The e-mail sound reproducing device 50a shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a response message storage unit 52, and a plurality of types of response message are stored in advance.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the response message.
(A) is used when the user wants to convey the intention of "affirmation" to the e-mail retrieved by the telephone, while (b) is used when the user wants to convey the intention of "deny" It is used for. In these figures,
The subject of the e-mail selected by the e-mail selection unit 17 and the name of the user whose user has been authenticated by the e-mail audio reproduction unit 16 are synthesized in the part marked with *. The notification e-mail generation unit 51a selects and reads a response message sentence stored in the response message storage unit 52 that corresponds to the push button operation signal input from the telephone, and reads out the response message. Generate a notification e-mail containing the content in the message content.

FIG. 17 shows the electronic mail sound reproducing device 5.
It is a figure explaining operation of 0a. As shown in the figure, during the voice reproduction of an e-mail arriving at the user at the telephone 12 (S170), when the user performs a push button operation for returning a notification e-mail from the telephone 12 (S171). The e-mail selecting section 17 of the e-mail sound reproducing device 50a detects the push button operation, and selects which e-mail to reply to from the detection timing (S172). Thereafter, the notification e-mail generation unit 51a reads a voice for guiding selection of a response message from a memory (not shown) and outputs the voice to the telephone (S173). If the user performs a push button operation for selecting one of the guidance voices using a telephone (S174), the notification e-mail generation unit 51a
Reads out a response message corresponding to the push button operation from the response message storage 52, and combines the contents to generate a notification e-mail (S17).
6). Then, the e-mail transmission unit 22 transmits the notification e-mail to the e-mail address acquired by the e-mail address acquisition unit 21 (S176).

According to the above-described electronic mail voice reproducing apparatus 50a, a response message having a predetermined content is selected and returned in response to an incoming electronic mail, so that an intention display such as affirmative or negative is transmitted to the sender. Can be.

Also, the above-described electronic mail sound reproducing device 50
a is the e-mail audio reproduction device 10 according to the first embodiment.
Similarly to the above, the response message voice may be input by the user from the telephone 12 and stored in the e-mail audio reproduction device 50a, and the transfer e-mail may include a method of accessing the response message. Alternatively, as in the case of the e-mail audio reproducing device 40 according to the second embodiment, the user inputs a response message from the telephone 12 and attaches the response message audio information representing the audio to the notification e-mail in MIME format or the like. It may be. In this way, it is possible to give a more detailed intention to the sender of the e-mail.

Embodiment 4 FIG. 18 is a functional block diagram showing an entire configuration of an e-mail sound reproducing device 60 according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the e-mail sound reproducing device 60 includes the e-mail sound reproducing devices 10, 40, 50, and 50a according to the first to third embodiments.
The user's telephone 12 via the public telephone line 11
, And via a network 13 are connected to a mail server 14 and a DNS server 15 that sequentially store e-mails arriving at the user. Also,
The e-mail sound reproducing device 60 includes an e-mail sound reproducing unit 16, an e-mail selecting unit 17, and a mail address selecting unit 6.
1, transfer e-mail generation unit 62, e-mail transmission unit 2
2 is included. Here, the e-mail audio reproduction unit 16 and the e-mail selection unit 17 are the same as those of the e-mail audio reproduction device 10 and the like according to the above-described first embodiment. Omitted.

First, the transfer e-mail generation unit 62
Acquires the e-mail selected by the e-mail selection unit 17 from the mail server 14 via the network 13,
A transfer e-mail including the message content of the e-mail is generated.

The mail address selecting section 61
The user selects a mail address corresponding to the push button operation performed by the user from pre-registered mail addresses. At this time, the e-mail address selection unit reads out the transfer destination table shown in FIG. 19 created corresponding to the pre-registered e-mail address to the telephone 12 and prompts the selection.

