JP2004032042A - Email systems and programs - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To page a recipient by a telephone to inform him/her of e-mail contents by a sound or voice when the e-mail is not opened during a predetermined mail open latency time. <P>SOLUTION: A mail server 1 monitors whether the e-mail has been opened during a latency time arbitrarily specified by an e-mail sender, and originates a call to a telephone number of the recipient attached in the e-mail if the e-mail has not been opened during the latency time. The server also converts the e-mail contents into voice data, reads them out and outputs them to a telephone terminal 6 of the recipient. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic mail system and a program for sending and receiving electronic mail via a network.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when an e-mail is transmitted using a personal computer (PC), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, or the like on which mailer software or the like is installed, the provider side of the sender is subscribed. The mail server of (1) determines the mail server of the provider side to which the other party (destination) is subscribed as the connection destination, and distributes the received mail to the mail server of the connection destination.
In such an e-mail system, when the receiving mail is opened on the destination side that has received the mail, a notification that the mail has been opened is sent to the sender at that time. This makes it possible to confirm that the contents of the mail have been read by the other party, which is an effective method for checking urgent mail.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, on the destination side where the mail was received, for example, when the power of the mail terminal is turned off, when the mailbox is not opened, when the mail terminal is not near, when the user does not have a mobile phone, If the incoming melody is OFF, even if an emergency mail arrives, it will not be read immediately, and no notification will be sent to the sender. There have been problems such as waiting for a long time until a notification is received, and having to make a telephone call to confirm that the emergency mail has been read.
[0004]
An object of the present invention is to make a telephone call to the destination side when an e-mail is not opened within a predetermined opening waiting time so that the contents of the e-mail can be communicated by voice. is there.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, in an electronic mail system for transmitting and receiving electronic mail via a network, monitoring means for monitoring whether the electronic mail has been opened within a predetermined opening waiting time, and opening the electronic mail by the monitoring means. If it is detected that the e-mail has not been opened within the waiting time, a call originating means for making a telephone call to the telephone number of the destination, and a destination called by the call originating means Voice output means for voice-converting and outputting the contents of the mail to the telephone.
Further, the present invention provides a computer with a program for realizing the main functions described in the first aspect of the present invention (the eighth aspect of the present invention).
[0006]
Therefore, according to the first and eighth aspects of the present invention, when an e-mail is not opened within a predetermined opening waiting time, a call is transmitted to the telephone number of the destination, and the other party is called. Since the mail contents are converted to voice and output to the previous phone, the receiving melody of the mobile phone is turned off if the mail terminal is turned off, if the mail box is not opened, on the receiving side that receives the mail Even if the received mail is not immediately read, for example, the contents of the mail can be transmitted by telephone communication, which is an extremely effective method for transmitting emergency contents. In addition, when the sender of the mail does not produce a voice due to illness or the like, or when the person who has difficulty in speech is used, the mail can be used instead of a telephone.
[0007]
The invention described in claim 1 may be as follows.
The monitoring means monitors whether the mail has been opened based on the opening wait time obtained from the mail, when the opening wait time arbitrarily designated by the sender of the electronic mail is added to the mail. (Invention of claim 2).
Therefore, according to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to having the same effect as the first aspect of the present invention, whether or not the mail has been opened is monitored based on the opening waiting time added to the mail. Therefore, at the sender, the opening wait time can be arbitrarily specified as 10 minutes, 20 minutes, or 30 minutes according to the urgency of the e-mail contents, and the e-mail contents can be set immediately after the desired time elapses. It is possible to tell the other party.
[0008]
The call originating means, when the destination telephone number arbitrarily designated by the source of the e-mail is added to the e-mail, transmits a call call to the telephone number obtained from the e-mail. (The invention according to claim 3).
Therefore, according to the third aspect of the invention, in addition to having the same effect as the first aspect of the invention, the destination telephone number arbitrarily designated by the sender of the mail is acquired from within the mail. Since a call is made, a call is sent to the other party who wants the contents of the mail at the sender, for example, to the mobile phone in the daytime, or to the landline at home in the nighttime. be able to.
[0009]
In the case where a plurality of destination telephone numbers arbitrarily designated by the source of the e-mail are added in the mail, the call originating means may transmit a call to any of the telephone numbers. When the connection is not established, the operation of transmitting the telephone call by designating the next telephone number is repeated (the invention according to claim 4).
