JPH11112765A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile equipment with an electronic mail function surely transmitting an original to an opposite party. SOLUTION: A main control part 1 controls the equipment to call the facsimile number of the opposite party which is previously registered to the address/ FAX table 17 of RAM 7 to automatically facsimile-transmit a facsimile original when not-arriving information is returned from the server computer 21 of a provider concerning the facsimile original transmitted as an electronic mail.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus having a normal facsimile communication function such as a G3 system and a function of transmitting and receiving e-mail as image data connected to a computer communication network such as the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, computer communication networks such as the Internet have become widespread. The reason is that the computer network is excellent in error correction, and the user has to pay for the communication cost (line usage fee and provider cost) with the nearest contracted provider (connection company to the computer network). It is possible to communicate with computers not only in Japan but also all over the world just by paying for it.

Incidentally, the conventional facsimile communication procedure is different from the above-described computer communication procedure using a computer communication network, so that it is not possible to perform direct communication from the facsimile apparatus to the computer communication network.
However, even if image data is normally transmitted and received in facsimile communication, for example, TIFF (Tagged Image Fil
If the data is converted into e-mail format data such as e-format, the data can be transmitted and received by a facsimile apparatus via a computer communication network.

[0004] Under such circumstances, facsimile messages can be transmitted and received as electronic mail through Internet communication, and facsimile apparatuses with an electronic mail function used for such purposes have been developed.

[0005]

In such a facsimile apparatus with an e-mail function, when a facsimile message is transmitted as e-mail via the Internet communication, it is determined from the server computer of the provider that the corresponding e-mail address does not exist. Notification may be returned. In such a case, the user must retransmit the facsimile message again using a normal public telephone line or the like, which is troublesome and troublesome.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and in a facsimile apparatus with an e-mail function, a non-delivery notice is returned from a server computer of a provider with respect to a certain facsimile message transmitted as e-mail. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of automatically transmitting a facsimile message in such a case.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A facsimile apparatus according to the present invention is a facsimile apparatus having a facsimile communication function and a function of transmitting and receiving image data in an e-mail format via a server. A monitoring means for monitoring the transmission of the non-delivery notification from the server computer, and a means for transmitting the image data by facsimile communication when the non-delivery notification is transmitted.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, when a non-delivery notification is returned from the server with respect to a certain facsimile message transmitted as an electronic mail, a call is automatically sent to the facsimile number of the transmission destination of the facsimile message. To send the facsimile message by facsimile. Therefore, troublesome processing of the user as in the related art is not required, and the facsimile message is reliably sent to the transmission destination.

In another facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, in the above configuration, after the image data is transmitted to the server, the monitoring means may determine whether or not a non-delivery notification has been transmitted from the server. It is characterized in that monitoring is performed over a predetermined period.

[0010] In another facsimile apparatus of the present invention, after transmitting a facsimile message as an electronic mail, a non-delivery notice is monitored for a predetermined period. Therefore, it is possible to reliably monitor whether or not the transmission destination has not been reached.

Still another facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned configuration, is a table in which a correspondence relationship between a mail address and a facsimile number is registered, and an image data to which a non-delivery notification is transmitted from the server. Means for determining whether or not the facsimile number of the transmission destination is registered in the table, and means for outputting a non-delivery error message when the facsimile number of the transmission destination is not registered in the table. It is characterized by.

According to still another facsimile apparatus of the present invention, when a facsimile number of a transmission destination to which a non-delivery notification is returned from a server is not registered, the facsimile message cannot be automatically transmitted by facsimile communication. Output a non-delivery error message. Therefore, it is possible to notify the user that transmission is not possible by any of the electronic mail communication and the facsimile communication.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments. However, in the embodiments of the present invention described below, the present invention is applied to a facsimile apparatus configured to transmit image data to be transmitted by facsimile as e-mail, and also as a computer communication network. Shall use the Internet.

First, the hardware configuration of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The facsimile apparatus of the present invention has a function capable of Internet communication in addition to the G3 and G4 facsimile communication functions.

In FIG. 1, the main control unit 1 is specifically a CP
U, which is connected to hardware units described below via a bus 15 to control them and execute various software functions. The scanner 2 reads a document using, for example, a CCD, and outputs dot image data converted to black and white binary via the codec unit 3.

The printer 4 is, for example, a printer device of an electrophotographic system or the like, and prints out image data input via the codec unit 5 as a hard copy. The image data includes image data received from another facsimile machine by facsimile communication and image data received by Internet communication.

The ROM 6 stores in advance various software programs necessary for the operation of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. The RAM 7 is configured by an SRAM, a flash memory, or the like, and stores temporary data generated when executing software. Further, an address / FAX table 17 indicating the correspondence between the mail address and the facsimile number is set in an appropriate area of the RAM 7.

The image memory 8 comprises a DRAM or the like.
The image data to be transmitted or the received image data is stored. The operation panel 9 includes a character key, a numeric keypad (numerical key), and a character key necessary for operating the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.
It has speed dial keys, one-touch dial keys, and various function keys.

The display unit 10 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a CRT display. The display unit 10 displays the operation state of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, and outputs image data of a document to be transmitted and received image data. Display. In addition, the display unit 10 displays a non-delivery error message described below when the facsimile number of the transmission destination of the original that has received the non-delivery notification is not registered, and transmits the original that has received the non-delivery notification by facsimile communication. It also displays a communication error message when it is not possible.