The e-mail transmission unit 22 transmits the e-mail generated by the transfer e-mail generation unit to the e-mail address selected by the e-mail address selection unit.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic mail sound reproducing device 60 having the above-described configuration. As shown in the figure, during the voice reproduction of an e-mail arriving at the user on the telephone 12 (S180), when the user performs a push button operation to transfer the e-mail from the telephone 12 to another person. (S181), the e-mail selecting unit 17 of the e-mail sound reproducing device 60 detects the push button operation, and selects which e-mail to transfer from this detection timing (S182). Next, the mail address selection unit 61 reads out the transfer destination table shown in FIG. 19 to the telephone 12 and prompts the user to select a transfer destination mail address (S183). If the user selects a transfer destination by performing a push button operation on the telephone 12 in response to the reading of the transfer destination table (S184), the mail address selection unit 61 detects the push button operation and changes the corresponding mail address. Recognize (S18
5). For example, when the transfer destination table of FIG. 19 is read out and the user performs a push button operation such as “1 * 3 * 4 #” in response to the read out, the mail address selection unit detects the push button operation. # 1, # 3 and # 4
It is decided to send forwarding e-mails to Yamada, Sato, and Takahashi, who correspond to the numbers.

Thereafter, the transfer e-mail generation unit 62
The e-mail selected by the e-mail selection unit 17 in S182 described above is obtained from the mail server 14 via the network 13, and a transfer e-mail is generated. Then, the e-mail transmission unit 22 transmits the transfer e-mail to the e-mail address selected in S185 (S186).

The electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus 6 described above
According to “0”, even if not from a terminal in an office or the like, a destination associated with the push button operation is selected from, for example, the outgoing telephone 12, and the received e-mail is sent to the third party.
Can be forwarded to others. As a result, even when an e-mail is received while going out, an appropriate response can be taken.

The mail address selecting section 61 of the electronic mail sound reproducing device 60 first reads out the transfer destination table shown in FIG. 19, and the user inputs the number described in this transfer destination table with the push button of the telephone 12. By doing so, the mail address of the transfer destination is selected, but the mail address can be selected by another method.

FIGS. 21 and 22 show the mail address selecting section 6.
It is a figure explaining the modification of No.1. As shown in FIG.
When an e-mail arriving at the user at the telephone 12 is being played back by voice (S190), when the user performs a push button operation to transfer the e-mail from the telephone 12 to another person (S191), the e-mail is transmitted. The e-mail selection unit 17 of the audio reproducing device 60 detects this push button operation, and selects which e-mail to transfer from this detection timing (S192). Next, the mail address selecting unit stores the transfer destination table shown in FIG.
(S193). When the user performs a predetermined push button operation on the telephone 12, (S1
94) The mail address selection unit detects this push button operation and selects the corresponding mail address (S).
195). For example, in the transfer destination table of FIG.
While the voice of "Mr. Sasaki" is being heard in the earpiece,
Then, if the user performs a predetermined push button operation on the telephone 12 until the voice of “Mr. Sato” starts to be heard in the earpiece, the mail address selection section sends a transmission e-mail to Mr. Sasaki. decide. Thereafter, the transfer e-mail generation unit obtains the e-mail selected by the e-mail selection unit 17 in S192 from the mail server 14 via the network 13, and generates the transfer e-mail. Then, the e-mail transmission unit 22
The transfer electronic mail is transmitted to the mail address selected in S (S196).

According to the electronic mail sound reproducing apparatus 60, it is not necessary to associate the transfer destination of the transfer electronic mail with the push button operation of the telephone 12, and a predetermined push button operation is performed when the destination to be transferred is read out. Just select the destination. Therefore, FIG.
When the transfer destination table shown in FIG. 19 is read out in the operation explanatory diagram shown in FIG. 0, the user must remember the push button operation (push button number) corresponding to the destination to which the user wants to transfer. hand,
The e-mail sound reproducing device 60 does not need such a method, and the operation of selecting the transfer destination can be further simplified.