Therefore, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to having the same effects as the first and third aspects of the present invention, a call is made by sequentially designating a plurality of destination-side telephone numbers designated by the mail source. Calls can be made, so calls can be made sequentially according to the priority specified by the sender.For example, if a fixed-line phone is not available, a mobile phone can be called. , Reliable contact is possible.
[0010]
A destination information registering means for registering destination information indicating correspondence between a mail address of a destination arbitrarily designated in advance and a telephone number at a source of the electronic mail is provided, and the e-mail is not opened within the opening wait time by the monitoring means. When the call is detected, the call originating means acquires the telephone number of the destination from the destination information and transmits a telephone call (the invention according to claim 5).
Therefore, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to having the same effect as the first aspect of the present invention, the correspondence between the mail address of the destination arbitrarily specified in advance on the mail source side and the telephone number is indicated. Since the destination information is registered, the telephone number is obtained from the destination information and a call is made, the telephone number of the destination is added to the mail every time the mail is transmitted at the sender. Work becomes unnecessary, and operation can be simplified.
[0011]
A contact registration means is provided for registering the e-mail receiving party's own e-mail address arbitrarily designated in advance and the telephone number of the contact in association with each other, and the e-mail is received by the monitoring means within the opening wait time. If it is detected that the message has not been opened, the call originating means acquires a telephone number from the contact storage means and sends a telephone call (the invention according to claim 6).
Therefore, according to the invention described in claim 6, in addition to having the same effect as the invention described in claim 1, in addition to the own mail address and the telephone number of the contact address arbitrarily designated in advance at the other party receiving the electronic mail. Is registered and a call is made to this contact's telephone number, so that the recipient of the e-mail can receive a telephone call with the contents of the e-mail at the specified contact It becomes possible, and even a mail recipient who does not have a mobile phone can receive a telephone call on the go.
[0012]
The contact registration means, in addition to its own e-mail address and the telephone number of the contact arbitrarily designated in advance at the recipient of the e-mail, at least of the e-mail transmission source e-mail address, e-mail subject, If any one of them is specified as the telephone contact restriction information, register including this restriction information, and if it is detected by the monitoring means that the e-mail was not opened within the opening wait time, The call originating means sends a telephone call on condition that the mail matches the restriction information (the invention according to claim 7).
Therefore, according to the invention described in claim 7, in addition to having the same effect as the inventions described in claims 1 and 6, in addition, any one of the e-mail address and the subject of the e-mail is transmitted to the other party by telephone. Registered as the restriction information, it is possible for the receiver to receive a telephone call only from an e-mail from the other party and a mail corresponding to the subject, and to cancel unnecessary telephone communication.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
(1st Embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an electronic mail system according to this embodiment.
In this e-mail system, mail servers 1 of respective providers that provide an e-mail transmission / reception service via a network are connected via a provider network 2 (proprietary network), and each mail server 1 has The mail terminal 3 on the user side is connected via a network (Internet, mobile communication network) 4 and connected to a telephone terminal 6 via a network (public telephone network, mobile communication network) 5. The system environment has been.
[0014]
In addition to the normal function of sending and receiving e-mails, the mail server 1 transmits a received mail to the destination, and if the mail is not opened within a predetermined opening waiting time, the mail is sent to the destination. Has a telephone contact function that makes a telephone call to the user and reads out the mail content by voice.
The mail terminal 3 is a personal computer (PC) equipped with mailer software or the like, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, or the like. The telephone terminal 6 is a fixed telephone or mobile phone of the user side. is there.
[0015]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a file configuration on each mail server 1 side.
The mail server 1 is provided with a mail management file 12 used for the above-described telephone communication function, in addition to a normal mailbox 11 for storing received mail for each destination. Here, every time the mail server 1 receives a mail, the mail server 1 stores the information in the mailbox 11 and various types of information acquired from the received mail and information generated by the mail server 1 as data for one record. Write to the mail management file 12.
[0016]
FIGS. 3A and 3B show the contents of the mail management file 12.
Each record of the mail management file 12 includes “sender mail address”, “destination mail address”, “subject”, “mail body”, “telephone number 1”, “phone number 2”, “standby time”. , “Transmission date and time”, and “open flag”.
