JP2003037632A - E-mail access system and e-mail access method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] E-ma using a facsimile, a mobile phone, etc.
Provided is an e-mail access system and an e-mail access method capable of easily and reliably checking the contents of an il on the go. A fax terminal (10), a mobile phone (40), and a fax output system (20) are connected via a telephone network (100), and E-mail is sent via the Internet (200).
Server 30 and mobile phone company's E-mail system 50
And a facsimile output system 20. The facsimile output system includes means for receiving an e-mail transmitted to a predetermined user of the e-mail server, means for extracting a title from the e-mail, and a list of titles. Means for creating a table, means for transmitting the list to the mobile phone, and means for outputting the contents of the reply mail of the list or the e-mail specified by the user via the telephone line to a predetermined FAX terminal specified by the user. At least have.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail access system and an electronic mail access method, and more particularly,
The present invention relates to an electronic mail access system and an electronic mail access method capable of confirming the contents of electronic mail using a FAX and a mobile phone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when confirming an electronic mail (hereinafter referred to as an E-mail) which is used by an individual while traveling, (1) personal use by using a portable terminal such as a notebook PC and a PDA terminal. From service providers
-Download mail and check it on a notebook PC, PDA terminal, etc. (2) Set to transfer E-mail from a personal E-mail account to a mobile phone company and check it on a mobile phone Has been taken.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, (1)
In the case of the above method, "a connection between a mobile terminal such as a notebook PC and a PDA terminal and a fixed telephone line such as a mobile phone or a public telephone is required, which involves a complicated operation.", "Note PC, PDA terminal It is necessary to carry a mobile terminal such as ".", "Most notebook PCs have a short battery life."

On the other hand, in the case of the method (2), "Em
Since the ail is confirmed on a small screen such as a mobile phone, the visibility of information is poor. "A large size E-mail cannot be confirmed due to the service restrictions of the mobile phone company.""Attachment file created by a PC word processor or the like cannot be confirmed.""In the case of the company's E-mail system" Uses the Internet in the mail transfer section to the mobile phone company, so there is a security problem, and in some cases the company prohibits mail transfer. "

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its main purpose is to easily and surely confirm the contents of an E-mail on the go, using a FAX, a mobile phone or the like. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic mail access system and an electronic mail access method.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic mail access system of the present invention includes a FAX terminal, a portable terminal having an electronic mail transmission / reception function, and a FAX output system via a telephone network. Are connected to each other and, via an Internet network, an electronic mail server of a provider in which the user holds a first account, an electronic mail server of a mobile phone company in which the user holds a second account, and the FAX output system. Is connected to the FAX output system, the FAX output system includes means for receiving a plurality of emails transmitted to the first account, and a title is extracted from each of the plurality of emails. Means for creating a list displaying the extracted titles, and the list as an electronic mail Means for transmitting to the second account, and means for outputting the contents of the e-mail selected by the user from among the list to a predetermined FAX terminal by the user designates one having at least.

In the present invention, at least the title of the electronic mail sent to the first account, the serial number assigned to each of the electronic mails, and the FAX output are desired in the list. It is preferable that a predetermined marker indicating whether or not to display is displayed.

Further, in the present invention, the contents of the e-mail which is desired to be output by FAX are sent to the FAX output system.
It is preferable that the apparatus includes a unit for converting an image for AX, and when a file is attached to the e-mail, the text of the e-mail and the contents of the attached file are faxed as an integrated image.

In the present invention, the FAX output system further comprises means for selecting a reply mail of the list transmitted by the portable terminal from the electronic mails sent to the first account, and the reply mail. And a means for extracting the corresponding e-mail by identifying the marker from the list, and a means for extracting the number of the FAX terminal desired to be output inserted in the reply mail. You can

Further, in the present invention, means for authenticating a user who accesses the FAX output system from a predetermined telephone via the telephone network, and a signal transmitted from the telephone are received, and are included in the list. It is also possible to provide a means for extracting the e-mail having the serial number corresponding to the signal and a means for receiving the number of the FAX terminal desired to be output.

