JPH118747A - Home page communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system which can easily receive an inquiry by the home page of internet by permitting a server to convert text information transmitted from a transmission means into FAX data and to FAX-transmit it to a prescribed FAX number. SOLUTION: URL of the home page for making the inquiry is inputted. On a server-side, data of the home page of URL which is requested from a client-side is transferred to the client-side. In a CGI program, data transmitted from the client-side is received as an argument and it is resolved into a name, KANA(Japanese syllabary), a postal code, an address and the like. It is checked whether a blank exists in information or not. When an error does not exist, a prescribed screen is transmitted to the client-side. Inputted text data is converted into image data and conversion data is transmitted to the FAX number which is previously designated through FAX MODEM 36 via a general telephone line 37.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication system for transmitting a fax from a client terminal to a designated FAX via the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a means for announcing company's product information and the like, it is common to publish advertisements in magazines, newspapers, and the like. In recent years, with the spread of personal computers and the development of personal computer communication represented by the Internet,
Instead of the above-mentioned information notification on paper media, two-way communication means using personal computer communication and the Internet has emerged. Internet, especially WWW
As an advantage of the server, if it is from a terminal connected to the network, it can be viewed from all over the world, and inquiries about the homepage information to be posted can be made by e-mail etc. using <FORM> tag and CGI program It is possible to accept and two-way communication via a homepage is spreading.

At present, e-mail is generally used as a method of receiving an inquiry about information posted on a homepage. There are two general methods for the system, one is to use the HTML <ADDRESS> tag to send mail to a specified address, and the other is to use the HTML <FORM> tag to receive input data via the CGI interface. There is. However, these methods require that the receiver of the inquiry information has a habit of checking e-mail daily, that is, having a personal computer, subscribing to an Internet provider, and checking e-mail daily. Unless they have considerable computer literacy, it is difficult to answer inquiries by e-mail or maintain a PC system connected to the Internet.

At present, the number of Internet users is rapidly expanding, and many users from all over the world refer to homepages on a WWW server via a communication line to shop or make reservations. It is expanding.

[0005]

However, periodically checking the e-mail sent by the Internet user for inquiries is a cost problem of purchasing a personal computer or subscribing to an Internet provider. However, due to the shortage of human resources with such abilities, the reality is that it is not easy. Therefore, it is difficult for an information provider who is unfamiliar with a computer to communicate with a person who has accessed his / her own homepage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and has as its object to provide a communication system capable of easily receiving an inquiry on an Internet homepage.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a home page communication system comprising: (1) a client terminal, a server, and an Internet for connecting the client terminal and the server. A homepage communication system in which a server provides a homepage to a client terminal; (2) an input unit for inputting text information, and a display for displaying the text information input by the input unit; Means, and a server-directed transmission means for transmitting text information displayed on the display means to a server,
(3) a conversion means for converting the text information transmitted from the transmission means into facsimile data, a facsimile transmission means for facsimile transmitting the facsimile data converted by the conversion means to a predetermined facsimile number, have. According to this, information providers who are unfamiliar with computers have their own homepage on the Internet,
Inquiries from people who have access can be received by fax, so it is possible to prepare a device such as a personal computer, accept complex inquiries as long as there is a fax, without having to learn complicated operations. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the homepage communication system according to the first aspect, only when a predetermined item is input from the input means, the conversion means sets the transmission means. Is converted into FAX data, and the FAX data converted by the conversion means is transmitted to a designated FAX. In the case of e-mail, the e-mail does not always include the telephone number of the contact of the sender. Therefore, it can be said that there are many cases where it is difficult to contact by means other than e-mail. According to this, if items such as the name, address, telephone number, and fax number of the inquirer are not entered, an error message can be displayed so that communication cannot be performed. Will be sent to the recipient. Therefore, the recipient can contact the inquirer by ordinary means other than e-mail such as mail, telephone, and facsimile.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the homepage communication system according to the first or second aspect, the text information transmitted from the transmission means is temporarily stored in an auxiliary storage device. ,
Data accumulated at a predetermined timing is collectively
The data is converted into X data and transmitted to a designated FAX. Recipients do not necessarily need to receive inquiries from users in real time.
It is also conceivable to process the data all day or collectively for one week. According to this, the receiver can receive the inquiry information in a lump, so that it is easier to organize than processing each one separately, and if the inquiry information is transmitted at midnight, the facsimile communication cost can be reduced. Also.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the homepage communication system according to the first to third aspects, only when a correct password is input from the input means, Converting means for converting the text information transmitted from the transmitting means into facsimile data;
AX data is transmitted by fax to a predetermined fax number. According to this, when a server sends a fax via a homepage, it checks whether a correct password has been entered. If the password is incorrect, the fax cannot be sent, and the third party can impersonate the user. To prevent the risk of sending information or sending a large amount of unnecessary faxes.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in a communication system for automatically creating a homepage on the Internet will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of the communication system of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system includes a client system 10, the Internet 20, and a server system 30. The client system 10 includes a personal computer 11, an external storage device 12 for storing programs and data of the personal computer 11,
It comprises a modem device 13 for connecting to the Internet and a general telephone line 14. External storage device 1
2 includes a personal computer OS 12a and the Internet,
Browser software 12b for accessing information of the WWW server is stored.

