JPH11112762A - Control method for facsimile communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To greatly shorten a communication delay time by allowing a facsimile server device to convert and store transmitting information addressed to a facsimile equipment and call the destination, allowing the facsimile equipment to request poling to the facsimile server device and allowing the facsimile server device to made polling and transmit required facsimile picture information. SOLUTION: The facsimile server device RS is connected to a local area network LAN, a digital public network ISDN and an analog public network PSTN. When a picture information distributing service is requested by an electronic mail, the server device FS converts received information into facsimile picture information so as to store it, takes-out a telephone number after that and executes calling to a G3 facsimile equipment FXg, for example. The device FXg executes calling to the server device FS after executing a prescribed procedure and executes an poling request operation. The server device FS executes a poling and transmit the requested picture information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile server apparatus having a function of exchanging data via a local area network or the Internet, and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure via a public network. A facsimile apparatus using a public network as a transmission path, and the facsimile server apparatus, when receiving transmission information addressed to the facsimile apparatus via the local area network or the Internet, converts the transmission information into facsimile image information and accumulates it. The facsimile apparatus requests polling reception to the facsimile server apparatus at an appropriate timing, and the facsimile server apparatus stores facsimile image information of transmission information addressed to the facsimile apparatus requested to perform polling reception. The, method of controlling a facsimile communication system to poll transmits the facsimile image information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile server apparatus having a function of exchanging data via a local area network or the Internet and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure via a public network, and a public network When a facsimile server device receives transmission information addressed to a facsimile device via a local area network or the Internet, the facsimile device converts the transmission information into facsimile image information and stores it. The facsimile server requests polling reception to the facsimile server at an appropriate timing. Facsimile communication system for polling transmission facsimile image information has been put into practical use.

When such a facsimile communication system is used, various information can be transmitted from a host device connected to a local area network or the Internet to a facsimile device connected to a public network. It is convenient.

[0004]

However, such a conventional apparatus has the following inconveniences.

That is, unless a facsimile device connected to the public network performs a polling reception request operation to the facsimile server device, transmission information addressed to the facsimile device cannot be obtained by the destination facsimile device. The time required from the transmission of the transmission information by the source to the reception of the information at the destination becomes longer, resulting in an inconvenience that the delay time of the communication becomes extremely large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a control method for a facsimile communication system capable of greatly reducing a communication delay time.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a facsimile server apparatus having a function of exchanging data via a local area network or the Internet and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure via a public network. And a facsimile apparatus using a public network as a transmission line. When the facsimile server apparatus receives transmission information addressed to the facsimile apparatus via the local area network or the Internet, the facsimile apparatus converts the transmission information into facsimile image information and stores it. On the other hand, the facsimile apparatus makes a polling reception request to the facsimile server apparatus at an appropriate timing, and the facsimile server apparatus stores facsimile image information of transmission information addressed to the facsimile apparatus requested to perform the polling reception. Sometimes, in the control method for a facsimile communication system that polls and transmits facsimile image information, the facsimile apparatus is connected to a public network having a caller ID notification service, while the facsimile server apparatus is connected to a local area network or the Internet. When the transmission information addressed to the facsimile apparatus is received via the public network, the transmission information is converted into facsimile image information and stored, and then a call is made to the destination facsimile apparatus via the public network. If the caller number received from the network corresponds to the facsimile server device, a polling reception request is issued to the facsimile server device, and the facsimile server device transmits the transmission information addressed to the facsimile device requested for polling reception. H When accumulates Kushimiri image information is obtained so as to poll transmits the facsimile image information.

Further, a facsimile server device having a function of exchanging data via a local area network or the Internet, and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure via a public network, and a transmission line connected to a public network The facsimile server device comprises:
When transmission information addressed to a facsimile device is received via a local area network or the Internet, the transmission information is converted into facsimile image information and stored,
The facsimile apparatus issues a polling reception request to the facsimile server apparatus at an appropriate timing. In a control method of a facsimile communication system that performs polling transmission, the facsimile apparatus is connected to a public network having a caller ID notification service, while the facsimile server apparatus transmits to a facsimile apparatus via a local area network or the Internet. When the information is received, the transmission information is converted into facsimile image information and stored, and when the facsimile image information addressed to the facsimile device is stored in a predetermined number or more, the facsimile device of the destination is received. On the other hand, the facsimile apparatus makes a polling reception request to the facsimile server apparatus when the caller number received from the network at the time of receiving the call corresponds to the facsimile server apparatus. When the facsimile server device stores the facsimile image information of the transmission information addressed to the facsimile device requested to be polled, all the stored facsimile image information is transmitted.

Further, a facsimile server device having a function of exchanging data via a local area network or the Internet and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure via a public network, and a transmission line connected to a public network The facsimile server device comprises:
When transmission information addressed to a facsimile device is received via a local area network or the Internet, the transmission information is converted into facsimile image information and stored,
The facsimile apparatus issues a polling reception request to the facsimile server apparatus at an appropriate timing. In a control method of a facsimile communication system that performs polling transmission, the facsimile apparatus is connected to a public network having a caller ID notification service, while the facsimile server apparatus transmits to a facsimile apparatus via a local area network or the Internet. When the information is received, the transmission information is converted into facsimile image information and stored, and the facsimile image information addressed to the facsimile apparatus is stored in a number equal to or greater than a predetermined number, or received at that time. If the value of the priority information set in the transmitted information is higher than a predetermined value, a call is made to the destination facsimile apparatus via the public network, while the facsimile apparatus receives the call from the network at the time of an incoming call. If the caller number corresponds to the facsimile server device, a polling reception request is sent to the facsimile server device, and the facsimile server device sends facsimile image information of transmission information addressed to the facsimile device requested to be polled. When stored, all the stored facsimile image information is polled and transmitted.

The public network may be an analog public network having a caller ID notification service, or an ISDN.
Can be applied. Further, the transmission information addressed to the facsimile device is transmitted to the facsimile server device by Internet electronic mail. Further, the facsimile server device has a mail server function and has a table in which the number information of the facsimile device is registered in correspondence with the user mail address assigned to the destination facsimile device. The number information of the destination facsimile machine may be obtained by referring to the table based on the destination information arranged in the header information of the mail.

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a facsimile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a facsimile server device F
S is connected to the local area network LAN and to the digital public network ISDN and the analog public network PSTN.

The local area network LAN includes:
A plurality of workstation devices WS1 to WSn and a mail server device MS for controlling collection and delivery of electronic mail are connected. The local area network LAN is connected to the Internet (not shown) via a router RT.

The facsimile server device FS also has a mail server function equivalent to the mail server device MS, whereby electronic mail addressed to a user registered in the facsimile server device FS is transmitted to the facsimile server device FS. Receive directly.

A group 3 facsimile machine FXg
Exchanges image information and the like with the facsimile server FS via the analog public network PSTN, and the group 4 facsimile machine FXf communicates with the facsimile server FS via the digital public network ISDN. To exchange image information and the like.

