JPH1141437A - Communication terminal equipment provided with electronic mail function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication terminal equipment provided with electronic mail function in which a communication form in response to a state of a network is selected. SOLUTION: In the case that the terminal equipment has a function of sending an electronic mail via a network and receives a message denoting it that communication of the electronic mail cannot be available (S2), the electronic mail cannot be sent via the network (S4). Since the terminal equipment sends no electronic mail when the network cannot communicate the electronic mail, useless transmission is eliminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication terminal device such as a facsimile device with an e-mail function, and more particularly to a communication terminal device with an e-mail function capable of selecting a communication mode according to a network situation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a wide range of computer communication networks configured by connecting a LAN or individual personal computers to a communication line such as a telephone line has become widespread. The computer communication network includes the Internet and a personal computer communication service network. The PC communication service network has NI
FTY-Serve (hereinafter referred to as Nifty), PC-
VAN and the like. Hereinafter, each of these computer communication networks is referred to as a network type. Communication between heterogeneous networks having different network types is also possible.

In the case of using a computer communication network, there are a plurality of providers (providers) that provide services such as connection to a computer communication network, rather than directly communicating from a user to a destination. The person communicates via the computer (server) of this provider. In the personal computer communication service network, there is a host that controls services, and users communicate via a host computer. When using a computer communication network, a user connects a line to an access point of a provider or a host, and then performs a procedure called login in order to be authenticated as a subscriber. For login, it is necessary to input a user name (user ID) and a password known only to the user. By this login, the own communication terminal device is logically connected to the computer communication network.

[0004] There are various contents of the service. Here, electronic mail on the Internet will be described. The user stores data to be communicated in an e-mail having a predetermined format, and transmits the e-mail. The e-mail includes the e-mail address (e-mai) of the sending user.
l address) and the electronic mail address of the destination. These e-mail addresses include information indicating each provider. The e-mail is stored in the mailbox of the provider contracted by the other user. The recipient user, who is the recipient, can retrieve the electronic mail from this mailbox in a timely manner. Note that a user name (user ID) represented by a character string based on a domain name system (DNS) is used for the e-mail address instead of an IP (Internet Protocol) address represented only by a numerical value.

An advantage of the computer communication network is that it employs a communication system having an excellent error correction function, and allows a user to pay a communication fee to a nearest contract provider or access point and to communicate with a remote partner. Communication is possible.

On the other hand, facsimile communication for communicating image data using a telephone line has been widely used.
Communication procedures and communication methods for this have been established. Since the communication procedure and communication method of facsimile communication are different from those of a computer communication network, a conventional facsimile device cannot be connected to the computer communication network. Accordingly, the present applicant has proposed a facsimile apparatus with an e-mail function in which a facsimile apparatus has a function of converting image data into an e-mail format and performing communication.

[0007]

When a computer communication network is used, a host for personal computer communication or an Internet provider may not be able to communicate e-mail for a predetermined period of time due to maintenance or the like. The user may not be able to send an e-mail without knowing the fact.

A similar problem occurs not only in a facsimile apparatus but also in a communication terminal apparatus with an e-mail function.

It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a communication terminal device with an e-mail function capable of selecting a communication mode corresponding to a network situation.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a function of transmitting an e-mail via a network. It does not send e-mail via the network.

[0011] Information on a time zone during which mail communication is disabled from the network may be received, and transmission of the e-mail may be resumed after the time zone has passed.

A function of converting the image data into an electronic mail format and transmitting the image data and a function of transmitting the image data by facsimile may be used. If the electronic mail cannot be transmitted due to network conditions, facsimile transmission may be used.

[0013]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In this embodiment, the communication terminal device is G
3, a facsimile machine having a G4 facsimile communication function and an e-mail function. FIG. 1 shows a flow of the operation of the facsimile apparatus. FIG. 2 shows various tables provided in the facsimile apparatus. That is, FIG. 2A shows a user table T1 for registering a user, and FIG. 2B shows a destination table T2 for registering a destination. FIG. 3 shows a circuit configuration of the facsimile apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 3, the facsimile apparatus includes a main control unit 1, a reading unit 2, a recording unit 3, a display unit 4, an operation unit 5, a ROM 7, a RAM 8, an image memory 9, and a modem 1.
0, NCU 11, and data modem 12.

The main control unit (CPU) 1 controls each part of the hardware through a bus 13 and encodes / demultiplexes.
Software (program) such as image (TIFF) conversion, binary text conversion, mail editing, auto dialer, communication procedure, etc. can be executed. In addition, the present invention can execute a program for analyzing a message from a network and switching a communication method according to a time zone according to the present invention.