Also, in the present invention, the portable terminal is
It is preferable that the mobile phone comprises one of a mobile phone, a PHS, a laptop computer having a mail transmitting / receiving function, and a PDA.

The FAX output system of the present invention is a provider in which a FAX terminal and a portable terminal having an electronic mail transmission / reception function are connected via a telephone network, and a user holds a first account via the Internet network. A FAX output system connected to the e-mail server of the above, and the e-mail server of the mobile phone company in which the user holds a second account, wherein a plurality of FAX output systems are sent to the first account. Means for receiving the e-mail, a means for extracting a title from each of the plurality of e-mails, a means for creating a list displaying the extracted titles, and the second table as an e-mail for the second table. A means for sending to the account and a predetermined designation by the user specifying the content of the email selected by the user from the list And means for outputting the FAX terminal are those having at least.

Further, according to the electronic mail access method of the present invention, a FAX terminal, a mobile terminal having an electronic mail transmission / reception function, and a FAX output system are connected via a telephone network, and a user is connected via an Internet network. Is an electronic mail server of a provider holding a first account, an electronic mail server of a mobile phone company in which the user has a second account, and an electronic mail using a system in which the FAX output system is connected. An access method, in the FAX output system, receiving a plurality of emails transmitted to the first account, extracting a title from each of the plurality of emails, and extracting the titles. And a step of creating a list for displaying the second list as an email. Sending to the mount, and outputting the content of the e-mail selected by the user from among the list to a predetermined FAX terminal which the user specifies is to at least run.

That is, in FIG. 1, as a method of confirming the E-mail used by an individual on the go, the E-mail server used by the individual by using the E-mail function of the mobile phone 40 is used. E-mai received at 30
E-mail to the mobile phone 40 the title list of l
To send as. If you want to make an urgent check at a place where you are away, use the title list received by the mobile phone 40 as it is as a reply mail, and output it as a fax E-ma
A mark is added to the title part of il, the telephone number of the FAX terminal 10 of the output destination is added, and the result is returned to the FAX output system 20 as E-mail. The FAX output system 20 uses E-marked titles.
The text of mail is output to the FAX terminal 10.

Alternatively, without sending a reply by E-mail, a unique number (for example, a serial number) assigned to each title in the E-mail title list is pushed to the FAX output system 20 via the telephone network 100. The content of the corresponding E-mail is output to the fax terminal 10 by designating with a signal and then with the telephone number of the fax terminal 10 as the output destination.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In an electronic mail access system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a FAX terminal, a mobile phone having an electronic mail transmission / reception function, and a FAX output system are connected via a telephone network. Then, via the Internet, the E-mail server of the provider where the user holds the first account and the E-mail of the mobile phone company where the user holds the second account.
A mail system and the FAX output system are connected to each other, and the FAX output system is provided with an E-mail.
A means for receiving an electronic mail sent to the first account of the server, a means for extracting a title from each of the plurality of electronic mails, a means for creating a list displaying the extracted titles, and a electronic list The user has at least a means for transmitting to the mobile phone as a mail and a means for outputting the contents of the reply mail of the list or the electronic mail designated by the user on the telephone line to a predetermined FAX terminal designated by the user. The title of the electronic mail sent to the first account can be confirmed on the mobile phone, and the contents of the specified electronic mail and attached file can be confirmed on paper.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to describe the above-described embodiment of the present invention in more detail, an electronic mail access system and an electronic mail access method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. . FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the entire configuration of the electronic mail access system of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a list of E-mail titles.

As shown in FIG. 1, the FAX output system of the present embodiment includes a FAX terminal 10 and a FAX output system 2.
0, the E-mail server 30, the mobile phone 40,
A mobile phone company E-mail system 50 and a phone network 100 for connecting respective devices to each other
And the Internet 200 and the router 60. In addition, user A of this system is
As an e-mail system, the E-mail server 30 owns the account A. Further, it is assumed that the mobile phone 40 is owned and the account B is owned by the mobile phone company E-mail system 30. Each component will be described below.

The FAX terminal 10 is a user A of this system.
Is a fax terminal that can be used on the go.