A group 3 facsimile machine FXg
Has subscribed to an outgoing telephone number notification service with the analog network PSTN, and has
Xg also has a modem function for calling telephone number notification service and an incoming call procedure function. Thereby, the telephone number of the calling terminal is usually set to the group 3 facsimile machine FX.
g.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the facsimile server FS.

In FIG. 1, a system control unit 1 performs various control processes such as a control process of each unit of the facsimile server device FS, a group 3 facsimile transmission control procedure process, a mail server process, and the like.
Is a control processing program executed by the system control unit 1,
In addition to storing various data required when executing the processing program, it constitutes a work area of the system control unit 1 and includes a parameter memory 3.
Is for storing various information unique to the facsimile server device FS, and the clock circuit 4 is for outputting current time information.

The operation display section 7 is used to operate the facsimile server FS, and includes various operation keys and various display devices.

The image storage device 6 is for storing a large number of image information in a coded and compressed state. The coding / decoding unit 7 codes and compresses the image data, and also codes and compresses the image data. This is for decoding existing image information into original image data.

The image processing section 8 is for converting the contents of the body information (described later) received by e-mail into corresponding facsimile image data.

The local area network interface circuit 9 connects the facsimile server FS to the local area network LAN. The local area network transmission control unit 10
It is for executing communication control processing of a predetermined protocol suite for exchanging various data with other data terminal devices via the local area network LAN and the Internet.

The ISDN interface circuit 11 connects the facsimile server FS to the digital public network ISD
The group 4 facsimile communication control unit 12 executes a group 4 facsimile communication control process and exchanges image information with the group 4 facsimile apparatus.

The network control device 13 is for connecting the facsimile server device FS to the analog public network PSTN, and the group 3 facsimile modem 14 is for realizing a group 3 facsimile modem function. A low-speed modem function (V.21 modem) for exchanging transmission procedure signals, and a high-speed modem function (V.17 modem, mainly for exchanging image information)
V. 34 modem, V.34. 29 modem, V.29. 27ter modem etc.).

The system control unit 1, system memory 2, parameter memory 3, clock circuit 4, operation display unit 5, image storage device 6, encoding / decoding unit 7, local area network transmission control unit 10, group 4 The facsimile communication control unit 12, the network control device 13, and the group 3 facsimile modem 14 are connected to an internal bus 15, and data exchange between these elements is mainly performed through the internal bus 15. Have been done.

Data exchange between the network controller 13 and the group 3 facsimile modem 14 is directly performed.

The facsimile server device FS receives an e-mail from a local area network LAN or another host device connected to the Internet or the like, and sends the e-mail to a destination facsimile device designated by the e-mail. An image information distribution service for transmitting the contents of a mail via a digital public network ISDN or an analog public network PSTN is realized.

Also, for this image information distribution service,
A user registration table in which necessary information about the facsimile apparatus receiving the image information distribution service is stored is shown. FIG. 3 shows an example of the user registration table.

This user registration table indicates that each user (facsimile machine)
Number, the e-mail address registered for the user, the telephone number used to call the user for incoming notification, and the type of line used to call the user. The line type to be represented is registered. In this case, the facsimile server FS
Host name is "fs" and domain name is "**"
*. co. jp ”.

On the other hand, in order to request the facsimile server apparatus FS for an image information distribution service, e-mail is used as described above. One example is shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. Here, FIG. 4 shows a case where the text information is composed only of Japanese character codes, FIG. 5 shows a case where the text information is composed only of facsimile image information data, and FIG. This is a case where the information is composed of two pieces of part information of a Japanese character code and facsimile image information data.

This e-mail basically includes header information and body information, and the header information basically includes
A "Date" field for setting transmission date and time information, a "Message-ID" field for setting message identification information for identifying an e-mail, a "From" field for displaying a sender, and a destination address. “To” field and “Subject” used to display the title of the text
Consists of fields.

In FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, an "X-priority" field for designating the urgency of an electronic mail is added as an extension field.

Further, the e-mails shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are composed of binary data such as Japanese code which is non-ASCII code and / or facsimile image information data, so that the MIME format is (Described later) header information (“Mime-Versio
n "field," Content-Type "field, and" Content-Transfer-
An “Encoding” field) is also added. In the case of FIG. 6, since it is a multi-part MIME format, a “boundary” field for displaying delimiter information for delimiting each part is also added.

That is, the restriction that the body information of the electronic mail must be basically readable information of a 7-bit code (ASCII code) (see RFC822)
However, in this case, the Japanese code and the facsimile image information data to be transmitted are 16-bit code and binary data, respectively, and are not 7-bit code readable information, and therefore cannot be directly transmitted.
Therefore, a mechanism defined so that such data can be exchanged by e-mail is a MIME (Multipipe).
urpose Internet Mail Exte
nions (multipurpose mail); RFC1521, RF
C1522) format. In the following description, text information in MIME format is referred to as MIME information.

For details, refer to each RFC document. Here, RFC (Request For
A “Comments” document is a document in which a communication protocol and a data structure to be used on the Internet are negotiated.
ing Task Force), which is an organization that collects technical content related to the Internet.

Next, a caller ID notification service in the analog public network PSTN will be described.

In the line receiving the calling number notification service, the local exchange performs a calling operation to the ID receiving terminal in a sequence as shown in FIG.

That is, the subscriber exchange first inverts the polarities of the lines L1 and L2, and then transmits a predetermined ID receiving terminal activation signal. As a result, the ID receiving terminal forms a DC loop as a primary response signal.

When the ID receiving terminal makes a primary response in this way, the local exchange changes the calling ID (caller telephone number) and the like into a modem signal (for example, V.2) of a predetermined signal format (described later).
When the ID receiving terminal receives the modem signal, it breaks the DC loop as a reception completion signal.

When the ID receiving terminal completes receiving the calling ID in this way, the subscriber line exchange sends a predetermined calling signal, and the ID receiving terminal responds to the calling signal and outputs a DC signal as a secondary response signal. A loop is formed, whereby the local exchange depolarizes the lines L1 and L2, and thereafter, a normal telephone call (communication) operation is performed.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a signal format of a modem signal when transmitting a calling ID or the like in such a calling sequence.

This signal format includes a control signal SOH indicating the start of the heading of the information message, a header for transmitting information from the exchange to the terminal, a control signal STX indicating the start of the text and the end of the heading, and the contents of the transmission information. Service type for notifying that it is a caller notification service, subsequent parameters (1) to parameter (n)
The message content length for indicating the total number of bytes up to, the parameters (1) to (n) forming the content of the transmission information, the control signal ETX indicating the end of the text, and the error detection code CHK are sequentially arranged. is there. A predetermined transmission mode control signal DLE is added immediately before each control signal.

Each of the parameters includes parameter type information indicating the type of the parameter, information content length information indicating the number of bytes of the information content, and information content indicating the information to be transmitted (in this case, the caller number). It consists of long information.

Each control signal is composed of data having a length of 7 bits per word.

Next, a call control procedure in the digital public network ISDN will be described.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a call control procedure in the digital public network ISDN in the circuit switching mode.