Further, the e-mail sound reproducing device 60 according to the fourth embodiment is similar to the e-mail sound reproducing device 10 according to the first embodiment, in that the user inputs a response message sound from the telephone 12 to send an e-mail. Audio playback device 6
0, and the transfer electronic mail may include a method of accessing the response message.

FIG. 23 shows the electronic mail sound reproducing device 6.
FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an operation of a modification example of a zero. In the figure,
S200 to S205 correspond to S190 in FIG.
Steps S195 to S195 are not described here.
In this modified example, when the transfer destination mail address is selected in S205, the user next speaks a message to be attached to the transferred e-mail through the mouthpiece (S20).
6). At this time, the response message voice storage unit 18 in FIG.
The same configuration as above records the contents (S207). Thereafter, if the user finishes speaking the message and performs a predetermined push-button operation (S208), the e-mail sound reproducing device 60 ends the recording (S209), and saves the contents in a file (S210). Next, the same configuration as the response message specifying information generating unit 19 of FIG. 1 generates the response message specifying information corresponding to this file name, and also stores the file stored in the response message voice storing unit 18 via the public telephone network. The telephone number at the time of access is obtained from a system setting file (not shown) (S21).
1). Next, the transfer e-mail generation unit 62 generates an e-mail including the telephone number, the response message specifying information, and the e-mail selected in S202, and the e-mail transmission unit 22 converts the e-mail into The data is transmitted to the mail address selected by the mail address selection unit in S205 (S212).

According to the above-described modification of the electronic mail sound reproducing device 60, when the received electronic mail is transferred to a third party, the same as the notification electronic mail in the electronic mail sound reproducing device 10 according to the first embodiment. By including the content of
The recipient of the forwarding e-mail can be told how to access the response message audio. Thus, the recipient can transmit instructions and opinions regarding the transferred e-mail by accessing the response message voice. Note that the above-described e-mail sound reproducing device 60 allows the user to input a response message from the telephone 12 in the same manner as the e-mail sound reproducing device 40 according to the second embodiment, and converts the response message sound information representing the sound into MIME.
It may be attached to the notification e-mail in a format or the like.

Embodiment 5 FIG. 24 is a functional block diagram showing an overall configuration of an electronic mail sound reproducing device 70 according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the electronic mail sound reproducing device 70 is connected to the telephone 12 of the user and the telephone 12 of the sender of the electronic mail via the public telephone line 11.
a, and via a network 13 to a mail server 14 for sequentially storing e-mails arriving at the user. Further, the e-mail sound reproduction device 70 includes an e-mail sound reproduction unit 16, an e-mail selection unit 17, a telephone number table storage unit 71, a sender identification information acquisition unit 72, a telephone number acquisition unit 73, and a call relay unit 7.
4 is included. Here, the same components as those of the e-mail sound reproducing unit 16, the e-mail selecting unit 17, and the e-mail sound reproducing device 70 according to the above-described first to fourth embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals. Omitted.

First, the telephone number table storage section 71 stores a telephone number table shown in FIG. 25 in which a mail address, which is information for identifying a sender of an electronic mail, is associated with the telephone number of the sender.

The sender identification information acquiring section 72 acquires the mail address of the electronic mail selected by the electronic mail selecting section 17 from the header information (for example, From header).

The telephone number acquiring section 73 is based on the telephone number table stored in the telephone number table storing section 71 and the information for identifying the sender of the electronic mail acquired by the sender identifying information acquiring section 72. Get the phone number of the sender of the email.

The call relay unit 74 relays a call between the sender's telephone 12 and the user's telephone 12 by calling the telephone number acquired by the telephone number acquiring unit 73.