The Internet 20 is composed of a primary provider A21, an Internet network 22 connecting the whole world like a network, and a primary provider B23. The server system 30 includes a workstation 31, its external storage device 32, a HUB 33 for connecting the workstation 31 and the router 34 via a local area network, and a dedicated line 35 for connecting the router 34 to the Internet via a dedicated line. , FAX connected to workstation 31 via serial interface
It comprises a modem 36 and a general telephone line 37 connected to the FAX modem 36. The external storage device 32 includes a workstation OS 32a, WWW server software (httpd) 32b for transmitting information as a WWW server on the Internet, HTML document data 32c for transmitting information, and control from the WWW server software. The CGI program 33d that is passed and operates is stored.

The client system 10 has a standard configuration for searching for information such as a WWW server on the Internet. Immediately after the power switch is turned on, the personal computer OS 12a starts up. When the user activates the browser software 12b to search the WWW server via the Internet, the control is passed to the modem 13 by referring to the telephone number of the Internet provider A stored in advance in the personal computer OS 12a, A dial-up connection is established based on the user account information and the password information stored in the personal computer OS 12a at the same time that the Internet provider A is called and connected via the general telephone line 14. Once the connection with the Internet provider A21 is established, the personal computer 11 can access the WWW server all over the world.

On the other hand, the server system 30
3, a router 34, and a dedicated line 35, which are connected to the Internet provider B 24 hours a day, and are always accessible from personal computers connected to the Internet all over the world.

Next, the operation of the communication system having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the power of the personal computer 11 is turned on, the personal computer OS 12a in the external storage device 11 is started. (S
1) Subsequently, by starting the WWW browser software 12b in the external storage device 11, the modem 13 and
The personal computer 11 is connected to the Internet via the general telephone line 14. In this state, the personal computer 11 becomes accessible to the WWW servers all over the world. (S
2)

Next, a URL of a homepage for making an inquiry is input. In this case, for example, http:
// www. happypynet. or. jp / inpu
t. html. (S3) On the server side, the URL requested from the client side
Transfer the homepage data to the client. (S4) On the client side, the home page data sent from the server side is displayed on the screen, for example, as shown in FIG. (S5) The user inputs data as shown in FIG. 5 (S6), and clicks a send button (S7). On the server side, CGI software for processing transmitted input data operates. (S8)

The operation of the CGI software will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. C
In the GI program, the data sent from the client side is received as an argument, and the name, furigana,
Decompose into postal code, address, telephone number, age, occupation, gender, opinions and questions. (S21) Then, it is checked whether the information is blank.
(S22)

Next, if the data has been input and there is no error (S23), screen data as shown in FIG. 6, for example, is created and transmitted to the client side. (S24). Further, the input text data is converted into image data (F
AX data) (S25), and the connected FA
Via the X modem 36, the fax number designated in advance is
The converted data is transmitted via the general telephone line 37, for example, as shown in FIG. (S26) Here, it is also possible to transmit data to a plurality of FAX numbers.