That is, the originating terminal first sets the circuit switching mode as the transfer mode, and sends a call setup message SETUP designating the destination terminal to the destination to the digital public network ISDN to request call setup with the destination terminal. Then, the digital public network ISDN sends a call by sending a call setup message SETUP to the designated destination terminal. In addition, the digital public network ISDN sends a call setting acceptance message CALL_PROC to notify the call setting status to the calling terminal.

When the receiving terminal detects an incoming call, if the own terminal is in a state where it can receive an incoming call, the digital public network IS
A call message ALERT is sent to the DN, and the digital public network ISDN sends a call message ALERT to the calling terminal to notify that calling of the called terminal has started.

When the called terminal answers the incoming call, it sends a response message CONN to the digital public network ISDN, and the digital public network ISDN sends a response message CONN to the calling terminal to notify that the called terminal has accepted the call.

The digital public network ISDN sends a response confirmation message CONN_ACK to the destination terminal to confirm the response of the destination terminal. At that time, an information channel (for data transmission) between the calling terminal and the destination terminal is transmitted. B channel) is established.

Thus, data transmission using the information channel is performed between the originating terminal and the destination terminal according to the transmission control procedure set for the transmission function of each terminal.

When the data transmission is completed, the originating terminal sends a disconnect message DISC to the digital public network ISDN to request release of the information channel, and the digital public network ISDN sends a disconnect message DISC to the destination terminal to send the information. Notify of channel recovery.

As a result, the receiving terminal sends a release message REL for notifying the completion of the channel disconnection to the digital public network ISD.
In response to N, a release message REL is sent from the digital public network ISDN to the calling terminal. When the channel release is completed, the calling terminal issues a release completion message REL_COM.
P to the digital public network ISDN to notify that effect, whereby the digital public network ISDN sends a release completion message REL_COMP to the destination terminal, the release of the information channel is established, and the originating terminal and the destination terminal The information channel set during is completely released.

In this way, an information channel is set between the calling terminal and the called terminal, data transmission is performed, and when the data transmission ends, the information channel is released.

When the called terminal rejects the call from the calling terminal, a release completion message REL_COMP including the reason for the rejection is sent to the digital public network ISDN as shown in FIG. As a result, the digital public network ISDN sends a release completion message REL to the calling terminal.
Send _COMP to release the call.

As shown in FIG. 10A, each message for call setting is a protocol identifier for identifying a protocol specification (format, sequence, etc.) for defining a layer 3 call control message, and the message Call number to identify which call is involved in the message, message type to identify the content of each message, required information elements that are always added to each message, and required for each message And an additional information element added according to. The required information elements are 0, 1 according to the message type.
Alternatively, a plurality is set, and 0, 1, or a plurality of additional information elements are arranged according to the situation.

The call setup message SETUP has "communication capability" as an essential information element, as shown in FIG.
The additional information elements include, for example, "calling number",
It has information elements such as “destination number”, “lower layer consistency”, and “higher layer consistency”.

The outline of these information elements will be described.

The “transmission capability” information element indicates whether the content of the information to be transmitted is any of voice, unrestricted digital information, restricted digital information, 3.1 KHz audio, 7 KHz audio, and video. Transfer capability, transfer mode indicating whether the switching function used is circuit-switched or packet-switched, information transfer speed indicating information transfer speed, information indicating information transfer form,
And information indicating a protocol of the user information.

The “calling number” information element is the ISDN of the calling terminal.
Address (telephone number)
Represents the sub address set for the calling terminal,
The “destination number” information element indicates the ISDN address of the destination terminal, and the “destination subaddress” indicates the subaddress set for the destination terminal.

[0062] The "lower layer consistency" information element is used for checking the possibility of communication with the partner terminal, and its basic content is the same as the "transmission capability" information element. Further, the "lower layer consistency" information element includes more detailed contents.

The "higher layer compatibility" information element is used for checking consistency with the partner terminal, and includes group 2 / group 3 facsimile, group 4 facsimile, mixed mode, teletex, videotex,
It indicates whether a telex or a message handling system is provided as a terminal function.

In the above configuration, when the image information distribution service is requested by e-mail, the facsimile server device F
S converts the text information of the received e-mail into facsimile image information, and stores the facsimile image information in a mailbox (storage area) provided in the image storage device 9 corresponding to the destination user. The e-mail address of the destination user set in the value of the "To" field of the e-mail header information is extracted, and the corresponding telephone number and line type are extracted with reference to the user registration table.

If the line type is PSTN, a call is made to the analog public network PSTN using the extracted telephone number. Here, in this embodiment, among the facsimile users registered, the group 3 facsimile device FXg connected to the analog public network PSTN receives the caller ID notification service.

Therefore, the destination user group 3
The facsimile machine FXg detects the incoming call and executes the calling number notification service receiving procedure as described above to know the telephone number of the caller. Then, the telephone number is compared with the telephone number of the facsimile server device FS, and if they match, it is regarded as an incoming call notification from the facsimile server device FS, and the incoming call is temporarily terminated.

At this time, the destination user group 3 facsimile machine FXg executes the calling number notification service receiving procedure, but performs the above-described comparison operation immediately after receiving the calling ID, and the source is the facsimile server apparatus FS. If it is confirmed, the incoming call procedure is interrupted at that time and the call is not established. Thereby, the facsimile server device FS
Is not charged.

As described above, upon detecting the incoming call notification from the facsimile server apparatus FS, the group 3 facsimile apparatus FXg makes a call to the facsimile server apparatus FS and executes a polling reception request operation.

Accordingly, the facsimile server FS
Starts a predetermined group 3 facsimile transmission procedure when an incoming call is received from the analog public network PSTN, and when a polling reception request is designated, the telephone number of the destination terminal at that time (notified by a facsimile transmission procedure signal). , The user's e-mail address is recognized with reference to the user registration table, facsimile image information is extracted from a mailbox provided in the image storage device 9 corresponding to the e-mail address, and the facsimile image information is Perform polling transmission operation to transmit.

When the line type of the destination user is ISDN, a call is made to the digital public network ISDN using the extracted telephone number.

Therefore, the destination user group 4
The facsimile machine FXf receives the call setup message SETUP from the digital public network ISDN and detects the incoming call,
The caller's telephone number is known from the value of the "calling number" information element from the call setting message SETUP.

Then, the telephone number is compared with the telephone number of the facsimile server device FS, and if they match, it is regarded as an incoming notification from the facsimile server device FS and released to reject the call connection. Responds with a completion message REL_COMP to the digital public network ISDN, and terminates its call control operation. Also in this case, since the call connection is not completed, the facsimile server FS is not charged.

As described above, upon detecting the incoming call notification from the facsimile server apparatus FS, the group 4 facsimile apparatus FXf calls the facsimile server apparatus FS and executes a polling reception request operation.

Accordingly, the facsimile server device FS
, Upon receiving an incoming call from the digital public network ISDN, executes a call control procedure to establish an information channel, and then starts a predetermined group 4 facsimile transmission procedure on the information channel.

At this time, since the polling reception request is specified, the user registration table is referred to based on the telephone number of the destination terminal at that time (notified by the "calling number" information element of the call setup message SETUP). Then, the e-mail address of the user is recognized, the facsimile image information is taken out from the mailbox provided in the image storage device 9 corresponding to the e-mail address, and the polling transmission operation of transmitting the facsimile image information is performed.