Next, the operation of the electronic mail sound reproducing device 70 will be described. FIG. 26 shows the electronic mail sound reproducing device 7.
It is a figure explaining operation | movement of 0. As shown in the figure, when the e-mail sound reproducing unit 16 is outputting sound of an e-mail (S220), if the user performs a predetermined push button operation of the telephone 12 (S221), the e-mail selecting unit 17 detects the push button operation and selects the corresponding e-mail (S222). Then, the sender identification information acquiring unit 72 acquires the sender's mail address from the header information of the selected e-mail. And then
Next, the telephone number acquisition unit 73 acquires the telephone number described in the telephone number table corresponding to the mail address,
The connection destination of the call is determined (S223). Call relay unit 74
Dials the telephone number thus determined and obtained (S224), connects the telephone 12 with the telephone 12a of the sender of the e-mail, and relays the call (S225).
Thereafter, the user starts a conversation with the sender (S22).
6).

Note that when transferring an incoming electronic mail,
Alternatively, when a call destination is determined when a new e-mail is transmitted, instead of S220 to S222 in FIG. 23, as in the e-mail audio reproduction device 60 according to the third embodiment, S180 in FIG. To S185 or S in FIG.
What is necessary is just to perform 190-S195.

According to the above-described electronic mail sound reproducing apparatus 70, when it is desired to give an instruction or an opinion to an incoming electronic mail, the sender of the electronic mail is connected to a telephone line, and a direct instruction or opinion is obtained by directly speaking. And so on.

The above-described electronic mail sound reproducing device 70
In the case where the line cannot be connected to the dialing of the call relay unit 74 because the telephone 12a of the other party is busy or the like, the same as in the e-mail sound reproducing apparatuses 10, 40, 50, and 50a according to the first to third embodiments. Alternatively, a notification e-mail may be sent to the other party, or a transfer e-mail may be sent to the other party in the same manner as in the e-mail sound reproducing device 60 according to the fourth embodiment. In this way, the message can be reliably transmitted using e-mail when the person who is going to have a conversation is absent.

[0089]

According to the invention as set forth in claim 1 or 15, while the voice of the user's response message to the received e-mail is stored, the information for accessing the voice of the response message is transmitted to the notification e-mail. , The message such as an instruction or an opinion for the received e-mail can be transmitted to the sender even when the user is out.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the recipient of the notification e-mail inputs the response message specifying information from a voice terminal such as a telephone, the corresponding response message voice is transmitted to the telephone. Thus, the user can give an accurate voice instruction to the recipient of the notification e-mail.

According to the third or twentieth aspect of the present invention,
When the notification e-mail is received, the response message voice specified by the response message identification information included in the notification e-mail is obtained and reproduced, so that the recipient of the notification e-mail is the telephone. Without using
A response message can be promptly heard from an electronic mail receiving device such as a personal computer.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the e-mail receiving device receives the notification e-mail, the e-mail receiving device compares the response message identification information included in the notification e-mail with, for example, the telephone of the telephone at the user's desk. And the number to the e-mail audio player, while the e-mail audio player
A call is made to the received telephone number and the response message sound specified by the received response message identification information is played, so that the voice data of the response message sound is not read into the e-mail receiving device, and the notification e-mail The recipient can hear the response message. In addition, since the response message is heard by telephone,
You can listen quietly without bothering others.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when a notification e-mail is heard from an audio terminal such as a telephone using an e-mail audio reproduction device, the e-mail audio reproduction device is connected to the audio terminal of the notification e-mail. In addition to restricting audio playback to the voice terminal, the response message sound specified by the response message identification information included in the notification email is sent to the voice terminal, so that the user can listen to the entire content of the notification email. Thus, the corresponding response message can be heard without accessing the response message from the voice terminal separately.

According to the invention described in claim 6 or 16,
Since the information indicating the voice of the response message is attached to the notification e-mail, the recipient can quickly hear the response message using an e-mail receiving device such as a personal computer.