The reading section 2 reads an original with an image pickup device such as a CCD and can generate binary black and white image data.

The recording unit 3 includes a printer of an electrophotographic system or the like, and can record (print out) image data received by facsimile communication from another G3 or G4 facsimile apparatus or image data obtained by e-mail. . Also, messages and time zone information received from the network can be printed out.

The display unit 4 includes a display such as an LCD display, and operates the facsimile apparatus, image data, and the like.
It is possible to display registered contents, operation instructions, and the like. In addition, messages and time zone information received from the network can be displayed.

The operation unit 5 includes numeric keys for inputting numbers, speed dial keys for speed dial operation, one touch keys for one touch operation, various function keys, start keys, and the like. The function keys have functions such as setting a telephone number / e-mail address registration mode and selecting a communication method. The numeric keys, speed dial keys, and one-touch keys also have a function of inputting characters such as alphabets.

The ROM 7 stores a program executed by the main control unit to operate the facsimile apparatus.

The RAM 8 is composed of an SRAM, a flash memory or the like, and stores temporary data generated when a program is executed, and also stores various registered data in a table format. It also stores messages and time zone information received from the network.

The image memory 9 comprises a DRAM and stores image data.

The modem 10 has a fax modem function and is used when performing facsimile communication of image data.

An NCU (Network Control Unit) 11 can close and open an analog line. Note that G
In the 4 communication, it is connected to an ISDN line via a DSU (data line terminating device) not shown.

The data modem 12 has a data modem function and is used when communicating image data by electronic mail. The data modem 12 is connected to an external telephone terminal of the NCU, and is connected to a serial port of the external interface 15 by RS232C.

Next, a program executed by the main control unit will be described.

In encoding / decoding, image data is
Encoding and decoding are performed by encoding methods such as H, MR, and MMR. Hereinafter, the image data encoded by these encoding methods will be referred to as G3 format image data. The image memory stores the G3 format image data.

In image conversion, at the time of transmission, G3 format image data is converted to TIFF used by a general computer.
(Tagged Image File Format)
At the time of reception, it converts the TIFF image data into G3 format image data. In addition, TIFF is Adobe System
It is a format released by the company, black and white binary,
Various CLASSes that handle black and white multivalued, full color, and the like are defined. CLASS F, one of them
Defines G3 format image data, which is image data of a document encoded by an encoding method such as MH, MR, or MMR. Therefore, the image data in G3 format can be converted into TIFF image data by adding TIFF header information of CLASS F to the head of the image data.

In the binary text conversion, when transmitting,
Converts binary data to text data, and upon reception,
Convert text data to binary data. There are computers on the Internet that cannot handle binary data e-mail. When transmitting binary data such as TIFF image data so as to ensure that the e-mail reaches the destination, the data is temporarily converted to text data. The text data handled on the Internet is RFC (Request For Comments) which is a document issued by the IETF (Intenet Engineering Task Force).
822, it is defined as a 7-bit code. Here, MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail)
Extensions) using base64 or the like. According to this, 6-bit binary data consists of 64 characters (upper and lower case alphabets, numbers,
+, /) And converted to text data. MIME is specified in RFC1521, etc.

In the mail editing, at the time of transmission, mail header information is added to the TIFF image data converted to text data to edit the data into an e-mail format, and at the time of reception, the mail header information is removed from the data in the e-mail format, Only the TIFF image data converted into data is extracted. Since it is specified that predetermined header information is added to electronic mail on the Internet as management information of the electronic mail, at the time of transmission, "F" is added to the head of the TIFF image data converted to text data.
rom: (user address) "," To: (destination address) "," Subject: (title) ", etc. In the case of communication between heterogeneous networks, a suffix is added to the destination address. .

The auto dialer sends telephone number data to the NCU in order to call the telephone number read from the table.

A program for analyzing a message from a network and switching a communication system according to a time zone according to the present invention will be described later in detail.

Next, the structure of the table will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the user table T1 includes a code number for specifying each user who jointly uses the facsimile apparatus, a user ID and a password of the user, and a user ID used by the user. Network type. Therefore, if a user who wants to send an e-mail inputs a code number, a user ID, a password and a network type can be obtained.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the destination table T2 includes destination names, electronic mail addresses of destinations, and facsimile telephone numbers. Therefore, by inputting the name of the destination to which the e-mail is to be transmitted, the e-mail address and the facsimile telephone number can be obtained.