As a result, the contents of the document requested to be delivered by e-mail are received by the facsimile machine of the destination user almost immediately after receiving the e-mail, and are recorded and output. Therefore, the delay time of distributing the text information of the electronic mail, which has been a problem in the past, is greatly reduced, and the usability and convenience of the facsimile communication system are greatly improved.

In addition, no charge is applied to the incoming notification from the facsimile server device FS to the destination facsimile device, so that it is possible to avoid a situation in which unnecessary charge is applied to the facsimile server device FS.

FIGS. 11, 12 and 13 show an example of the main part of the processing executed by the facsimile server FS.

First, the facsimile server FS monitors whether an electronic mail is received, an incoming call is detected from the analog public network PSTN, or an incoming call is detected from the digital public network ISDN (decisions 101 and 10).
2,103 NO loop).

In the case where the electronic mail is received, the judgment 101
If the result is YES, the e-mail is saved (step 104), the e-mail address of the destination user is extracted (step 105), the text information is converted by the image processing unit 8 into facsimile image information, and The facsimile image information is stored in a mailbox provided in the image storage device 9 corresponding to the user's e-mail address (process 106).

Here, the body information of the received e-mail is, as shown in FIG.
If it is composed only of ME information, its MIME
Decodes information to generate original Japanese character code data, generates graphic character data corresponding to the Japanese character code data, creates display information of the body information, and encodes and decodes the display information The facsimile image information is created by encoding and compression by the converting unit 7.

When the text information is composed of only the MIME information of the facsimile image information data as shown in FIG. 5, the original facsimile image information is generated by decoding the MIME information.

When the body information is composed of two parts of the Japanese character code and the facsimile image information data as shown in FIG. 6, the information of the first part is obtained by decoding the MIME information. To generate original Japanese character code data, generate graphic character data corresponding to the Japanese character code data, create display information of the body information, and encode the display information into the encoding / decoding section 7. To generate facsimile image information, treat the facsimile image information as image information of the first page, and use the MIM for the information of the next part.
The E information is decoded to generate original facsimile image information, and the facsimile image information is handled as image information of the second page. In this way, for the body information in the multi-part MIME format, an independent page is assigned to each part.

As the text information, a format other than facsimile image information data (for example, BMP, GI
When image data of F, JPEG, TIFF, etc. is attached, the format of the image data is converted into facsimile image data, and then encoded and compressed to create facsimile image information data. Such an image format conversion is performed by the image processing unit 8.

Next, referring to the user registration table, the telephone number and the line type registered corresponding to the destination e-mail address are extracted (process 107), and it is checked whether the line type is ISDN. (Decision 108).

When the line type is ISDN, the judgment 108
If the result is YES, a call is made to the digital public network ISDN using the telephone number taken out at that time (process 109). As a result, the destination group 4 facsimile machine FXf detects the incoming call. In this case, after receiving the call setup message SETUP and confirming the source as described above, it sends out the release complete message REL_COMP to operate the call setup procedure. Therefore, the process waits until a release completion message REL_COMP is received from the digital public network ISDN (NO loop in decision 110), and a release completion message REL_CO is received from the digital public network ISDN.
When the MP is received and the result of determination 110 is YES, the notification of the incoming call to the destination user is terminated, and the process returns to determination 101.

When the line type is PSTN and the result of determination 108 is NO, a call is made to the analog public network using the telephone number taken out at that time (process 111). As a result, the destination group 3 facsimile machine FXg detects the incoming call, and in this case, executes the calling number notification service incoming procedure as described above to restore the line after knowing the caller's telephone number. Wait until a predetermined time elapses after the call (NO loop of decision 112), and if the result of the decision 112 elapses after the predetermined time elapses after the call, the notification of the incoming call to the destination user is terminated. Return to decision 101.

When the incoming call is detected from the analog public network PSTN and the result of determination 102 is YES, the incoming call is answered and a predetermined group 3 facsimile transmission pre-procedure is executed (process 115), and the transmission function at that time. And so on.

Here, it is checked whether or not a polling reception request has been specified by the partner terminal (decision 116).
If the result of No. 6 is NO, a normal incoming call process is executed (process 117), and the process returns to the judgment 101.

When the polling reception request is specified by the partner terminal and the result of determination 116 is YES, the source telephone number is extracted from the transmission terminal identification information TSI received in the pre-transmission procedure, and the telephone number is extracted. The e-mail address registered in the user registration table corresponding to the e-mail address is retrieved, and it is determined whether or not one or more facsimile image information is stored in a mailbox provided corresponding to the e-mail address ( Process 118,
Judgment 119).

A decision 119 is made when one or more facsimile image information is stored in the mailbox provided corresponding to the electronic mail address corresponding to the sender.
If the result of YES is YES,
Continue the facsimile transmission procedure. That is, the modem speed to be used is determined by executing the modem training procedure (step 120), and a predetermined image information transmission procedure is executed to transmit the image information stored in the mailbox (step 12).
1) When the image information transmission ends, a predetermined post-transmission procedure is executed (step 122), and then the line is restored (step 12).
3), the image information that has been transmitted is deleted from the mailbox (step 124), this operation ends, and the routine returns to the determination 101.

On the other hand, if one or more facsimile image information is not stored in the mailbox provided corresponding to the electronic mail address corresponding to the sender, and if the result of determination 119 is NO, A predetermined forced termination procedure is executed to forcibly terminate the group 3 facsimile transmission procedure (process 125), and the line is restored (process 12).
6) Return to decision 101.

When the incoming call is detected from the digital public network ISDN and the result of determination 103 is YES, a predetermined call setting procedure is executed (process 130), and an information channel is established (process 131). A predetermined group 4 facsimile transmission pre-procedure is executed on the established information channel (process 132), and the transmission function and the like at that time are set.

Here, it is determined whether or not a polling reception request has been specified by the partner terminal (decision 133).
If the result of step 3 is NO, the normal incoming call process is executed (process 134) and the process returns to the judgment 101.

When the polling reception request is specified by the partner terminal and the result of the judgment 133 is YES, the telephone number of the caller is extracted from the "calling number" information element included in the call setting message SETUP, and The e-mail address registered in the user registration table corresponding to the telephone number is taken out, and one or more facsimile image information is stored in a mailbox provided corresponding to the e-mail address. Is checked (processing 135, judgment 136).

A decision 136 is made when one or more facsimile image information is stored in the mailbox provided corresponding to the electronic mail address corresponding to the sender.
If the result is YES, a predetermined image information transmission procedure is executed to transmit the image information stored in the mailbox (processing 137), and when the image information transmission ends, a predetermined information channel end procedure is executed. (Process 138)
The information channel is terminated (process 139), a call release procedure is executed to release the call (process 140), the image information that has been transmitted is deleted from the mailbox (process 141), and this operation is terminated and a decision is made. Return to 101.

On the other hand, when one or more facsimile image information is not stored in the mailbox provided corresponding to the electronic mail address corresponding to the sender, and when the result of determination 136 is NO, A predetermined forced termination procedure is executed to forcibly terminate the group 4 facsimile transmission procedure (process 142) and terminate the information channel (process 1).
43) The call is released by executing a predetermined call release procedure (process 144), and the process returns to the decision 101.