According to the seventh or 17th aspect of the present invention,
Since the notification e-mail having the predetermined message content is transmitted to the sender, it is possible to inform the sender that at least the user has confirmed the e-mail.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of types of response message texts are stored, and those corresponding to the operation at the voice terminal are included in the notification e-mail and transmitted to the sender. Therefore, the sender can be notified of a certain intention such as affirmation or denial even from the voice terminal.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the notification e-mail for the predetermined message content further includes the response message voice identification information, and the recipient of the notification e-mail can use the information to notify the response message. , So that the user can send a more detailed message to the sender of the e-mail.

According to the tenth or eighteenth aspect of the present invention, a transfer e-mail including the contents of the e-mail arriving at the user is generated, and the transfer e-mail is converted into at least one of predetermined mail addresses. Since the transmission is performed, the received e-mail can be easily transferred to a third party, for example, even from a telephone that is out of the office.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, when a mail address of a transfer destination is selected, voices for identifying each mail address are sequentially transmitted to the voice terminal, and the mail is transmitted according to the operation timing performed by the voice terminal. Since at least one of the addresses is selected, the user can easily select the transfer destination only by performing a predetermined operation when the destination to be transferred is read out.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the response message voice identification information is further included in the transfer e-mail so that the recipient of the transfer e-mail can access the response message using the information. Because
The user can convey a more detailed message to the sender of the e-mail.

According to the thirteenth or nineteenth aspect of the present invention, a call is sent to the telephone number of the sender of the e-mail and the call is relayed to the telephone of the user, so that the user can directly communicate with the sender of the e-mail. I can talk.

According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, when a call cannot be established due to absence or the like even if a call is made to the telephone number of the sender of the e-mail, a predetermined e-mail such as the e-mail for notification or the e-mail for transfer is provided. Is sent to the sender, so even if the recipient is absent,
The message can be conveyed reliably by e-mail.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an overall configuration of an electronic mail sound reproducing device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an operation of the electronic mail sound reproducing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic mail sound reproduction device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a notification e-mail.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic mail sound reproducing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic mail sound reproduction device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of an e-mail receiving device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the electronic mail receiving device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of an e-mail receiving device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an operation of the electronic mail receiving device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing an overall configuration of an electronic mail sound reproducing device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram showing an overall configuration of an electronic mail sound reproducing device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a notification e-mail.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic mail sound reproduction device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram showing an overall configuration of a modification of the electronic mail sound reproducing device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a response message sentence.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a modification of the electronic mail sound reproduction device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a functional block diagram showing an entire configuration of an electronic mail sound reproducing device according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transfer destination table.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the electronic mail audio playback device according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a modification of the electronic mail sound reproduction device according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transfer destination table.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a modification of the electronic mail sound reproduction device according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a functional block diagram showing an overall configuration of an electronic mail sound reproducing device according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of a telephone number table.

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the electronic mail sound reproduction device according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 40, 50, 50a, 60, 70 E-mail voice reproduction device, 12 telephone (voice terminal), 16 e-mail voice reproduction unit, 17 e-mail selection unit, 18 response message voice storage unit, 19 response message identification information generation , 20, 42, 51, 51a Notification e-mail generation unit, 21 e-mail address acquisition unit, 22 e-mail transmission unit, 23 response message voice transmission unit, 26, 3
0 e-mail receiving device, 27, 31 e-mail storage unit, 28 response message acquisition unit, 29 response message sound reproduction unit, 32 notification e-mail processing unit, 41
Response message voice information generation unit, 52a response message sentence storage unit, 61 mail address selection unit, 62 transfer e-mail generation unit, 71 telephone number table storage unit,
72 sender identification information acquisition unit, 73 telephone number acquisition unit,
74 Call relay unit.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04M 3/50 H04L 11/20 101B 11/00 302

