JP2002261834A - Method and system for processing communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and a system for processing communication in which a transmitter can transmit various kinds of information unconsciously of a kind of information being transmitted or received, the communication means being used by a receiver or the conditions of the receiver, and various kinds of information transmitted from the transmitter can be received in a format suitable for the communication means being used by the receiver. SOLUTION: An address management section 12 manages a plurality of terminating addresses in correspondence with one representative address thereof. Information transmitted to the representative address is stored and managed at a content management section 14 and converted, at a converting section 16 into a format designated by the receiver before being transmitted to a terminating address designated by the receiver.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a terminal device such as a personal computer connected to a network such as the Internet, a fixed telephone,
The present invention relates to a communication processing method and apparatus for receiving using a facsimile, a portable terminal, or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The Internet is a worldwide network in which computers and routers are interconnected. Character information, voice information, music information, and image information (moving images and still images) digitized across national borders. ) And the distribution of various data are being actively performed. On the Internet, a so-called electronic mail service that digitizes postal mail has been provided since the establishment of the Internet, and at present, business and personal communication is actively performed using electronic mail.

[0003] E-mail is basically a service for exchanging character information, but recently, it has become possible to attach the above-mentioned various information such as image information to e-mail. Can send and receive various information. The above various information via the Internet is basically performed using a computer such as a personal computer.

A telephone, a facsimile, a portable terminal, and the like have been conventionally used as communication means separately from the Internet. When a telephone call is used, a caller uses a telephone to establish a telephone network. In order to make a telephone call and send a document, the sender needs to send the data from the facsimile to the recipient's facsimile via the telephone network. Further, when making a call using a mobile phone, which is a kind of mobile terminal, both parties have used a mobile phone to make a call via a wireless network.

[0005]

By the way, as described above, each communication means has conventionally been independent, so that when communicating or talking with the other party, the communication means must be selected according to the contents. In addition, even when talking or communicating with a specific person, a telephone number, facsimile number, terminal number, or e-mail address must be specified for each communication means.

[0006] In recent years, the above-mentioned e-mail utilization rate has been improved, and one person often has a plurality of e-mail addresses. Therefore, for example, when sending an e-mail with contents related to work to the other party at the time of employment, specify the e-mail address of the other party's work, and when sending an e-mail with personal and home contents at the end of employment, You need to specify each email address that people use personally. Thus, conventionally, even when communicating or talking with the same person, it is necessary to select and specify the other party's telephone number or e-mail address according to the communication means and the time and case, which is troublesome. Had the problem of inconvenience,

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and allows the sender to be completely unaware of the type of information to be transmitted or received, the communication means used by the receiver, and the situation of the receiver. Provided is a communication processing method and apparatus capable of transmitting various types of information and receiving various types of information transmitted from a sender in a format suitable for the status of the recipient and the communication means used by the recipient. The purpose is to do.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a communication processing method according to the present invention uses one or more destination addresses (A1 to A3) of a receiver and the destination addresses (A1 to A3). A step (S10) of associating the representative address (A0) with the representative address (A0);
0) transmitting the information transmitted to the receiver to the destination address specified by the receiver in a specified format (S30). According to the present invention, since a representative address representing a destination address is determined for each receiver, when the sender of information transmits information to the receiver, the information may be transmitted to the representative address. There is an effect that it is not necessary to be conscious of the type, the communication means used by the receiver, the situation of the receiver, and the like. In addition, since the information transmitted by the sender to the representative address can be received in the format specified for the destination address specified by the receiver, the receiver can receive the information transmitted to the representative address when receiving the information. There is an effect that there is no inconvenience of being able to receive or not receive by means. Further, the communication processing method of the present invention is characterized in that the method further comprises a step of converting information transmitted to the representative address into a format specified by the recipient. Further, the communication processing method of the present invention includes, as a condition for receiving the information transmitted to the representative address, a step of assigning and registering the arrival address, the format, and the reception time as a set with priority. It is further characterized by having. In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a communication processing apparatus according to the present invention includes one or more destination addresses (A1 to A3) of a receiver and the destination addresses (A
Address management means (12) for managing a representative address (A0) representative of the representative addresses (A1) to (A3) and information management means (14) for storing and managing information transmitted to the representative address (A0). And the information management means (1)
The information stored and managed in 4) is transmitted to a destination address specified by the receiver in a specified format. Further, the communication processing device of the present invention is further characterized by further comprising a conversion means (16) for converting information transmitted to the representative address (A0) into a format designated by the recipient. Also,
The communication processing device according to the present invention is configured such that, as a condition for receiving the information transmitted to the representative address (A0), the destination address, the format, and the reception time are registered as a set with a priority order. Said conversion means (16)
Is characterized in that the information stored and managed in the information management means (14) is converted in the priority order of the format registered in advance.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a communication processing device according to the present embodiment. This communication processing device 10 is an Internet network N
1, connected to a telephone network N2 and a wireless network N3, respectively. The communication processing device 10 includes terminating devices 18a to 18
c is provided to terminate the connection of each of the networks N1 to N3.