If there is an error in the check in S23,
For example, error screen data as shown in FIG. 7 is transmitted to the client side, and the process ends. (S27) In S9 of the flowchart in FIG. 2, the data sent from the server is displayed on the screen. If there is no error in the input data, for example, a screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed. If there is an error in the input data, for example, a screen as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed. (S9)

In the above description, HTT is used as a means for transmitting data from the client terminal to the server.
Although the example using the PGI protocol CGI interface has been described, a similar mechanism can be provided by using the e-mail SMTP protocol. In this case, an e-mail sent to a predetermined e-mail address may be received as text data, the text data may be converted to facsimile data, and the facsimile may be transmitted to a facsimile number. As a result, the e-mail of the inquirer can be received, and the recipient can receive his / her facsimile.

Further, as described in claim 3, even if the information is sent from the inquirer, the information is temporarily stored in the work file in the auxiliary storage device instead of immediately performing the facsimile transmission. After a certain period of time, at a certain timing, the stored information may be collectively converted into FAX data and transmitted to a designated FAX. (FIG. 9)

As described in claim 4, a password is added as an input item in FIG. 5, and if the password does not match in the CGI program in FIG. 3, an error (S2
If you add step 3), anyone can freely fax
Transmission can be restricted.

[0023]

As is apparent from the above description,
According to the communication system of the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a means for a person who does not have his / her own personal computer and has not subscribed to an Internet provider to receive inquiry information from his / her home page to his / her facsimile. it can. Further, according to the communication system of the second aspect, the FA
Since information such as a telephone number and an address is included in the inquiry information from the homepage received by X, means for contacting the inquirer by means other than e-mail can be provided.

Further, according to the communication system of the third aspect, since the inquiry information is temporarily stored in the auxiliary storage device and then transmitted to the FAX collectively (FIG. 9), the information can be easily organized. If a communication time zone is selected, it is possible to provide a means for saving communication costs. Further, according to the communication system of the fourth aspect, since fax transmission cannot be performed without knowing the password, it is possible to provide a means for preventing a large amount of fax transmission from being performed indiscriminately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating a basic configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of an overall processing flow of the communication system according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of a processing flow of a CGI program operated by a server computer according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a first display example of a display screen of the communication system.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a second display example of the display screen of the communication system.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a third display example of a display screen of the communication system.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a fourth display example of the display screen of the communication system.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a first output example of a FAX output result of the communication system.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a second output example of the FAX output result of the communication system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Client system 11 Personal computer 12 External storage device 13 Modem device 14 General telephone line 20 Internet 21 Primary provider A 22 Internet network 23 Primary provider B 31 Server system 32 External storage device 33 HUB 34 Router 35 Dedicated line 36 FAX modem 37 General telephone line

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

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A home page communication system including a client terminal, a server, and the Internet for connecting the client terminal and the server, wherein the server provides a home page to the client terminal, wherein the client terminal inputs text information. And input means for displaying the text information input by the input means; and transmission means for the server for transmitting the text information displayed on the display means to a server, wherein the server transmits the text information. FAX the text information sent from the means
A converting unit for converting the FAX data converted by the converting unit into a designated FAX
And a facsimile transmission means for transmitting to a facsimile machine. 2. The home page communication system according to claim 1, wherein the conversion unit converts the text information transmitted from the transmission unit into FAX data only when a predetermined item is input from the input unit. And transmitting the FAX data converted by the conversion means to a designated FAX by the FAX transmission means. 3. The homepage communication system according to claim 1, wherein the text information transmitted from the transmission unit is temporarily stored in an auxiliary storage device, and the stored data is collectively collected at a predetermined timing. A home page communication system characterized in that the data is converted into FAX data and transmitted to a designated FAX. 4. The home page communication system according to claim 1, wherein the conversion unit converts the text information transmitted from the transmission unit only when a correct password is input from the input unit. A home page communication system, wherein the FAX data is converted to FAX data, and the FAX data converted by the conversion means is transmitted to the designated FAX by the FAX transmission means.