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A speech terminal which is connected to a voice terminal via a telephone line and synthesizes at least a part of the contents of an e-mail arriving at a caller of the voice terminal. An e-mail audio reproducing apparatus for transmitting to the caller, e-mail selecting means for selecting at least one of e-mails received to the caller, and contents of the e-mail selected by the e-mail selecting means Response message voice storage means for storing a response message voice that the caller speaks at a voice terminal, and a response for generating response message specifying information for specifying the response message voice stored in the response message voice storage means Message identification information generation means, and at least response message identification information generated by the response message identification information generation means Notification e-mail generation means for generating a notice e-mail; e-mail address acquisition means for acquiring a sender's e-mail address of the e-mail selected by the e-mail selection means; and e-mail acquired by the e-mail address acquisition means An e-mail transmission unit for transmitting an e-mail for notification generated by the e-mail notification generation unit to an address. 2. When the response message specifying information generated by the response message specifying information generating means is input from a voice terminal via a telephone line, the response message specified by the response message specifying information is converted to the response message. 2. The electronic mail audio reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a response message audio transmitting unit that reads out from the audio storage unit and transmits the response message audio to the audio terminal. 3. An e-mail receiving device for receiving a notification e-mail transmitted by the e-mail sound reproducing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein response message identification information included in the received notification e-mail. Response message voice acquisition means for acquiring the response message voice specified by the response message voice storage means, and response message voice reproduction means for reproducing the response message voice acquired by the response message voice acquisition means. An e-mail receiving device characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. An electronic mail system comprising: the electronic mail sound reproducing device according to claim 2; and an electronic mail receiving device for receiving a notification electronic mail transmitted by the electronic mail sound device. The mail receiving device includes a notification e-mail processing unit that transmits response message identification information included in the notification e-mail to be received and telephone number information representing a predetermined telephone number to the response message voice transmission unit, The voice message voice transmitting unit included in the mail voice reproducing device calls a telephone number indicated by the telephone number information received from the notification electronic mail processing unit, and a response message received from the notification electronic mail processing unit. Output the response message audio specified by the specific information,
An e-mail system, characterized in that: 5. When the notification e-mail transmitted by the e-mail transmission means has arrived, speech synthesis of the contents of the notification e-mail is restricted, and a response included in the notification e-mail is included. 2. A notification e-mail processing unit for acquiring a response message voice specified by message identification information from the response message voice storage unit and transmitting the obtained response message voice to the voice terminal. 3. The electronic mail sound reproducing device according to 2. 6. A voice terminal connected to a voice terminal via a telephone line, and voice-synthesizing at least a part of the contents of an e-mail arriving at a caller of the voice terminal. An e-mail audio reproducing apparatus for transmitting to the caller, e-mail selecting means for selecting at least one of e-mails received to the caller, and contents of the e-mail selected by the e-mail selecting means Response message voice information generating means for generating response message voice information representing the response message voice uttered by the caller at the voice terminal; and the response message voice information generated by the response message voice information generating means is attached. Notification e-mail generating means for generating the notified e-mail, and an e-mail selected by the e-mail selecting means. E-mail address obtaining means for obtaining a sender's e-mail address; e-mail transmitting means for transmitting a notification e-mail generated by the notification e-mail generation means to the e-mail address obtained by the e-mail address obtaining means; An e-mail audio playback device comprising: 7. The voice terminal, which is connected to the voice terminal via a voice communication line and synthesizes at least a part of the contents of an e-mail arriving at a caller of the voice terminal, An e-mail sound reproducing device that transmits at least one of e-mails received to the caller, and a notification e-mail having a predetermined message content is generated. Notification e-mail generation means, e-mail address acquisition means for acquiring the e-mail address of the sender of the e-mail selected by the e-mail selection means, and the e-mail notification mail to the e-mail address acquired by the e-mail address acquisition means E-mail transmitting means for transmitting the notification e-mail generated by the generating means. Le audio playback device. 