A terminal device T1 such as a personal computer is connected to the Internet network N1, and a telephone line network N2 is connected to the terminal device T1.
Is connected to a telephone T2, and a wireless telephone network N3 is connected to a mobile telephone T3 via a base station B. Although not shown, a facsimile may be connected to the telephone network N2 and a portable terminal device such as a mobile terminal may be connected to the wireless network N3. Hereinafter, when these are collectively referred to, they are simply referred to as “terminal devices”.

In the following, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the terminal device T1, the telephone T2, the mobile telephone T3 shown in FIG. 1, and the facsimile and the mobile terminal device (not shown) are all owned by the receiver. . That is, the recipients are the terminal device T1, the telephone T2, the mobile telephone T3, the facsimile,
And information transmitted from a sender (not shown) using one of the portable terminal devices.

In the present embodiment, the information means various data such as digitized character information, audio information, music information, image information (including moving images and still images). Further, the voice information includes voice information transmitted via the telephone T2 or the mobile phone T3, and the image information includes data transmitted from a facsimile (not shown). Less than,
Information referred to in the present invention is referred to as content.

The communication processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment includes an address management unit 12, a content management unit 14, and a conversion unit 16.
have. As shown in FIG. 2, the address management unit 12 manages one or more destination addresses of the receiver in association with a representative address representing the destination address. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state where a plurality of incoming addresses are associated with a representative address. FIG.
In the example shown in (1), a plurality of incoming addresses A1 to A3 are associated with the representative address A0. Here, the terminating address refers to one or two or more e-mail addresses of the recipient, and the incoming numbers (telephone numbers) of the telephone T2, the mobile telephone T3, a facsimile (not shown), and the portable terminal device.

The representative address A0 is an address representing all of the incoming addresses A1 to A3 of the receiver, and an arbitrary address is assigned to each receiver. As the representative address, an address as shown in FIG. 3 is assigned. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of specifying a representative address. As described above, the recipient is the terminal device T1,
The user owns the telephone T2, the mobile telephone T3, and a facsimile and a mobile terminal device (not shown). In the case of the telephone T2, the mobile telephone T3, and the facsimile and the mobile terminal device (not shown), for example, A telephone number that is not duplicated as it is or a telephone number with a special number such as “00 **” at the beginning is used as a representative address. When the e-mail address is used as the representative address, as shown in FIG. 3, it is determined as “representative address ＠ specific domain”.

As described above, in the present embodiment, since the representative address representing the destination address is determined for each recipient, when the content sender transmits the content to the recipient, the content is transmitted to the representative address. It is necessary to be completely aware of the type of content, the communication means (terminal device T1, telephone T2, mobile telephone T3, facsimile and mobile terminal device not shown) used by the receiver, and the status of the receiver. There is no.

The content management unit 14 stores and manages the content transmitted from the sender to the representative address of the receiver for each representative address, that is, for each receiver. That is,
It can be said that the content management unit 14 is provided with a post office box for each recipient. The conversion unit 16 converts the content transmitted to the representative address and stored and managed in the content management unit 14 into a format specified by the recipient.

Now, consider a case where the content stored and managed in the content management unit 14 is an electronic mail consisting of only character information. In this case, the recipient is the terminal device T1
When receiving in the form of an e-mail by using, the recipient specifies that the data is to be received in the form of an e-mail. At this time, the conversion unit 16 does not perform conversion processing on the content stored and managed in the content management unit 14.

However, when the receiver uses the telephone T2 or the portable telephone T3 to receive in the form of voice, the receiver specifies that reception is to be performed in the form of voice. At this time, the conversion unit 16 is a
Sender, sending time,
The title (subject) and the body of the e-mail (both of which are character information) are converted into audio information.
When the recipient specifies that the data is to be received in a facsimile format (not shown), the conversion unit 16 converts the electronic mail stored in the content management unit 14 into image information that can be received by facsimile. If audio information is stored in the content management unit 14, the conversion unit 16
Converts to character information or further to image information. Further, when image information is stored in the content management unit 14, the conversion unit 16 converts the image information into character information or further converts into audio information.

The configuration of the communication processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Next, the operation of the communication processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, that is, the communication processing method according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described. I do. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a schematic flow of a communication processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, the recipient is the communication processing device 1
0, and the representative address and the destination address are registered in the address management unit 12 in advance as shown in FIG. 2 (step S10).

When the registration of the representative address and the destination address is completed, and the sender transmits the content to the representative address registered by the receiver, the transmitted content is stored and managed in the content management unit 14 (step S20). .
Here, when the content transmitted by the sender is digitized, the content is stored and managed as it is in the content management unit 14. For example, when the sender transmits voice information from the telephone to the representative address. The audio information is digitized and stored and managed as content in the content management unit 14.

