JPH11341214A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a returned/non-returned situation of facsimile equipment having a multi-address function to plural facsimile equipment to be quickly and easily confirmed. SOLUTION: A returned document is multi-address returned to plural facsimile equipment 4 which a reception side predetermines, by way of a facsimile modem 2 and a net facsimile communication network 3 from a personal computer 1 which is operated by facsimile software. Receiving the document, each of the facsimile equipment 4 returns a confirmation document together with its ID number, on the basis of which the personal computer 1 prepares a returned/ non-returned list.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a facsimile machine,
In particular, the present invention relates to a broadcast communication device that reports the same document or graphic information to a plurality of facsimile machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A facsimile apparatus can transmit and receive character or graphic information not only for business use but also for many households instead of air mail, because it can transmit and receive character or graphic information not only in Japan but also throughout the world via a telephone line. Widespread.

One advantage of a facsimile (FAX) device is the broadcast function of transmitting the same document to a plurality of facsimile devices. With this function, the user of the facsimile apparatus can transmit the same document to a plurality of facsimile apparatuses by a single operation only by specifying the partner facsimile apparatus to be transmitted. is there.

When the broadcast function of such a facsimile apparatus is used, a reply notification is received from a report destination or a reception facsimile apparatus, and the document information is correctly transmitted to all the other facsimile apparatuses intended by the user (sender). You need to make sure that

A conventional facsimile apparatus having a broadcast function is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-50734.
Such a conventional facsimile machine has a storage unit for storing a document (telegram) to be broadcasted. A broadcast distribution control unit reads out a document from the storage unit and broadcasts the document to a plurality of designated facsimile machines. Further, after the broadcast transmission, a first character pattern corresponding to the partner facsimile machine that could not be transmitted and a second character pattern corresponding to the reason why transmission to the facsimile machine is not possible are generated and corresponded. It has a result return control unit that creates and outputs the generated broadcast result information.

[0006] After setting the facsimile document to be broadcasted and the destination designation document (mark sheet), the sender activates the broadcast request FAX1. The facsimile document and the destination designation document are read by an optical mark reader or the like, and
X1 is transmitted to the exchange, and received by the facsimile storage and broadcasting device. After the facsimile storage / broadcasting apparatus restores and recognizes the image of the destination-designated document information, the facsimile transmission control unit performs facsimile transmission to each broadcast destination.

[0007] In the storage unit of the facsimile storage and broadcasting device,
The first character pattern corresponding to the destination that could not be distributed and the second character pattern corresponding to the reason that transmission to the destination terminal is impossible are stored and transmitted to the broadcast request FAX1 via the exchange.

[0008]

In the above-described conventional facsimile apparatus, a facsimile storage / broadcasting apparatus is newly provided, and a telegram of an image image including information on a destination that could not be transmitted is returned to the transmission source FAX. When broadcasting to many recipients, you can send to any recipient,
In addition, there is a disadvantage that it takes time to check whether or not transmission was possible.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved communication system capable of quickly and easily confirming a transmitted destination and a non-delivered destination even when broadcasting to a large number of destinations. A facsimile machine is provided.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention employs the following characteristic configuration.

(1) In a facsimile apparatus for broadcasting from a transmitting side to a plurality of receiving-side facsimile apparatuses designated in advance via an F-net facsimile communication network, the transmitting side is a personal computer and a facsimile modem operated by facsimile software. And a facsimile machine which creates reply lists of reply information from the plurality of facsimile devices by the personal computer.

(2) An ID number is assigned to each of the plurality of FAX devices on the receiving side, and the list includes the ID number.
The facsimile machine of (1) created with the number.

(3) The FAX software of the personal computer is a commercially available STARFAX (1) or (2).
Facsimile machine.

(4) The facsimile apparatus according to (1), (2) or (3), wherein the list is created by a text editor or word processing software of the personal computer.

(5) The confirmation document and the ID number returned from the FAX device on the receiving side are recorded in a LOG file (1), (2), (3) or (4). Facsimile machine.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a facsimile apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the facsimile machine of FIG.

First, the configuration of a facsimile apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The information transmission side includes a personal computer (personal computer) 1 and a FAX modem (modulator / demodulator) 2. The personal computer 1 is configured to operate by FAX software (for example, STARFAX), a text editor, or a word processor. The information transmitting side is connected to the information receiving side (related organizations) via the F-net facsimile communication network 3. The information receiving side has N fax devices 4 in which ID numbers are registered. A transmission manuscript such as a document created by the personal computer 1 with such a configuration is transmitted via the facsimile modem 2 and the F-net facsimile communication network 3 to a plurality of facsimile apparatuses on the receiving side designated in advance by the transmitting side (by ID numbers). (Ie, a broadcast notification destination).

Next, referring to the functional block diagram of FIG.
The operation of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 will be described. As described above, the transmitting side transmits information via the FAX modem 2 using the F-net compatible FAX software (for example, STARFAX) of the personal computer 1. The F-net facsimile network 3 transmits the information to the previously registered facsimile apparatus 4 of the broadcast notification destination.

The receiving side confirms the contents of the communication and returns the returned document to the destination. Here, each FAX device 4 on the receiving side
Is registered with an identification ID code (ID number). This ID code is transmitted to the transmission source (information transmission side) at the time of reply.

The ID code is stored in the “LOG property” of the FAX software of the personal computer 1. The FAX software is compatible with the OCX function of Windows95 (a trademark of Microsoft Corporation).
The "LOG file" can be read and edited with a text editor or the like. In this text editor, a fixed-form table in which "communication destination", "with reply", and "without reply" frames are created in advance. By filling the table each time there is a reply from the information receiving side, the specific FAX device 4 is automatically
A table of "delivery" or "non-delivery" can be created. On the information transmitting side, it can be understood that, based on this table displayed on the screen of the personal computer 1, whether or not the information has been transmitted to the N facsimile apparatuses 4 can be displayed at a glance.

As described above, the broadcast function of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention does not require special equipment and is relatively inexpensive by using the "F-net" service currently provided by NTT Corporation. Therefore, it is assumed that this F-net is used. When the transmission destination (reception side) receives the message and confirms the content, a reply message is returned to the transmission side. Also, an ID code (own telephone number) is registered in the transmission destination FAX apparatus in advance, and this ID code is also transmitted to the reply destination FAX apparatus. The “LOG information” stored in the transmitting personal computer is read out, and a delivery / non-delivery table is automatically created using a commercially available text editor or word processor.

The configuration and operation of the preferred embodiment of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to only the specific embodiment, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made as needed.

[0023]

As will be understood from the above description, according to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, a large number of fax apparatuses are broadcasted, and whether or not each fax apparatus has been delivered is displayed in a table format. Therefore, it can be confirmed very easily and quickly. In addition, since a commercially available standard product is used, there is a remarkable effect that it can be realized at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the facsimile apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Personal computer (personal computer) 2 FAX modem 3 F net facsimile communication network 4 FAX device

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus for broadcasting from a transmitting side to a plurality of receiving-side facsimile apparatuses designated in advance via an F-net facsimile communication network.
A facsimile machine using a personal computer and a facsimile modem operating with software to create a list of reply information from the plurality of facsimile devices and a list of replies and unreplies by the personal computer. 2. The plurality of fax machines on the receiving side,
2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an ID number is given to each of the lists, and the list is created together with the ID numbers. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the FAX software of the personal computer is a commercially available STARFAX. 4. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said list is created by a text editor or word processing software of said personal computer. 5. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the confirmation document and the ID number returned from the facsimile apparatus on the receiving side are recorded in a LOG file.