8. A response message text storage unit for storing a plurality of types of response message texts, wherein the notification e-mail generation unit stores a response message text corresponding to an operation performed on the voice terminal in the response message text. 8. The electronic mail voice reproducing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the electronic mail is read from the storage unit and generates a notification electronic mail including the response message sentence in the message content. 9. A response message voice storage means for storing a response message voice uttered by the caller at a voice terminal for the content of the email selected by the email selection means, and the response message voice storage means Response message specifying information generating means for generating response message specifying information for specifying a response message voice stored in the storage device. The notification e-mail generating means includes a response generated by the response message specifying information generating means. 9. The electronic mail sound reproducing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the electronic mail for notification includes message specifying information in the message content. 10. A voice terminal connected to a voice terminal via a telephone line, and voice-synthesizing at least a part of the contents of an e-mail arriving at a caller of the voice terminal. An e-mail audio reproducing apparatus for transmitting to the caller, e-mail selecting means for selecting at least one of the e-mails arriving at the caller, and an e-mail message selected by the e-mail selecting means. Transfer e-mail generating means for generating a transfer e-mail including contents, e-mail address selecting means for selecting at least one of predetermined mail addresses, and e-mail address selected by the e-mail address selecting means E-mail transmission means for transmitting the transfer e-mail generated by the transfer e-mail generation means. E-mail audio playback device that. 11. The mail address selecting means sequentially sends voices for identifying each of the predetermined mail addresses to the voice terminal, and detects a predetermined selection operation signal transmitted from the voice terminal, 11. The electronic mail according to claim 10, wherein a mail identified by a voice transmitted in a time zone corresponding to a time zone in which the predetermined selection operation signal is transmitted is selected from the predetermined mail addresses. Audio playback device. 12. A response message voice storage means for storing a response message voice uttered by the caller at a voice terminal with respect to the content of the email selected by the email selection means, and the response message voice storage means. Response message specifying information generating means for generating response message specifying information for specifying the response message voice stored in the electronic mail, and the transfer e-mail generating means includes a response generated by the response message specifying information generating means. The electronic mail sound reproducing apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the electronic mail for transfer includes message specifying information in a message content. 13. A telephone which is connected to a telephone of a user via a telephone line and synthesizes at least a part of the contents of an e-mail arriving at a caller of the telephone with a voice. A telephone number table storing means for storing a telephone number table in which information for identifying the sender of the electronic mail and the telephone number of the sender are stored; and E-mail selecting means for selecting at least one of the e-mails addressed to the sender; sender identification information obtaining means for obtaining information for identifying the sender of the e-mail selected by the e-mail selecting means; A telephone number table stored by a telephone number table storage unit, and a sender of the e-mail acquired by the sender identification information acquiring unit; Telephone number acquiring means for acquiring the telephone number of the sender of the e-mail based on the information obtained from the e-mail, calling the telephone number acquired by the telephone number acquiring means, and the telephone of the sender of the e-mail and the use And a call relay means for relaying a call with another user's telephone. 14. The information for identifying the sender is a mail address, and when the call relay unit cannot make a call connection to the sender's telephone, a predetermined electronic mail is acquired by the mail address acquired by the sender identification information acquiring unit. 14. The electronic mail sound reproducing device according to claim 13, further comprising electronic mail transmitting means for transmitting a mail. 15. An audio terminal which is mutually connected to a voice terminal via a telephone line, synthesizes at least part of the contents of an e-mail arriving at a caller of the voice terminal, and An e-mail response method for returning a response message to an incoming e-mail in an e-mail sound reproducing device for transmitting to the caller, wherein at least one of the e-mails received to the caller is selected. A response message voice storing step of storing, in a storage unit, a response message voice uttered by the caller at a voice terminal with respect to the content of the email selected by the email selection unit; Response message specifying information generating step for generating response message specifying information for specifying the response message voice stored in the storage means; A notification e-mail generation step for generating a notification e-mail including at least the response message specification information generated in the message specification information generation step; and obtaining a mail address of a sender of the e-mail selected in the e-mail selection step. An e-mail address obtaining step, and an e-mail transmitting step of transmitting the notification e-mail generated in the notification e-mail generation step to the e-mail address obtained in the e-mail address obtaining step. Email response method. 