KR20020015840A - E-mail Management Method and System in On-line Community - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method and system for managing electronic mail on an online community is provided to make an online community member appoint desired E-mail addresses and to make him previously set a condition to sort out transmitted E-mail so that E-mail, of which the contents meet the condition, can be separately stored. CONSTITUTION: An E-mail management system, consisting of a web server(110), a mail server(120), a control server(130), and a data storage part(140), is connected to user terminals(300) through the Internet(200). The user terminals(300) are connected with the web server(110) through the Internet(200). The mail server(120) executes a function to transmit and receive each user's E-mail. The control server(130) is composed of an environment setup part(131), a mail management part(132), and a member management part(133). The environment setup part(131) adds or deletes a permission key for an E-mail address appointed by a user. Also the environment setup part(131) executes option setup for transmitted/received E-mail. The mail management part(132) classifies E-mail into permission mail, option mail, and bulk mail according to the existence of permission keys or the contents of option setup. The member management part(133) manages personal information for members of an online community by the management system(100). The data storage part(140) is comprised of a permission DB(141), an option check DB(142), a mail DB(143), and a member management DB(144).

Description

E-mail Management Method and System in On-line Community

The present invention relates to an e-mail management method and a system thereof, and more particularly, to a method and a system for managing an e-mail service provided by various groups and the like existing on the Internet.

Recently, services for sending and receiving e-mail through a network including the Internet have been activated, and the sites providing such services are increasing rapidly.

These service sites often provide unique e-mail addresses to people who sign up as members of their sites and use them to exchange e-mails with internal or external non-member users.

Unlike the existing offline mail delivery, such an e-mail service can be transmitted in real time and has the advantage that it can be used anytime and anywhere where the network is connected even without visiting the post office. Above all, the use of these services is almost free, so the use is rapidly spreading.

However, in the existing e-mail providing service, an e-mail address is given to a member, and an e-mail received at the e-mail address and an e-mail transmitted by the member are transmitted without filtering. Such a service does not have a problem when the number of members who send and receive e-mails with a member using an e-mail service is not a problem, but when such a large number of people can feel a lot of inconvenience.

This inconvenience will be more prominent if the members of the online community are actively engaged in contact, not only online but also offline. This is because when the members of the same community meet each other offline and know each other's e-mail address, more and more e-mails will be exchanged online.

Therefore, when e-mails are sent from a large number of people, the necessity of classifying them according to preset conditions is highlighted.

Therefore, the technical task of the present invention is to allow members of the online community to specify the e-mail addresses of those who wish to receive e-mail, while pre-setting conditions for distinguishing e-mails sent to them. An object of the present invention is to provide an e-mail management method and system for an online community that stores only e-mails that meet the conditions.

1 is a block diagram of an email management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a flow chart showing the process when a member receives a letter in the e-mail management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a flow chart showing the process when a member sends a letter in the e-mail management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for managing an e-mail on an online community, the method for managing e-mails of members who have received a unique e-mail address by joining an online community on the Internet. Registering a specific e-mail address designated by the member; (b) when the e-mail is transmitted to the member, separately storing only the e-mail transmitted from the address registered in the step (a) of the transmitted e-mail and separately storing the e-mail; (c) except for the first stored e-mail in step (b), the e-mail sent by the sender by setting the option, and separately storing the second e-mail in which the option matching the option set by the receiver is separately stored; step; And (d) storing third e-mail except for the e-mail stored in the step (c).

In the step (a), the registration may include (a-1) a method of directly inputting an e-mail address to be registered by the member; Or (a-2) selectively using one of the methods of specifying and inputting the email address when the member sends or receives the email.

In addition, in the step (c), the option, which is a criterion for distinguishing an e-mail, including personal information of the member, contents of an e-mail, and importance, is set to one or more of the sender and the receiver. do.

Meanwhile, the first, second, and third stored emails are separately displayed on the terminal of the member, and in displaying the second stored emails, one or more recipients of the emails are set. It is displayed separately by e-mail corresponding to the option.

On the other hand, an electronic mail management system on an online community according to another aspect of the present invention, a system for managing email transmitted between online community members via a network, comprising: a mail server for transmitting and receiving email through the network; Among the e-mails sent to the member, an option set by the sender of the e-mail and the recipient of the e-mail except for the first e-mail and the first e-mail transmitted from the e-mail address designated by the member. A control server for classifying each of the third e-mails transmitted to the member except the second e-mail and the first and second e-mails to which the option set by the user is matched; A first data storage unit for storing the list of the first email addresses; And a second data storage unit for separately storing the first, second, and third emails.