In each of the above tables, the user's personal name, destination abbreviated number, destination one-touch, facsimile type,
The provider name and the like may be registered together.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 1, 4, 5 and 6, the operation of analyzing a message from the network and switching the communication system according to the time zone will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, there are facsimile apparatuses 41, 42 and 43 with an e-mail function, which can mutually transmit and receive facsimile through a telephone line. Further, the facsimile machines 41 and 42 are connected to the Internet 46 via the servers 44 and 45,
43 is connected to the personal computer communication service network 47.
44a, 45a and 47a are mailboxes. The facsimile device 41 can be used by users A and B. The user A has a contract with the server 44 and can access the Internet 46. User B
Has subscribed to the personal computer communication service network 47.

The host or server 44 of the personal computer communication service network 47 generates a message to close the network for maintenance as necessary. For example,
It is assumed that the Internet server 44 enters maintenance. The message of the server 44 is formed as a down notice mail, and is transmitted to the user when the user logs in. As shown in FIG. 5, the down notice mail includes a down start time 51 and a down end time 52. For example, if the down start time 51 is “1:00” and the down end time 52 is “5:00”, it means that the time zone from 1:00 to 5:00 is a time zone in which e-mail cannot be communicated. . As shown in FIG. 6, when a user name (user ID) input 62 and a password input 63 are made from a facsimile device 41 as a communication terminal in response to a log-in prompt 61 from the server 44, the server 4.
4 performs a down notice mail transmission 64 before the e-mail transmission prompt 65.

On the other hand, in the facsimile apparatus 41, since the program for switching the communication system according to the time zone is executed, the operation differs depending on whether the current time is in the down time zone as shown in FIG. . First, in step S1, if the current time is not in the down time zone or the time zone information has not been received yet, the start key of the operation unit is operated (in the case of one touch, there is no start key operation). Original reading, storage in image memory (G3 format image data), TIFF conversion, MI
ME conversion and electronic mail editing are performed, a telephone number is called, and login is started. When receiving an e-mail or changing a password, a telephone number is called and login is started. (S up to here
1). In step S2, when the down notice mail is received following the call and the login, the down notice mail message is analyzed by a message analysis program from the network. Through this analysis, time zone information is obtained from the down start time and the down end time, and stored in the RAM. Also, this message is displayed on the display unit, and printed out from the recording unit 3 (S2). If the down notice mail is not received, the process jumps to step S2. Next, it is assumed that the current time does not fall within the time zone obtained from the down notice mail in step S2. in this case,
As in the case where the down notice mail is not received, the e-mail is transmitted, the e-mail is received, or the password is changed as scheduled, and then the user is logged out (S3). Although not shown, if the current time is already in the time zone obtained from the down notice mail, the user immediately logs out and jumps to step S4.

If the current time is in the down time zone, the flow shifts to step S4 to read out the facsimile telephone number from the destination table T2 and make a call. Then, the G3 format image data stored in the image memory is transmitted by facsimile.

By the operations in steps S1 to S4, in FIG. 4, while the server 44 is down, facsimile transmission is performed from the facsimile apparatus 41 to the facsimile apparatus 42. Also, the facsimile device 41
Prints out the down notice mail received at the time of login, so that the user can recognize that facsimile transmission is automatically performed during the time period by storing or posting the output form. .

[0044]

The present invention exhibits the following excellent effects.

(1) When the network cannot communicate e-mail, the e-mail is not transmitted, so that useless transmission can be omitted.

(2) When the network returns to a state where e-mail communication can be performed, transmission of e-mail can be automatically resumed, so that manual operation is unnecessary.

(3) When the network cannot communicate e-mail, facsimile transmission is performed, so that image data can be transmitted without delay.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of an electronic mail transmission operation including a division determination operation and a division operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of various tables provided in the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a circuit configuration diagram of the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram in which the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention is connected to a computer communication network.

FIG. 5 is a format diagram of a down notice mail.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a communication procedure between a communication terminal device and a server.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main control part 2 Reading part 3 Recording part 4 Display part 5 Operation part 7 ROM 8 RAM 9 Image memory 10 Modem 11 NCU 12 Data modem S1 Step of switching a communication method according to time zone S2 Step of analyzing message of down notice mail S3 Steps for sending e-mail, etc. S4 Steps for facsimile transmission T1 User table T2 Destination table

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An e-mail having a function of transmitting an e-mail via a network and not transmitting an e-mail via the network when a message indicating that e-mail cannot be communicated is received from the network. Communication terminal device with functions. 2. The communication terminal device with an e-mail function according to claim 1, wherein information on a time period during which mail communication is disabled from the network is received, and transmission of the e-mail is resumed after the time period has passed. 3. A function of converting image data into an e-mail format and transmitting the image data and a function of transmitting the image data by facsimile, and when the e-mail cannot be transmitted due to network conditions, facsimile transmission is used. The communication terminal device with an electronic mail function according to claim 1.