16. The voice terminal, which is connected to the voice terminal via a telephone line and performs voice synthesis of at least a part of the content of an e-mail arriving at the caller of the voice terminal. An e-mail response method for returning a response message to an incoming e-mail in an e-mail sound reproducing device for transmitting to the caller, wherein at least one of the e-mails received to the caller is selected. An e-mail selecting step of obtaining the response message voice information for obtaining the response message voice information representing the response message voice that the caller utters at the voice terminal with respect to the content of the e-mail selected in the e-mail selecting step And generating a notification e-mail to which the response message voice information obtained in the response message voice information obtaining step is attached. A notification e-mail generating step; an e-mail address obtaining step of obtaining an e-mail address of a sender of the e-mail selected in the e-mail selecting step; and the notification e-mail to the e-mail address obtained in the e-mail address obtaining step. An e-mail transmission step of transmitting the notification e-mail generated in the generation step. 17. The voice terminal, wherein the voice terminal is connected to the voice terminal via a telephone line, and at least a part of the contents of the e-mail arriving at the caller of the voice terminal is synthesized. An e-mail response method for returning a response message to an incoming e-mail in an e-mail sound reproducing device for transmitting to the caller, wherein at least one of the e-mails received to the caller is selected. An e-mail selecting step for generating, a notifying e-mail generating step for generating a notifying e-mail having a predetermined message content, and an e-mail address obtaining for obtaining an e-mail address of a sender of the e-mail selected in the e-mail selecting step And generating the notification e-mail to the e-mail address obtained in the e-mail address obtaining step. E-mail response method characterized by comprising an electronic mail transmitting step of transmitting a notification e-mail that is, a. 18. The voice terminal which is connected to a voice terminal via a telephone line and which synthesizes at least a part of the contents of an e-mail arriving at a caller of the voice terminal. An e-mail response method for returning a response message to an incoming e-mail in an e-mail sound reproducing device for transmitting to the caller, wherein at least one of the e-mails received to the caller is selected. Selecting an e-mail to be transferred, generating an e-mail for transfer that generates a transfer e-mail including the message content of the e-mail selected in the e-mail selection step, selecting at least one from predetermined mail addresses An e-mail address selecting step to be performed; and E-mail response method characterized by comprising an electronic mail transmitting step of transmitting a communication electronic mail generated in-up, the. 19. A telephone connected to a telephone via a telephone line, voice-synthesized at least a part of the contents of an e-mail arriving at a caller of the telephone, and transmitted to the telephone. An e-mail response method for returning a response message to an incoming e-mail in an e-mail sound reproducing device, comprising: a telephone which associates information for identifying a sender of the e-mail with a telephone number of the sender. A telephone number table storing step of storing a number table in a storage means; an e-mail selecting step of selecting at least one of e-mails received to the caller; and an e-mail selecting step. A sender identification information acquiring step of acquiring information for identifying a sender of the electronic mail from the electronic mail, and a telephone number table storage step. A telephone number table for acquiring the telephone number of the sender of the electronic mail based on the telephone number table stored in the storage means and the information for identifying the sender of the electronic mail obtained in the sender identification information obtaining step. And a call relaying step for making a call to the telephone number obtained by the telephone number obtaining means and relaying a call between the telephone of the sender of the e-mail and the telephone of the user. Email response method. 20. A medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as an e-mail receiving device for receiving a notification e-mail transmitted by the e-mail sound reproducing device according to claim 1 or 2. A response message voice obtaining step of obtaining from the response message voice storage means a response message voice specified by the response message specifying information included in the notification e-mail to be notified; and a response message voice obtained by the response message voice obtaining means. A medium for recording a program for causing a computer to execute a procedure including: a response message voice reproducing step of reproducing.