In a state where the content is stored and managed in the content management unit 14, the receiver accesses the communication processing apparatus 10 using, for example, the terminal device T1, and receives the content stored in the content management unit 14. Specify the destination address and the type of reception. For example, when the recipient operates the terminal device T1 to access the communication processing device 10, the user specifies a specific e-mail address as the destination address and specifies that the e-mail is to be received.

When the above instruction is given by the receiver, the converter 16 converts the content stored in the content manager 14 into a format specified by the receiver (for example, an e-mail format). When the conversion process by the conversion unit 16 is completed, the communication processing device transmits the converted content to the destination address specified by the recipient (step S30).

The communication processing method and apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention have been described above.
When the recipient receives the content, there is a problem that the communication processing device 10 must be accessed using the terminal device. In order to solve this, the receiver specifies in advance the receiving address and format for receiving the content and the receiving time to the communication processing device 10,
It is more convenient that the content is automatically transmitted to the specified destination address when the specified time arrives.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention for realizing such a function will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing reception conditions specified in advance in a communication processing device in a communication processing device according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, items specified for the communication processing device 10 include a reception time C1, a reception address C2, a media type C3, and a busy process C4. The arrival time C1 is an item that specifies the time at which the content transmitted to the representative address arrives, that is, the time at which the communication processing device 10 transmits. The destination address C2 is an item that specifies the destination address where the communication processing device 10 transmits the content transmitted to the representative address. The media type C3 is an item for specifying the format in which the recipient receives the content. The busy process C4 is an item for designating a coping method when an error occurs during content transmission.

For example, in the parameter P1, the arrival time C1
17:00, the destination address A1 is specified as the destination address C2, the e-mail is specified as the medium type C3, and the retry is specified as the busy process C4. Here, the retry is a process of transmitting the content again to the destination address after a certain period of time when an error occurs during the transmission of the content. The number of retries is predetermined.

As shown in FIG. 5, the arrival time C1, the arrival address C2, the media type C3, and the busy processing C
4 does not mean that only one can be designated, and a plurality can be designated by giving a priority. In the example shown in FIG. 5, each item specified by the parameter P1 has the highest priority,
Next, each item specified by the parameter P2 has priority.
That is, when the content is transmitted under the condition of the parameter P1, if the retry process is performed a predetermined number of times but the content cannot be transmitted, the content is transmitted under the condition of the parameter P2. By setting each item described above in advance in the communication processing apparatus 10 by the receiver, the content addressed to the representative address of the receiver is designated to the specified incoming address at the time specified by the receiver. It will be sent in the form.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
Since the content sent by the sender to the representative address can be received in the format specified by the destination address specified by the receiver, the receiver uses the communication means when receiving the content transmitted to the representative address. There is no inconvenience of receiving or not receiving. Furthermore, since the receiver can specify the arrival time, it is possible to omit the trouble of the receiver intentionally confirming whether or not the content has arrived at the representative address, thereby improving the convenience. .

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be freely modified within the scope of the present invention. For example, FIG.
Address management unit 1 of the communication processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG.
2. The content management unit 14 and the conversion unit 16 may be realized by hardware or may be realized by software. Further, these may be realized as one device, or may be realized as individual devices connected via a network.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the representative address representing the incoming address is defined for each recipient, the information sender only needs to send the information to the representative address when transmitting the information to the recipient. There is an effect that there is no need to be conscious of the communication means being used and the situation of the recipient. In addition, since the information transmitted by the sender to the representative address can be received in the format specified for the destination address specified by the receiver, the receiver can receive the information transmitted to the representative address when receiving the information. There is an effect that there is no inconvenience of being able to receive or not receive by means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state where a plurality of incoming addresses are associated with a representative address.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of designating a representative address.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a schematic flow of a communication processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing reception conditions specified in advance in a communication processing device in a communication processing device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A1 to A3 Incoming address A0 Representative address 12 Address management unit (address management unit) 14 Content management unit (information management unit) 16 Conversion unit (conversion unit)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A step of associating one or more destination addresses of a receiver with a representative address representing the destination address; and specifying information transmitted to the representative address by the receiver. Transmitting in a designated format to the incoming call address. 2. The communication processing method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of converting information transmitted to the representative address into a format specified by the recipient. 3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising, as a condition for receiving the information transmitted to the representative address, registering the destination address, the format, and the reception time as a set with a priority order. The communication processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. An address management means for managing one or more destination addresses of a receiver in association with a representative address representing the destination address, and storing and managing information transmitted to the representative address. A communication management apparatus for transmitting the information stored and managed in the information management means to a destination address specified by the recipient in a specified format. 5. The communication processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a conversion unit configured to convert information transmitted to the representative address into a format specified by the recipient. 6. A condition for receiving the information transmitted to the representative address is registered with a priority set as a set of the destination address, the format, and the reception time. 6. The communication processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the information stored and managed in the information management means is converted in a priority order of a format registered in advance.