"Phone number (1)" and "Phone number (2)" are destination-side telephone numbers arbitrarily designated by the sender (sender) of the mail. In this embodiment, two types of telephone numbers are used. It can be specified. Here, the mail server 1 receives “sender mail address”, “destination mail address”, “subject”, “telephone number １1”, “telephone number ▲ 2”, etc. added to the received mail. Read from the mail and set it to the corresponding item position in the record.
[0017]
The “waiting time” is an opening waiting time arbitrarily designated by the sender of the mail in minutes, and the mail server 1 monitors the elapse of the opening waiting time, and when the elapse of the time is detected, the mail server 1 Make a call to the local phone number. The “open flag” is a flag indicating whether or not the mail has been opened. In this case, the destination receiving the mail sends a notification of opening the mail to the sender when the mail is opened, but the mail server 1 receives the notification of opening the mail. In this case, if it is within the “standby time”, a flag of “01” indicating that the mail has been opened is set. When the “open flag” is “99”, it indicates that the mail has not been opened.
[0018]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing basic components of the mail server 1.
The CPU 101 is a central processing unit that controls the overall operation of the mail server 1 according to an operating system and various application software in the storage device 102. The storage device 102 has a program storage area and a data storage area. In the program storage area, various application programs are stored in addition to the operating system. 11, a mail management file 12, etc. are stored, and are constituted by a magnetic, optical, semiconductor memory or the like and its driving system. The recording device 102 may have a configuration in which a removable storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD can be mounted in addition to a fixed memory such as a hard disk. The programs and data in the storage device 102 are loaded into a RAM (for example, a static RAM) 103 as needed, or the data in the RAM 103 is saved in the storage device 102. The RAM 103 has a program execution area and a work area.
[0019]
Further, the CPU 101 is connected to each telephone terminal 6 via the public line communication device 104A, and is connected to the mail terminal 3 via the network communication device 104B. Note that the CPU 101 can directly access and use programs / data of other electronic devices, and can also receive downloads from other electronic devices via the communication devices 104A and 104B.
On the other hand, an input / output peripheral device such as an input device 105, a display device 106, and a voice conversion / speech device 107 are connected to the CPU 101 via a bus line, and the CPU 101 controls the operation according to an input / output program. The voice conversion reading device 107 is a voice device that converts mail contents transmitted to the telephone terminal 6 via a public telephone line into voice data and performs automatic reading.
[0020]
Next, an operation algorithm of the electronic mail system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. Here, the functions described in these flowcharts are stored in the form of readable program codes, and sequentially execute operations according to the program codes. Further, the operation according to the above-described program code transmitted via the transmission medium can be sequentially performed. The same applies to other embodiments described later, and an operation specific to this embodiment can be executed using a program / data externally supplied via a transmission medium in addition to a recording medium.
[0021]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an outline of the main processing in the mail server 1.
First, the mail server 1 executes a mail transmission process when transmitting a mail (step A1), and executes a mail reception process when receiving a mail (step A3) (step A3). A4) Further, when the timer is activated (step A5), an opening check process is executed (step A6).
[0022]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart detailing the mail transmission process shown in FIG.
When receiving the outgoing mail from the mail terminal 3 (step B1), the mail server 1 determines the mail server 1 to which the mail server 1 is connected based on the received mail (step B2). In this case, if the connection destination cannot be established by itself (step B3), the received mail is transferred to another mail server 1 as the connection destination (step B4), but if the connection destination is self (step B3). The received mail is stored in the mailbox 11 (step B5), and a record in which the opening flag is set to "99" is created and additionally registered in the mail management file 12 (step B6).
[0023]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart detailing the mail receiving process shown in FIG.
When the mail server 1 receives the mail (step C1), it analyzes the contents of the mail (step C2). If the mail is an open notification (YES in step C3), the mail server 1 stores the record corresponding to the open notification in the mail. The file is searched from the management file 12 (step C4), and "01" is set at the item position of the opening flag in the record (step C5). The mail is stored in the mailbox 11 (step C6), and a record in which the open flag is set to "99" is created and additionally registered in the mail management file 12 (step C7).