The FAX output system 20 is an E-mail.
Corresponding to the personal account of the server 30, E-ma
It has a function of converting an attached document file such as a word processor software of a PC attached to the il text and E-mail into a FAX image and outputting the FAX image to the FAX terminal 10 through the telephone network 100. Also, each E-mail
A list of E-mail titles arrived for each personal account of the server is pushed by a push signal instruction from the nearest telephone including the mobile telephone 40 through the telephone network 100, the E-mail server 30, the router 60, the Internet 200, the mobile telephone. Mobile phone 40 via telephone company E-mail system 50 and telephone network 100
It has a function of transmitting as an E-mail.

The E-mail server 30 is an E-mail system of a company that the user A always uses,
It is connected to the Internet 200 via the router 60.

Mobile phone company E-mail system 50
Is a device that provides a service for displaying an E-mail on a mobile phone, such as an i-Mode service provided by "NTT DoCoMo", and has an E-mail transmission / reception function for the mobile phone 40.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a list of E-mails received by the user A at the E-mail server 30, and for convenience sake, titles are displayed on the ruled lines and the table.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

User A is the E-mail of the company to which he belongs.
Em who has arrived at his / her own account A of the server 30
To confirm ail, the mobile phone 40 calls the FAX output system 20. FAX output system 20
Prompts the user to enter a user code and a password to identify the user A by using, for example, a voice response, and the user A uses the PB tone from the dial key of the mobile phone 40 to send his or her own user code and password. Enter. FAX
When the output system 20 completes the normal recognition of the user A, the output system 20 prompts the user to input the service code. On the other hand,
The user A inputs the service code for confirming the arrival of the E-mail from the mobile phone 40.

For example, ten E-m's as shown in FIG.
If ail arrives in Account A, FAX
The output system 20 notifies the mobile phone 40 of arrival of 10 E-mails of the user A from the E-mail server 30 by, for example, a synthetic voice. The user A instructs the FAX output system to send a list of 10 E-mail titles to the account B of the mobile phone company E-mail system 50 by PB tone from the mobile phone 40.

The FAX output system 20 is shown in FIG.
A list of 0 E-mail titles is sent to the account B of the mobile phone company E-mail system 50 as the body of the E-mail. User A is a mobile phone company E-ma
After confirming the arrival of the E-mail to the mobile phone 40 by the E-mail arrival notification function of the il system 50 or the like, the mobile phone 40 displays the title list of the E-mail that has arrived to the account A for which the user is assigned as shown in FIG. You can check. From here, two methods can be selected to output the E-mail text that has arrived at the target account A to the FAX terminal 10.

First, the first method is a method of directly calling the FAX output system 40 from the mobile phone 40 and instructing the serial number written in the field 201 of the E-mail to be output. User A wants to check in detail from the received E-mail list on the FAX terminal 10
The title of the field 201 is confirmed, and the serial number of the field 201 assigned to the corresponding E-mail is stored.

Then, the user A uses the mobile phone 40 to F
A call is made to the AX output system 20, and user authentication of the user A is carried out in the same manner as described above. After that, user A
Selects the FAX output service function, specifies the stored serial number, and has the E-mail FAX terminal 10 having the serial number.
Give instructions to. If a plurality of serial numbers are designated, a plurality of E-mail output instructions can be issued. After the designation of the E-mail is completed, the telephone number of the FAX terminal 40 is designated. User A uses mobile phone 40 and FAX output system 2
Release 0 connection.

The FAX output system 20 takes out the E-mail having the designated serial number from the E-mail server 30, and converts the contents into a FAX image. After the conversion is completed, the user A makes a call to the telephone number of the FAX terminal 10 designated by the user A to convert the FAX image into E-.
The text of mail is output to the FAX terminal 10. Through this series of operations, the user A can get the nearest FA to where he / she goes.
With the X terminal, the contents of the E-mail that has reached the user A can be confirmed on paper.