FIG. 14 shows a group 4 facsimile apparatus F
Xf indicates a main part of a process executed when an incoming call is received.

When the group 4 facsimile machine FXf detects an incoming call (the result of the judgment 201 is YES), it extracts the "calling number" information element from the received call setting message SETUP (process 202) and outputs the "calling number" information. It is checked whether or not the content of the element matches the telephone number of the facsimile server device FS (process 203, judgment 204).

If the source at that time is other than the facsimile server apparatus FS and the result of determination 204 is NO, a normal incoming call process is executed (process 205).
Return to decision 201.

When the transmission source at that time is the facsimile server FS and the result of determination 204 is YES, a release completion message REL_COMP is sent to the digital public network ISDN to reject the call setup (process 206). ).

Next, a call is made to the facsimile server FS (step 207), a predetermined call setting procedure is executed (step 208), and an information channel is established (step 20).
9), the group 4 facsimile procedure process in the polling reception mode is executed using the established information channel (process 210).

As a result, the facsimile server FS
Since the facsimile image information corresponding to the body information of the e-mail is received, the facsimile image information is accumulated and recorded and output.

When the image information communication is terminated, the information channel is terminated (process 211), the call is released by executing a predetermined call release procedure (process 212), and the process returns to the decision 201.

FIG. 15 shows a group 3 facsimile machine F
Xg indicates a main part of a process executed when an incoming call is received.

When the group 3 facsimile machine FXg receives the primary call signal from the analog public network PSTN and detects an incoming call (result of determination 301 is YES), it sends a primary response signal to the analog public network PSTN (process 302).
Next, when the calling ID is received from the analog public network PSTN (the result of the judgment 303 is YES), the calling ID is received and stored (process 304), and whether the calling ID matches the telephone number of the facsimile server apparatus FS. It is checked whether it is (process 305, judgment 306).

If the received calling ID matches the telephone number of the facsimile server apparatus FS and the result of determination 306 is YES, the line is temporarily disconnected and restored (step 307).

Next, a call is made to the facsimile server apparatus FS (step 308), and a transmission function (including polling reception) to be used at that time is set by executing a pre-transmission procedure in the polling reception mode (step 309). , The modem speed to be used is determined by executing the modem training procedure (step 310), and the image information receiving procedure is executed (step 31).
1).

Thus, the facsimile server FS
Since the facsimile image information corresponding to the body information of the e-mail is received, the facsimile image information is recorded and output.

When image information reception is completed, a predetermined post-transmission procedure is executed (step 312), and the line is restored (step 31).
3) Return to determination 301.

If the received calling ID does not match the telephone number of the facsimile server FS, the judgment 306
Is NO, the analog public network PSTN
(Step 315), and when a call signal is received from the analog public network PSTN (result of determination 316 is YES), the secondary response signal is transmitted to the analog public network PSTN.
(Step 317) to establish a call (Step 31).
8) Then, a normal incoming call process is executed (process 31).
9) The line is restored (process 320), and the process returns to determination 301.

As described above, in this embodiment, the contents of the document requested to be delivered by e-mail to the facsimile server apparatus FS are almost identical to the destination user's group 3 facsimile apparatus FXg or group 4 immediately after receiving the e-mail. It is received by the facsimile machine FXf. Therefore, the delay time of distributing the text information of the electronic mail, which has been a problem in the past, is greatly reduced, and the usability and convenience of the facsimile communication system are greatly improved.

[0113] In addition, when receiving an incoming call from the facsimile server device FS to the destination group 3 facsimile device FXg or group 4 facsimile device FXf, no charge is made, so that the facsimile server device FS is charged unnecessarily. Situations can be avoided.

In the above-described embodiment, each time an electronic mail is received, the destination user's group 3 facsimile machine FXg or group 4 facsimile machine FXf
Although this is effective in terms of the immediacy of communication, when e-mails are received frequently, the frequency of incoming notifications increases, and communication efficiency deteriorates. May also occur.

Therefore, the number of e-mails to be stored before notification of an incoming call is set for each destination. For example, a user setting table as shown in FIG. 16 is formed and stored.

Here, one element of the user setting table is an address number for identifying each element, an e-mail address of a registered user, and a reception number for storing the number of stored e-mails. , And a set value of the number of receptions to be notified of incoming calls.

In this case, the facsimile server FS
17, 18, and 19 show an example of a main part of the process executed by. Note that, in the case of the present embodiment, the same processing as in the above-described embodiment can be applied to the processing at the time of an incoming call of the group 3 facsimile apparatus FXg and the group 4 facsimile apparatus FXf.

First, the facsimile server apparatus FS monitors whether an electronic mail is received, an incoming call is detected from the analog public network PSTN, or an incoming call is detected from the digital public network ISDN (decisions 401 and 40).
2,403 NO loop).

In the case where an e-mail has been received, judgment 401
If the result is YES, the e-mail is saved (step 404), the mail address of the destination user is extracted (step 405), the body information is converted into facsimile image information by the image processing unit 8, and The facsimile image information is stored in a mailbox provided in the image storage device 9 corresponding to the user's e-mail address (process 406).

Here, the body information of the received e-mail is, as shown in FIG.
If it is composed only of ME information, its MIME
Decodes information to generate original Japanese character code data, generates graphic character data corresponding to the Japanese character code data, creates display information of the body information, and encodes and decodes the display information The facsimile image information is created by encoding and compression by the converting unit 7.

When the text information is composed of only the MIME information of the facsimile image information data as shown in FIG. 5, the original facsimile image information is generated by decoding the MIME information.

When the body information is composed of two parts of the Japanese character code and the facsimile image information data as shown in FIG. 6, the information of the first part is obtained by decoding the MIME information. To generate original Japanese character code data, generate graphic character data corresponding to the Japanese character code data, create display information of the body information, and encode the display information into the encoding / decoding section 7. To generate facsimile image information, treat the facsimile image information as image information of the first page, and use the MIM for the information of the next part.
The E information is decoded to generate original facsimile image information, and the facsimile image information is handled as image information of the second page. In this way, for the body information in the multi-part MIME format, an independent page is assigned to each part.

It should be noted that, as the text information, a format other than facsimile image information data (for example, BMP, GI
When image data of F, JPEG, TIFF, etc. is attached, the format of the image data is converted into facsimile image data, and then encoded and compressed to create facsimile image information data. Such an image format conversion is performed by the image processing unit 8.

Next, with reference to the user setting table, the number of receptions and the number of settings registered corresponding to the destination e-mail address are read (step 407), and the number of receptions is incremented (step 408). The updated reception count is stored in the user setting table (step 409).

Further, it is checked whether or not the number of receptions is equal to or larger than the set value (decision 410).
When S is reached, the telephone number and line type registered corresponding to the destination e-mail address are retrieved with reference to the user registration table (process 411), and it is checked whether the line type is ISDN (step 411). Decision 412).