The option may be a criterion for distinguishing an e-mail including personal information of the member, contents of an e-mail, and importance, and may be set as one or more by the sender or the receiver.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 shows the structure of an e-mail management system (hereinafter referred to as "management system") according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the management system 100 is connected to each user terminal 300 through the Internet 200.

The management system 100 is composed of a web server 110, a mail server 120, a control server 130, and a data storage unit 140, the user terminal 300 is a management system through the Internet 200 It is connected to the web server 110 of (100). And the mail server 120 serves to send and receive e-mail of the user.

The user is divided into an internal user who sends and receives an e-mail using an e-mail account assigned through the e-mail management system 100 according to the present invention, and an external user who uses an existing e-mail account. An internal user is a person who has subscribed as a member to an online community that provides services by the management system 100, and the member is given a unique email address (ID) used within the management system 100. E-mail service is provided via address.

Meanwhile, the control server 130 includes an environment setting unit 131, a mail managing unit 132, and a member managing unit 133. The environment setting unit 131 includes a permission key for an e-mail address specified by a user. ), Or set options for emails sent and received.

Granting a permission key means that the user registered as a member registers and saves the e-mail address of the person who wants to receive the e-mail in the permission list. In this way, the person registered in the permission list is the person who has the permission key for the user. to be.

A user who sends and receives e-mail using the management system 100 may assign permission keys to e-mail addresses of trusted people such as relatives, friends, and coworkers. The permission key may be given to the sender after opening the email sent to the user's email address, or may be given to the recipient at the same time the email is created. In addition, regardless of whether the e-mail is transmitted or received, the user 300 may directly input an e-mail address that the user wants to grant the permission key to.

Options are the criteria for sorting emails. You can set various types of options, such as the types of user personal information such as gender, age, geography, and occupation, and the type of email contents such as business, advertising, and entertainment. have. You can also select the option to ask the recipient of the email to grant the permission key. In other words, the sender of the e-mail requests the receiver to register the sender's e-mail address in the recipient's permission list.

Such option setting is possible only for an internal user who writes an e-mail using the management system 100. This allows the user to easily sort and read e-mail from people who meet his or her requirements.

Meanwhile, the mail management unit 132 classifies and stores e-mails as permission mails, option mails, and bulk mails according to permission keys, option setting contents, and the like. In other words, it is classified into a permission mail from an e-mail address registered in a permission list by a user, an option mail that has not been granted a permission key but has an option that matches an option set by a recipient, and other bulk mails.

In addition, the member manager 133 serves to manage the personal information of members who have joined the online community by the system 100.

Meanwhile, the data storage unit 140 includes a permission DB 141, an option check DB 142, a mail DB 143, and a member management DB 144.

The permission DB 141 stores a permission list in which e-mail addresses of people to whom the user has given permission keys are recorded. When the e-mail is received at the user's e-mail address, the mail manager 132 calls the permission list from the permission DB 141 to determine whether the person who sent the e-mail has been granted the permission key.

The option check DB 142 stores the contents of the e-mail option set in advance by the user. Therefore, when the e-mail is received, the mail manager 132 checks whether the option is set in the e-mail, and then classifies and stores the e-mail matching the option setting stored in the option check DB 142.

The mail DB 143 stores e-mail classified by the mail management unit 132, that is, permission mail, option mail, and bulk mail, for each type.

The member management DB 144 stores personal information of members of the management system 100. In order to use the e-mail management service by the management system 100, the online community must be registered as a member in advance, and personal information such as name, age, occupation, etc., created at the time of registration is related to e-mail during e-mail transmission and reception. It can be set as an option automatically.

Next, a process of receiving an e-mail by a user of the present system will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a process when an e-mail management system receives a letter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the mail server 120 receives the e-mail sent by the user. (S200) The mail manager 132 calls the permission list stored in the permission DB 141 to send the received e-mail. It checks whether the address exists in the permission list, and if the address exists in the permission list, stores the received email in the mail DB 143. (S210 to S220) The mail DB 143 includes a permission mailbox, It consists of an optional mailbox and a bulk mailbox, where e-mail sent from an address in the permission list is stored in the permission mailbox.

If the e-mail address of the person who sent the received e-mail does not exist in the permission list, the mail manager 132 checks whether an option is set in the received e-mail.

At this time, the mail management unit 132 extracts the e-mail in which the option set in the received e-mail and the option set in advance by the recipient is stored in the option mailbox (S240), and other e-mail in the bulk mailbox Save. (S250)

Members of the online community access the web server 110 through the user terminal 300 and the Internet 200, and then read e-mail classified into permission mail, option mail, and bulk mail.