[0024]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart detailing the unsealing check process shown in FIG. 5, and the unsealing check process is started to be executed every time-up (for example, every one minute). First, the mail server 1 accesses the contents of the mail management file 12 from the first record (step D1), searches for an unopened record having "99" as an open flag (step D2), and reads the unopened record. It is checked whether the "telephone number" is set in (step D3). Here, if the "telephone number" is not set in the unopened record, the process proceeds to step D17, and returns to step D1 on condition that the file readout is not completed (EOF). A record is searched (step D2), and it is checked whether a "phone number" is set in the unopened record (step D3).
[0025]
If there is an unopened record in which the "telephone number" is set (YES in step D3), the "transmission date and time" is read from the record, and the mail is sent based on the transmission date and the current system date and time. Is calculated (step D4). Then, the “standby time” is read from the corresponding record (step D5), and the standby time is compared with the above-mentioned calculated time (elapsed time) (step D6), and it is checked whether the unopened file has passed the standby time. (Step D7). Here, if it is within the standby time (NO in step D7), the process proceeds to step D17, returns to step D1 on condition that the file reading is not completed, and repeats the above-described operation. If unopened (YES in step D7), the above-mentioned telephone communication function is activated.
[0026]
First, the mail server 1 reads out the "telephone number" from the corresponding record (step D8). If a plurality of "telephone numbers" are set in this record, one of them is read out according to the set order. Then, a call is transmitted to the "telephone number" (step D9). Then, it is checked whether the telephone terminal 6 has been connected to the other party's telephone terminal 6. If the telephone connection has not been made even after the predetermined ringing time has elapsed (step D10), the next "telephone number" is read from the corresponding record. (Step D11) If there is the next "telephone number" (step D12), a call is sent to this "telephone number" (step D9). In this case, if a call is made to all the "telephone numbers" set in the record and the telephone is not connected to each of the other telephones (YES in step D12), it indicates a poor telephone connection. The message is sent to the mail sender (step D13).
[0027]
On the other hand, if the telephone terminal 6 is connected to the other party's telephone terminal 6 (YES in step D10), the "subject", "mail body", and the like are read from the corresponding record, and these are converted into voice data (step D14). This voice data is incorporated into a predetermined voice message to perform automatic reading (step D15). In this case, voice reading is repeated (step D15) until the call is cut off from the other party (step D16). Note that, in this case, in addition to the “subject” and the “mail body”, the text-to-speech may be performed including the “sender's name”, the “transmission date and time”, and the like. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step D17, and returns to step D1 on condition that the file reading is not completed, and thereafter, the above operation is repeated.
[0028]
As described above, in the first embodiment, the mail server 1 monitors whether the mail has been opened within the waiting time arbitrarily designated by the mail sender, and if the mail has not been opened within the waiting time, A call is sent to the telephone number of the destination, and the contents of the mail are converted into voice and read out to the telephone terminal 6 of the other party. If the mail is not read, the mailbox 11 is not opened, the incoming melody of the mobile phone is turned off, etc., even if the received mail is not read immediately, the contents of the mail can be communicated by telephone communication. This is extremely effective as a method of transmitting emergency contents. In addition, in the case where the sender of the e-mail does not produce a voice due to illness or the like, or in the case of a person who has difficulty in speech, the e-mail can be used instead of a telephone.
[0029]
The mail server 1 monitors whether or not the mail has been opened based on the waiting time added to the mail. Therefore, at the transmission source, 10 minutes and 20 minutes depending on the urgency of the contents of the mail. , 30 minutes, the opening waiting time can be arbitrarily designated, and the contents of the mail can be transmitted to the other party immediately after the elapse of the desired time.
In addition, the telephone number of the destination specified arbitrarily by the sender of the mail is obtained from the mail and a call is made. It is possible to make a telephone call, for example, to a mobile phone in the daytime, or to a landline phone at home in the nighttime. Furthermore, since a plurality of destination-side telephone numbers designated by the sender of the mail are sequentially designated and the call is transmitted, the call can be sequentially performed according to the priority specified by the sender, For example, if a call is made to a fixed-line phone but not present, the call can be made to a mobile phone, and reliable contact can be made.
[0030]
In the first embodiment described above, the telephone number of the destination specified arbitrarily by the sender of the mail is obtained from the mail and the telephone call is transmitted, but the telephone number shown in FIG. The telephone number may be obtained by referring to the registration file 13.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the contents of the telephone number registration file 13. The telephone number registration file 13 is arbitrarily registered in advance by the sender of the mail, and stores destination information indicating the correspondence between the "mail address" and the "telephone number" for each destination (destination). It has become.