When the line type is ISDN, judgment 412
If the result is YES, a call is made to the digital public network ISDN using the telephone number taken out at that time (process 413). As a result, the destination group 4 facsimile machine FXf detects the incoming call. In this case, after receiving the call setup message SETUP and confirming the source as described above, it sends out the release complete message REL_COMP to operate the call setup procedure. Therefore, the process waits until a release completion message REL_COMP is received from the digital public network ISDN (NO loop in decision 414), and a release completion message REL_CO is received from the digital public network ISDN.
If the MP is received and the result of determination 414 is YES, the notification of the incoming call to the destination user has been terminated, and the process returns to determination 401.

If the line type is PSTN and the result of determination 412 is NO, a call is made to the analog public network using the telephone number taken out at that time (process 415). As a result, the destination group 3 facsimile machine FXg detects the incoming call, and in this case, executes the calling number notification service receiving procedure as described above to restore the line after knowing the telephone number of the caller. Wait until a predetermined time elapses after the call (NO loop of judgment 416), and when a predetermined time elapses from the call and the result of judgment 416 becomes YES, the incoming call notification to the destination user is terminated. Return to decision 401.

If the number of receptions is smaller than the set value and the result of determination 410 is NO, the process returns to determination 401 because it is not sufficient to notify the incoming call.

When an incoming call is detected from the analog public network PSTN and the result of determination 402 is YES, the incoming call is answered and a predetermined pre-group 3 facsimile transmission procedure is executed (process 420), and the transmission function and the like at that time. And so on.

Here, it is determined whether or not a polling reception request has been designated by the partner terminal (decision 421).
If the result of step 1 is NO, a normal incoming call process is executed (process 422), and the process returns to the judgment 401.

If the result of determination 421 is YES when the polling reception request is specified by the partner terminal, the source telephone number is extracted from the transmission terminal identification information TSI received in the pre-transmission procedure, and the telephone number is extracted. The e-mail address registered in the user registration table corresponding to the e-mail address is retrieved, and it is determined whether or not one or more facsimile image information is stored in a mailbox provided corresponding to the e-mail address ( Process 423,
Decision 424).

A decision 424 is made when one or more facsimile image information is stored in the mailbox provided corresponding to the electronic mail address corresponding to the sender.
If the result of YES is YES,
Continue the facsimile transmission procedure. That is, a modem speed to be used is determined by executing a modem training procedure (process 425), and a predetermined image information transmission procedure is executed to transmit all image information stored in the mailbox (process 426). When the image information transmission is completed, a predetermined post-transmission procedure is executed (process 427), the line is restored (process 428), and the image information that has been transmitted is deleted from the mailbox (process 429). Finished, decision 401
Return to

On the other hand, when one or more facsimile image information is not stored in the mailbox provided corresponding to the electronic mail address corresponding to the sender, and when the result of determination 423 is NO, A predetermined forced termination procedure is executed to forcibly terminate the group 3 facsimile transmission procedure (step 431), and the line is restored (step 43).
2) Return to determination 401.

When the incoming call is detected from the digital public network ISDN and the result of determination 403 is YES, a predetermined call setting procedure is executed (process 435), and an information channel is established (process 436). A predetermined group 4 facsimile transmission pre-procedure is executed on the established information channel (processing 437), and the transmission function and the like at that time are set.

Here, it is determined whether or not a polling reception request has been designated by the partner terminal (decision 438).
If the result of step 8 is NO, the normal incoming call process is executed, and the process returns to the judgment 401.

If the result of determination 428 is YES when the polling reception request is specified by the partner terminal, the telephone number of the caller is extracted from the “calling number” information element included in the call setup message SETUP, and The e-mail address registered in the user registration table corresponding to the telephone number is taken out, and one or more facsimile image information is stored in a mailbox provided corresponding to the e-mail address. (Process 440, judgment 441).

A decision 441 is made when one or more facsimile image information is stored in the mailbox provided corresponding to the electronic mail address corresponding to the sender.
If the result is YES, a predetermined image information transmission procedure is executed to transmit all the image information stored in the mailbox (process 442), and when the image information transmission is completed,
After executing a predetermined information channel end procedure (process 443), the information channel is ended (process 444), and a call release procedure is executed to release the call (process 445).

Next, the image information that has been transmitted is deleted from the mailbox (step 446), the number of receptions in the user setting table is cleared to “0” (step 447), and this operation ends, and the flow returns to the judgment 401. .

On the other hand, if one or more facsimile image information is not stored in the mailbox provided corresponding to the electronic mail address corresponding to the sender, and if the result of determination 441 is NO, A predetermined forced termination procedure is executed to forcibly terminate the group 4 facsimile transmission procedure (process 448), and terminate the information channel (process 4).
49), the call is released by executing a predetermined call release procedure (process 450), and the process returns to the judgment 401.

As described above, in the present embodiment, a user setting table is formed in which the number of e-mails to be stored until notification of an incoming call is set for each destination, and the number of received and accumulated e-mails is set to the set value. If they match, the destination user is notified of the incoming call to the group 3 facsimile machine FXg or the group 4 facsimile machine FXf.
When an e-mail is frequently received, it is possible to suppress the problem that the frequency of the incoming notification increases and the communication efficiency deteriorates.

By adjusting the number of settings in the user setting table appropriately, it is possible to adjust the immediacy of communication and the communication efficiency.

On the other hand, as described above, if e-mails are stored up to the set value registered in the user setting table, when an e-mail with high urgency is received,
The time until the incoming call notification becomes too long may cause a problem that a distribution service cannot be performed according to the urgency set for the e-mail.

In order to solve this problem, when an e-mail with high urgency, for example, an e-mail having a value of “X-priority” of “1” is received, regardless of the number of receptions at that time, An incoming call notification may be sent to the group 3 facsimile machine FXg or the group 4 facsimile machine FXf of the destination user.

In this case, the facsimile server FS
20, 21 and 22 show an example of the main part of the processing executed by the. Note that, in the case of the present embodiment, the same processing as in the above-described embodiment can be applied to the processing at the time of an incoming call of the group 3 facsimile apparatus FXg and the group 4 facsimile apparatus FXf.

First, the facsimile server apparatus FS monitors whether an electronic mail is received, an incoming call is detected from the analog public network PSTN, or an incoming call is detected from the digital public network ISDN (decisions 501 and 50).
2,503 NO loop).

In the case where the electronic mail is received, the judgment 501
If the result is YES, the e-mail is saved (step 504), the e-mail address of the destination user is extracted (step 505), the body information is converted into facsimile image information by the image processing unit 8, and The facsimile image information is stored in a mailbox provided in the image storage device 9 corresponding to the user's e-mail address (process 506).

Here, the body information of the received e-mail is, as shown in FIG.
If it is composed only of ME information, its MIME
Decodes information to generate original Japanese character code data, generates graphic character data corresponding to the Japanese character code data, creates display information of the body information, and encodes and decodes the display information The facsimile image information is created by encoding and compression by the converting unit 7.

When the text information is composed of only the MIME information of the facsimile image information data as shown in FIG. 5, the original facsimile image information is generated by decoding the MIME information.