The second method is E- which the mobile phone 40 has.
Using the reply function of mail, mobile phone company E-mail
FA to FAX output system 20 via system 50
This is a method of instructing an E-mail to be output to the X terminal 10. Specifically, the user A confirms the title list of the E-mail that has reached the mobile phone 40, creates a reply mail including the contents, and edits the title list mail itself shown in FIG. . When the user A finds a title to be confirmed, for example, a check mark'M 'is added to the mark field 202 (in the example of FIG. 2, the serial numbers 02 and 07 correspond to this). FAX this operation
After the number of titles to be output to the terminal 40 has been completed, the telephone number of the FAX terminal 40 is additionally written at the end of the email.

After that, the user A uses the E-mail server 3
0 account A, this content to mobile phone company E-ma
il system 50. Since the destination of the account A is set as the transmission source destination of the title list mail, when the reply mail is designated, it is automatically set by the function of the mobile terminal 40.

The FAX output system 20 monitors the E-mail that has arrived at the account A at regular intervals. Take out the reply mail that arrived in Account A,
When the title with the mark “M” is found in the title list of the reply mail, the corresponding E-mail is taken out from the E-mail server 30 and the content is converted into a FAX image. After the conversion is completed, the telephone number of the FAX terminal 10 designated by the user A by mail is called and the text of the E-mail converted into the FAX image is output to the FAX terminal 10.

Even in the second method using the E-mail function of the mobile phone, the series of operations described above enables
The user A can confirm the content of the E-mail delivered to the user A on a paper at the nearest FAX terminal to the destination.

[0035]

As described above, according to the electronic mail access system and the electronic mail access method of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

The first effect of the present invention is that the E-ma can be obtained while on the go.
Even when confirming il, it means that a portable terminal such as a notebook PC or a PDA terminal is not needed, and thus it is not necessary to carry it. Therefore, it is not necessary to care about the battery life of each mobile device.

The second effect of the present invention is that there is no need for a mobile telephone or a portable terminal such as a notebook PC or a PDA terminal connected to a telephone line, so that there is no need for any complicated connection.

The third effect of the present invention is that the E-mail having a large size and the attached file made by the word processor of the PC can be confirmed by FAX only by operating the mobile phone, and the visibility is improved. It means that it can be improved.

The fourth effect of the present invention is that it is not necessary to transfer the mail text to the mail system of the mobile phone company (only the mail title is transmitted), so that the security problem of the Internet can be avoided. is there.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an electronic mail access system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a list of email titles transmitted using the email access system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 FAX terminals 20 FAX output system 30 E-mail server 40 mobile phones 50 Mobile phone company E-mail system 60 routers 100 telephone network 200 Internet 201 E-mail field (serial number) 201 E-mail mark field 201 E-mail field (title)

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5C062 AA02 AA12 AA13 AA29 AB38                       AC24 AC41 AF00 BA04 BB03                       BD09                 5C075 AB90 CF05 CF09                 5K030 HA06 HB04 HC01 HC09 HC14                       HD03 HD06 JT05 JT09 KA01                       KA06                 5K101 KK01 KK02 LL12 MM07 NN18                       UU19