The e-mail stored in the option mailbox is displayed on the user's terminal by one or a plurality of options set, so that the user can easily view the e-mail by the preset options.

For example, if the recipient of an e-mail sets options such as gender (male), age (20s), and residence (Seoul), the e-mail sent to these recipients is sent from a male or 20 sender. E-mail and e-mail sent from senders residing in Seoul are displayed separately.

The environment setting unit 131 stores, in a permission list, an email address of an e-mail sender that the user decides to grant a permission key among the e-mails stored in the mail DB. (S260 to S270) Email sent from is stored in the permission mailbox in the future.

Next, a process of transmitting e-mails of members by the management system according to the present invention will be described.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process when an e-mail management system sends a letter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A member subscribed to the system 100 creates an e-mail by accessing the web server 110 through the user terminal 300. (S300)

The mail manager 132 determines whether the recipient who will receive the created e-mail is an internal user, that is, a member.

As a result of the determination of the mail manager 132, when the receiver is a member, the environment setting unit 131 sets options according to the e-mail creator's selection (S310 to S320).

In this case, one or more options may be set in various option boxes included in the option check DB 142 according to the sender's selection, and these options include an option for applying for a permission key.

If the recipient is not a member or the option setting is completed, the mail manager 132 determines whether the email address of the email recipient is included in the sender's permission list (S330), and if it is already included, the mail server ( 120 immediately transmits the email (S360).

If the recipient's email address is not included in the permission list and the sender of the email wants to grant the permission key, the environment setting unit 131 registers the recipient's email address in the permission list (S340 to S350). The mail server 120 delivers the created email to the recipient. (S360)

Meanwhile, the permission list may be used as an address book when the user sends an e-mail, and the user may directly input an e-mail address of a specific person or add or delete an e-mail address of a specific person from the permission list.

Users can also register comma separated values (CSV) files extracted from standard mail programs such as Outlook or Eudora to the permission list.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and of course, modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

As described above, according to the e-mail management system according to an embodiment of the present invention, in the e-mail transmission / reception process between members on the online community or between a member and a non-member, the recipient can set a person who will receive the e-mail in advance. Easy to manage

In addition, since the e-mail is classified according to a preset option when receiving the e-mail, only an e-mail from a person of a desired condition can be selectively viewed.

On the other hand, by constructing an online community using such a system, it is possible to activate the exchange between members and to encourage more people to join the community.

Claims (7)

In a method of managing e-mails of members who have subscribed to online communities on the Internet and are given unique e-mail addresses, (a) registering a specific e-mail address designated by the member; (b) when the e-mail is transmitted to the member, separately storing only the e-mail transmitted from the address registered in the step (a) of the transmitted e-mail and separately storing the e-mail; (c) except for the first stored e-mail in step (b), the e-mail sent by the sender by setting the option, and separately storing the second e-mail in which the option matching the option set by the receiver is separately stored; step; And (d) storing third e-mail other than the e-mail stored in the step (c); A method of managing email in an online community. The method of claim 1, Registration in the step (a), (a-1) a method of directly inputting an e-mail address to be registered by the member; or (a-2) A method for designating and inputting the email address when the member sends or receives an email E-mail management method on an online community, characterized in that using one of the selectively performed. The method of claim 2, In step (c), the option is An e-mail management method of an online community, wherein the sender and the receiver are set to one or more as a standard for distinguishing an e-mail including personal information of the member, contents of an e-mail, and importance. The method of claim 3, The first, second and third stored email is E-mail management method on the online community, characterized in that separately displayed on the terminal of the member. The method of claim 4, wherein In displaying the second stored email, The method of claim 1, wherein the e-mail recipient is divided and displayed by e-mail corresponding to one or more options. In a system for managing email sent between online community members via a network, A mail server for transmitting and receiving electronic mail through the network; A first e-mail sent from the e-mail address specified by the member among e-mails sent to the member, A second e-mail in which the options set by the sender of the sent e-mail and the options set by the receiver of the e-mail correspond to each other except the first e-mail, A control server for classifying each of the third e-mails transmitted to the member except for the first and second e-mails; A first data storage unit for storing the list of the first email addresses; And A second data storage unit for storing the first, second, and third e-mails separately; E-mail management system on the online community consisting of. The method of claim 6, The above option An e-mail management system of an online community, wherein the sender or the receiver is set to one or more as a standard for distinguishing an e-mail, including personal information of the member, contents of an e-mail, and importance.