When the text information is composed of two parts of the Japanese character code and the facsimile image information data as shown in FIG. 6, the information of the first part is obtained by decoding the MIME information. To generate the original Japanese character code data, generate graphic character data corresponding to the Japanese character code data, create display information of the body information, and encode the display information into an encoding / decoding unit 7. To generate facsimile image information, treat the facsimile image information as image information of the first page, and use the MIM for the information of the next part.
The E information is decoded to generate original facsimile image information, and the facsimile image information is handled as image information of the second page. In this way, for the body information in the multi-part MIME format, an independent page is assigned to each part.

It should be noted that, as the text information, a format other than facsimile image information data (for example, BMP, GI
When image data of F, JPEG, TIFF, etc. is attached, the format of the image data is converted into facsimile image data, and then encoded and compressed to create facsimile image information data. Such an image format conversion is performed by the image processing unit 8.

Next, with reference to the user setting table, the number of receptions and the set number registered corresponding to the destination e-mail address are read (step 507), and the number of receptions is incremented (step 508). The updated reception count is stored in the user setting table (step 509).

It is checked whether the number of receptions is equal to or more than the set value (decision 510).
When S is reached, the telephone number and line type registered corresponding to the destination e-mail address are extracted with reference to the user registration table (process 511), and it is checked whether or not the line type is ISDN (step 511). Decision 512).

When the line type is ISDN, the judgment 512
If the result is YES, a call is made to the digital public network ISDN using the telephone number taken out at that time (process 513). As a result, the destination group 4 facsimile machine FXf detects the incoming call. In this case, after receiving the call setup message SETUP and confirming the source as described above, it sends out the release complete message REL_COMP to operate the call setup procedure. And waits until a release completion message REL_COMP is received from the digital public network ISDN (NO loop in decision 514), and a release completion message REL_CO is received from the digital public network ISDN.
If the MP is received and the result of determination 514 is YES, notification of the incoming call to the destination user has been completed, and the process returns to determination 501.

If the line type is PSTN and the result of determination 512 is NO, a call is made to the analog public network using the telephone number extracted at that time (process 515). As a result, the destination group 3 facsimile machine FXg detects the incoming call, and in this case, executes the calling number notification service incoming procedure as described above to restore the line after knowing the caller's telephone number. Wait until a predetermined time elapses after calling (NO loop of decision 516). When a predetermined time elapses after the call and the result of decision 516 becomes YES, the notification of the incoming call to the destination user is terminated. Return to decision 501.

When the number of receptions is smaller than the set value and the result of determination 510 is NO, “X-priorit” in the header information of the stored e-mail
It is checked whether the value of the “y” field is “1” (processing 517, judgment 518), and the result of the judgment 518 is Y
When it becomes ES, the urgency of the e-mail is very large, so the process proceeds to processing 511 to execute an incoming call notification.

When the result of the determination 518 is NO, the process returns to the determination 501 because it is not sufficient to notify the incoming call.

If an incoming call is detected from the analog public network PSTN and the result of determination 502 is YES, the incoming call is answered and a predetermined group 3 facsimile transmission pre-procedure is executed (process 520), and the transmission function at that time. And so on.

Here, it is checked whether or not a polling reception request has been specified by the partner terminal (decision 521).
If the result of step 1 is NO, a normal incoming call process is executed (process 522), and the process returns to the judgment 501.

When the polling reception request is specified by the partner terminal and the result of determination 521 is YES, the source telephone number is extracted from the transmission terminal identification information TSI received in the pre-transmission procedure, and the telephone number is extracted. The e-mail address registered in the user registration table corresponding to the e-mail address is retrieved, and it is determined whether or not one or more facsimile image information is stored in a mailbox provided corresponding to the e-mail address ( Process 523,
Decision 524).

A decision 524 is made when one or more facsimile image information is stored in the mailbox provided corresponding to the electronic mail address corresponding to the sender.
If the result of YES is YES,
Continue the facsimile transmission procedure. That is, the modem speed to be used is determined by executing the modem training procedure (step 525), and a predetermined image information transmission procedure is executed to transmit all the image information stored in the mailbox (step 526). When the image information transmission is completed, a predetermined post-transmission procedure is executed (step 527), the line is restored (step 528), and the image information that has been transmitted is deleted from the mailbox (step 529). Finished, judgment 501
Return to

On the other hand, when one or more facsimile image information is not stored in the mailbox provided corresponding to the electronic mail address corresponding to the sender, and when the result of determination 523 is NO, A predetermined forced termination procedure is executed to forcibly terminate the group 3 facsimile transmission procedure (step 531), and the line is restored (step 53).
2) Return to decision 501.

If an incoming call is detected from the digital public network ISDN and the result of determination 503 is YES, a predetermined call setting procedure is executed (process 535), and an information channel is established (process 536). A predetermined group 4 facsimile transmission pre-procedure is executed on the established information channel (processing 537), and the transmission function and the like at that time are set.

Here, it is checked whether or not a polling reception request is specified by the partner terminal (decision 538).
If the result of step 8 is NO, the process for a normal incoming call is executed, and the process returns to the judgment 501.

If the result of determination 528 is YES when the polling reception request is specified by the partner terminal, the telephone number of the caller is extracted from the “calling number” information element included in the call setup message SETUP, and The e-mail address registered in the user registration table corresponding to the telephone number is taken out, and one or more facsimile image information is stored in a mailbox provided corresponding to the e-mail address. (Processing 540, judgment 541).

A decision 441 is made when one or more facsimile image information is stored in the mailbox provided corresponding to the electronic mail address corresponding to the sender.
If the result is YES, a predetermined image information transmission procedure is executed to transmit the image information stored in the mailbox (processing 542), and when the image information transmission ends, a predetermined information channel end procedure is executed. (Process 543)
The information channel is terminated (process 544), and a call release procedure is executed to release the call (process 545).

Next, the image information that has been transmitted is deleted from the mailbox (step 546), the number of receptions in the user setting table is cleared to “0” (step 547), this operation is terminated, and the process returns to the decision 501. .

On the other hand, if one or more facsimile image information is not stored in the mailbox provided corresponding to the electronic mail address corresponding to the sender, and if the result of determination 541 is NO, By executing a predetermined forced termination procedure, the group 4 facsimile transmission procedure is forcibly terminated (process 548), and the information channel is terminated (process 5).
49), the call is released by executing a predetermined call release procedure (process 550), and the process returns to decision 501.

As described above, in the present embodiment, a user setting table is formed in which the number of e-mails to be stored before receiving an incoming call is set for each destination, and the number of e-mails received and stored is set to the set value. Either matches, or the value of the “X-priority” field of the header information is “1”
When an e-mail with a high degree of urgency is received, an incoming call is notified to the group 3 facsimile machine FXg or the group 4 facsimile machine FXf of the destination user, so that the e-mail is frequently received. In this case, it is possible to suppress the problem that the frequency of the incoming call notification increases and the communication efficiency deteriorates, and it is possible to significantly reduce the time until the delivery of the urgent e-mail.