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A provider in which a FAX terminal, a mobile terminal having an e-mail transmission / reception function, and a FAX output system are connected via a telephone network, and a user holds a first account via an Internet network. The electronic mail server, the electronic mail server of the mobile phone company in which the user has a second account, and the FAX output system are connected, and the FAX output system includes: Means for receiving a plurality of emails sent to the first account; means for extracting a title from each of the plurality of emails;
Means for creating a list displaying the extracted titles, means for transmitting the list as an email to the second account, and contents of the email selected by the user from the list. An electronic mail access system comprising at least means for outputting to a predetermined FAX terminal designated by a user. 2. The list includes at least the titles of the emails sent to the first account, and serial numbers assigned to the respective emails.
2. The electronic mail access system according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined marker indicating whether or not FAX output is desired is displayed. 3. The FAX output system is provided with means for converting the content of an electronic mail desired to be FAX-output into an image for FAX, and when a file is attached to the electronic mail, the text of the electronic mail is transmitted. The electronic mail access system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a fax output is made as an image in which the contents of the attached file are integrated. 4. A means for selecting, in the FAX output system, a reply mail of the list transmitted by the portable terminal from the electronic mails transmitted to the first account,
A means for identifying the marker from the list of the reply mail and extracting a corresponding electronic mail; and a means for extracting the number of the FAX terminal desired to be output inserted in the reply mail. The electronic mail access system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: 5. A means for authenticating a user who accesses the FAX output system from a predetermined telephone through the telephone network, and a signal transmitted from the telephone, which is converted into the signal from the list. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for extracting an electronic mail having the corresponding serial number and means for receiving the number of the FAX terminal desired to be output.
The electronic mail access system according to any one of 1 to 3. 6. The electronic mail according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is any one of a mobile phone, a PHS, a notebook personal computer having a mail transmitting / receiving function, and a PDA. Access system. 7. An e-mail server of a provider, which is connected to a fax terminal and a mobile terminal having an e-mail transmission / reception function via a telephone network, and to which a user holds a first account via an internet network. A FAX output system in which the user is connected to an e-mail server of a mobile phone company having a second account, and the FAX output system receives a plurality of e-mails transmitted to the first account. Means, means for extracting a title from each of the plurality of electronic mails, means for creating a list displaying the extracted titles,
A means for transmitting the list as an email to the second account; and a predetermined F for specifying the content of the email selected by the user from the list.
A FAX output system comprising at least a means for outputting to an AX terminal. 8. The list includes at least the titles of the emails sent to the first account, and serial numbers assigned to each of the emails.
The FAX output system according to claim 7, wherein a predetermined marker indicating whether or not the FAX output is desired is displayed. 9. A means for converting the content of an electronic mail desired to be output by FAX into an image for FAX, and when a file is attached to the electronic mail, the text of the electronic mail and the content of the attached file, 9. The FAX output system according to claim 7, wherein the integrated image is generated. 10. A means for selecting reply mails of the list transmitted by the portable terminal from the electronic mails sent to the first account, and the means for selecting the reply mails of the reply mails from the list. 10. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising means for identifying a marker and extracting a corresponding electronic mail, and means for extracting a number of a FAX terminal which is desired to be output and which is inserted in the reply mail. The FAX output system described in Kaichi. 11. A means for authenticating a user who accesses from a predetermined telephone through the telephone network, and a signal transmitted from the telephone and receiving the serial number corresponding to the signal from the list. 10. The FAX output system according to claim 7, further comprising: a unit for extracting the E-mail, and a unit for receiving the number of the FAX terminal desired to be output. 12. A provider in which a FAX terminal, a mobile terminal having an electronic mail transmitting / receiving function, and a FAX output system are connected via a telephone network, and a user holds a first account via an Internet network. And an e-mail server of the mobile phone company in which the user holds a second account, and an e-mail access method using a system in which the fax output system is connected. In the system, receiving a plurality of emails sent to the first account, extracting a title from each of the plurality of emails, and creating a list displaying the extracted titles. And sending the list as an email to the second account, the list And a step of outputting the content of the electronic mail selected by the user from the table to a predetermined FAX terminal designated by the user, at least. 13. The list includes at least a title of an electronic mail sent to the first account, and a serial number assigned to each of the electronic mails.
13. The electronic mail access method according to claim 12, wherein a predetermined marker indicating whether or not FAX output is desired is displayed. 14. In the FAX output system, FA
An image in which the content of the email desired to be output as X is converted into an image for FAX, and when a file is attached to the email, the text of the email and the content of the attached file are integrated. As a fax
The email access method according to claim 12, wherein the email is output. 15. In the FAX output system, a step of selecting reply mails of the list transmitted by the mobile terminal from the electronic mails sent to the first account; and the list of reply mails. The step of identifying the marker from among the above and extracting the corresponding e-mail, and the step of requesting the output inserted in the reply e-mail.
15. The method according to claim 12, further comprising the step of extracting the number of the AX terminal. 16. In the FAX output system, a step of authenticating a user accessing from a predetermined telephone through the telephone network, receiving a signal transmitted from the telephone, and converting the signal from the list into the signal. 15. The electronic mail access method according to claim 12, further comprising a step of extracting an electronic mail of the corresponding serial number and a step of receiving the number of a FAX terminal desired to be output.