The G3 modem 11 exchanges image data and analog audio signals with each other,
Performs an exchange between an analog voice signal and digital data, and an ISDN interface unit 13 controls an interface function with an ISDN line 20 connected to a server computer 21 of the provider as a digital data line. I
The SDN interface unit 13 has an S-interface function and LA
It is composed of a PD function. S-interface is S
It means a point interface, and includes protocol processing functions, maintenance functions, and interface functions. LAP-D
The function controls the protocol for the D channel of ISDN. The LAP-B function unit 14 controls an ISDN B-channel protocol and performs actual data communication.

The facsimile apparatus of the present invention has the above-described hardware configuration, and has a function of mainly transmitting and receiving image data converted into a TIFF file as electronic mail, as well as a G3 and G4 facsimile communication function. have. In other words, it is possible to convert the image data of the original document to be transmitted by facsimile into a TIFF file and transmit / receive it as e-mail via the Internet. However, the function for that is stored in the ROM 6 as a software program.

Next, the operation will be described. In the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, after transmitting a document via the Internet, a non-delivery notice is sent to the server computer of the provider.
When the fax is returned from the fax machine 21, a facsimile number registered in advance is called and the original is automatically copied to G3 or G3.
Retransmission is performed by four-mode facsimile communication.

Hereinafter, the operation of transmitting a document as an electronic mail will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2 showing the procedure.

The original image data is converted into a TIFF file and transmitted as an electronic mail (step S1). Then, it is determined whether or not a non-delivery notification has been sent from the server computer 21 of the provider (step S2). The bounce notification is sent to the facsimile machine in the form of an email,
The non-delivery notification includes a mail address of a transmission destination of the original, information indicating that the corresponding mail address does not exist and cannot be transmitted, and the like.

Then, it is determined whether or not a predetermined number of days has elapsed since the original was transmitted (step S3). If the predetermined number of days has not elapsed (S3: NO), a notification of non-delivery has not been sent. Is determined (S2). If the predetermined number of days has elapsed (S3: YES), the process ends. That is, as long as a predetermined number of days have not elapsed after sending the original, a non-delivery notice may be received. It is determined that the notification has been sent, and the monitoring of the non-delivery notification ends.

When a non-delivery notice is sent (S2:
YES), the facsimile number corresponding to the mail address of the destination included in the non-delivery notice is stored in the address /
It is determined whether it is registered in the FAX table 17 (step S4). If the facsimile number has not been registered (S4: NO), a non-delivery error message indicating that the original has not been transmitted to the destination as an e-mail is displayed on the display unit 10 (step S5). The user is notified.

On the other hand, if the facsimile number has been registered (S4: YES), the facsimile number is called and G3 or G4 facsimile communication is used.
The original is resent (step S6). Then, it is determined whether the original has been successfully transmitted by facsimile communication (step S7). If the transmission has succeeded (S7: YES), the process ends. On the other hand, if transmission is not possible (S7: N
O), a communication error message indicating that the original is not transmitted to the destination even by facsimile communication is displayed on the display unit 10.
(Step S8) to inform the user.

The facsimile apparatus of the present invention can be applied to both cases of dial-up connection to the Internet and LAN connection to the Internet. In the above-described example, the non-delivery error message and the communication error message are displayed on the display unit 10 and presented to the user, but these error messages are printed out as a hard copy by the printer 4. May be configured.

[0029]

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, when a non-delivery notice is returned from a server with respect to a certain facsimile message transmitted as an electronic mail, a call is automatically made to the facsimile number of the transmission destination of the facsimile message. Since the facsimile message is sent by facsimile, the facsimile message can be automatically re-sent via a public telephone line when a non-delivery notification is sent, without requiring the user to perform complicated processing.
The facsimile message to be transmitted can be reliably sent to the destination.

In another facsimile apparatus of the present invention, after transmitting a facsimile message as an electronic mail, a non-delivery notice is monitored for a predetermined period.
It is possible to reliably monitor whether or not the transmission destination has not been reached.

In still another facsimile apparatus of the present invention,
When the destination facsimile number in the facsimile message returned from the server with the non-delivery notification is not registered, a non-delivery error message indicating that the facsimile message cannot be automatically transmitted by facsimile is output. It is possible to inform the user that transmission is not possible by either electronic mail communication or facsimile communication.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 Main control unit 6 ROM 7 RAM 10 Display unit 11 G3 modem 12 Voice codec unit 13 ISDN interface unit 14 LAP-B function unit 17 Address / FAX table 20 ISDN line 21 Server computer

Claims (3)

[Claims] In a facsimile apparatus having a facsimile communication function and a function of transmitting and receiving image data in an e-mail format via a server, monitoring for monitoring transmission of a non-delivery notification from the server with respect to transmitted image data. A facsimile apparatus comprising: means for transmitting the image data by facsimile communication when a non-delivery notification is transmitted. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, after the image data is transmitted to the server, the monitoring unit monitors whether a non-delivery notification is transmitted from the server for a predetermined period. apparatus. 3. A table in which a correspondence between a mail address and a facsimile number is registered, and whether or not a facsimile number of a destination of image data to which a non-delivery notification has been transmitted from the server is registered in the table. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: means for judging an error, and means for outputting a non-delivery error message when the facsimile number of the transmission destination is not registered in the table.