[0169]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Almost immediately after receiving the e-mail, the contents of the document requested to be transmitted by e-mail to the facsimile server apparatus FS are received by the destination user's group 3 facsimile apparatus FXg or group 4 facsimile apparatus FXf. Therefore, the delay time of distributing the text information of the e-mail, which has been a problem in the past, is greatly reduced, and the effect that the usability and convenience of the facsimile communication system are greatly improved is obtained.

[0170] Also, when the incoming call is notified from the facsimile server apparatus FS to the destination group 3 facsimile apparatus FXg or group 4 facsimile apparatus FXf, no charge is made, so that the facsimile server apparatus FS is charged unnecessarily. It is also possible to avoid such situations.

Also, a user setting table is set in which the number of e-mails to be stored until the notification of the incoming call is set for each destination. When the number of received and stored e-mails matches the set value, the group 3 facsimile of the destination user is set. Device FX
g or the group 4 facsimile machine FXf is notified of an incoming call, so that when an e-mail is frequently received, it is possible to suppress the problem that the frequency of the incoming call notification increases and communication efficiency deteriorates. Get the effect.

Also, a user setting table is set in which the number of e-mails to be stored until the notification of the incoming call is set for each destination, and whether the number of received and stored e-mails matches the set value or the header information X-priorit
Since the value of the "y" field is "1" and an e-mail with high urgency is received, an incoming call is notified to the group 3 facsimile machine FXg or the group 4 facsimile machine FXf of the destination user. In addition, it is possible to suppress a problem that the frequency of incoming notification is increased when frequent e-mails are received and communication efficiency is deteriorated, and also to significantly reduce the time required for delivery of urgent e-mails. The effect that can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a facsimile communication system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a user registration table.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the facsimile server device FS.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram showing an example of an electronic mail for requesting an image information distribution service to the facsimile server device FS.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing another example of an electronic mail for requesting the facsimile server device FS for an image information distribution service.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing still another example of an e-mail for requesting the facsimile server device FS for an image information distribution service.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart showing an example of a calling operation sequence in a line receiving a calling number notification service.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a signal format of a modem signal when transmitting a calling ID and the like.

FIG. 9 is a time chart showing an example of a call control procedure in the digital public network ISDN in the circuit switching mode.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining a signal format of a message for call setting in ISDN.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a part of an example of a main part of a process executed by the facsimile server device FS.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing another example of the main part of the processing executed by the facsimile server device FS.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the remaining part of an example of the main part of the processing executed by the facsimile server device FS.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a main part of a process executed by the group 4 facsimile machine FXf at the time of an incoming call;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a main part of a process executed by the group 3 facsimile machine FXg at the time of an incoming call;

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a user setting table.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a part of another example of the main part of the processing executed by the facsimile server device FS.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating another part of another example of the main part of the processing executed by the facsimile server device FS.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the remaining part of another example of the main part of the processing executed by the facsimile server device FS.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a part of still another example of the main part of the processing executed by the facsimile server device FS.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing another part of still another example of the main part of the processing executed by the facsimile server device FS.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the remaining part of another example of the main part of the processing executed by the facsimile server device FS.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04N 1/00 107

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile server device having a function of exchanging data via a local area network or the Internet, and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure via a public network, and a transmission line connected to a public network. When a facsimile server device receives transmission information addressed to a facsimile device via a local area network or the Internet, the facsimile device converts the transmission information into facsimile image information and stores it. A polling reception request is sent to the facsimile server at the timing. When the facsimile server accumulates facsimile image information of transmission information addressed to the facsimile requested to be polled, the facsimile server receives the polling reception request. In a control method of a facsimile communication system that polls and transmits image information, the facsimile apparatus is connected to a public network having a caller ID notification service, while the facsimile server apparatus is connected to a facsimile via a local area network or the Internet. When the transmission information addressed to the device is received, the transmission information is converted into facsimile image information and stored, and then a call is made to the destination facsimile device via the public network, while the facsimile device receives the transmission information from the network when an incoming call is received. If the transmitted caller number corresponds to the facsimile server device, a polling reception request is sent to the facsimile server device. Accumulate A facsimile communication system that polls and transmits the facsimile image information. 2. A facsimile server device having a function of exchanging data through a local area network or the Internet and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure through a public network, and a transmission line connected to a public network. When the facsimile server device receives transmission information addressed to the facsimile device via the local area network or the Internet, the facsimile device converts the transmission information into facsimile image information and accumulates the information. At the timing, the facsimile server requests polling reception, and the facsimile server stores the facsimile image information of the transmission information addressed to the facsimile requested to be polled. In the method for controlling a facsimile communication system that polls and transmits image information, the facsimile apparatus is connected to a public network having a caller ID notification service, while the facsimile server apparatus is connected to a facsimile machine via a local area network or the Internet. When the transmission information addressed to the device is received, the transmission information is converted into facsimile image information and stored, and when the facsimile image information addressed to the facsimile device is stored in a predetermined number or more, the facsimile device of the destination is referred to as On the other hand, when a call is made via a public network, the facsimile apparatus makes a polling reception request to the facsimile server apparatus when the caller number received from the network at the time of receiving the call corresponds to the facsimile server apparatus. Facsimile server A facsimile communication system control method, wherein, when facsimile image information of transmission information addressed to the facsimile apparatus requested to be polled is stored, all the stored facsimile image information is polled and transmitted. . 3. A facsimile server device having a function of exchanging data via a local area network or the Internet, and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure via a public network, and a transmission line connected to a public network. When the facsimile server device receives transmission information addressed to the facsimile device via the local area network or the Internet, the facsimile device converts the transmission information into facsimile image information and accumulates the information. At the timing, the facsimile server requests polling reception, and the facsimile server stores the facsimile image information of the transmission information addressed to the facsimile requested to be polled. In the method for controlling a facsimile communication system that polls and transmits image information, the facsimile apparatus is connected to a public network having a caller ID notification service, while the facsimile server apparatus is connected to a facsimile machine via a local area network or the Internet. When transmission information addressed to the device is received, the transmission information is converted into facsimile image information and stored, and at the same time, facsimile image information addressed to the facsimile device is stored in a predetermined number or more, or received at that time. If the value of the priority information set in the transmitted information is higher than a predetermined value, a call is made to the destination facsimile apparatus via the public network, while the facsimile apparatus receives a call from the network at the time of an incoming call. Caller ID corresponds to the above facsimile server If it is, the facsimile server device makes a polling reception request, and if the facsimile server device stores the facsimile image information of the transmission information addressed to the facsimile device requested for the polling reception, the facsimile server device stores the received facsimile image information. A facsimile communication system, wherein all facsimile image information is sent by polling. 4. The control of a facsimile communication system according to claim 1, wherein the public network is an analog public network provided with a caller ID notification service or ISDN. Method. 5. The transmission information addressed to the facsimile apparatus,
5. The control method for a facsimile communication system according to claim 1, wherein the data is transmitted to the facsimile server device by Internet electronic mail. 6. The facsimile server device has a mail server function, and corresponds to a user mail address assigned to a destination facsimile device.
It has a table in which the number information of the facsimile machine is registered, and obtains the number information of the destination facsimile machine by referring to the table based on the destination information arranged in the header information of the received Internet e-mail. A method for controlling a facsimile communication system according to claim 5.