[0031]
In this case, the mail server 1 accesses the telephone number registration file 13 based on the “destination mail address” read from the mail, acquires the “phone number” corresponding to the mail address, and calls the telephone. . As described above, the mail sender registers destination information indicating the correspondence between the mail address of the arbitrarily designated destination and the telephone number, obtains the telephone number from the destination information, and makes a call. For example, the sender does not need to add the telephone number of the other party to the mail every time the mail is transmitted, thereby simplifying the operation.
[0032]
Further, in the first embodiment described above, when the standby time elapses, the e-mail is notified by telephone to the other party, but it is possible to receive a telephone communication rejection notification applied in advance from the contact, When the notification of the refusal of communication is received, the telephone communication may not be performed thereafter, and the fact may be notified to the mail transmission source. By accepting the contact rejection notification from the contact in this way, unnecessary telephone contact such as a chain mail can be prevented.
[0033]
When reading out the mail content by voice, the mail content may be read out including the mail identification ID. In other words, the mail server 1 adds the unique identification information to the mail every time the mail content is read out, and reads it out. By simply sending the ID to the mail server 1 and instructing re-reading, the same mail content can be heard any number of times.
[0034]
Also, the mail sender may be notified whether the mail has been opened within the standby time or whether a telephone call has been made after the standby time has elapsed. This allows the sender to extend the standby time for those who frequently make phone calls, and to reduce the standby time for those who frequently open emails during the standby time. Can be taken. Also, if the telephone charge charged for the contact is notified to the mail transmission source, the standby time can be adjusted according to the telephone charge.
[0035]
(2nd Embodiment)
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the above-described first embodiment, the mail source adds the telephone number of the destination to the mail, and the mail server 1 communicates the contents of the mail by telephone on the condition that the standby time has elapsed. However, in the second embodiment, an arbitrary contact (telephone number) can be designated on the receiving side of the mail, and the sender of the mail and the subject of the mail are determined by the contact condition. Can be arbitrarily specified on the receiving side, and the mail server 1 makes a telephone call to the contact only when the mail satisfies the specified condition. In other words, in the second embodiment, telephone communication can be made in consideration of the intention on the receiving side of the mail.
Here, in both embodiments, basically the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the following description focuses on the features of the second embodiment.
[0036]
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the contents of the contact condition registration file 14.
The contact condition registration file 14 stores the mail address of the mail sender in addition to the “own mail address” and “contact phone number” arbitrarily specified in advance at the recipient (recipient side) of the mail recipient. "And" Subject "can be stored as restriction information (condition information) for telephone contact. On the receiving side," own mail address "and arbitrary" telephone number "indicating the forwarding destination of telephone contact are registered in advance. At the same time, at least one of the "mail address of the mail sender" and the "subject" is registered as the condition information for telephone communication.
[0037]
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a registration process started by the mail server 1 in response to a contact condition registration access from the recipient.
When the mail server 1 receives a request for registration of contact conditions via the Internet, it transmits a condition registration page (Web page) to the request source (step E1). This condition registration page is a condition input page that describes "e-mail address of sender" and "subject" in addition to "own e-mail address" and "phone number of contact". When the necessary items are entered and transmitted, the mail server 1 receives the registration contents (step E2), creates a condition record using the registration contents as one record (step E3), and creates the contact condition registration file 14 (step E3). Is additionally registered (step E4).
[0038]
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an outline of the opening check process in the second embodiment.
First, the mail server 1 accesses the mail management file 12 as in the first embodiment (step F1), and determines whether the mail remains unopened even after the elapse of the standby time. (Step F2) If the mail has been opened within the standby time, the process proceeds to Step F10. However, if the mail that has not been opened even after the standby time has been searched, the “address” is read from the mail. The mail address is read (step F3).
[0039]
Then, the contact condition registration file 14 is accessed based on the “destination mail address” (step F4), and it is checked whether there is a record including the “destination mail address” as the “own mail address” (step F5). If there is no corresponding record, the process proceeds to the telephone communication process similar to the first embodiment (step F9). That is, the telephone call processing is performed by reading out the “telephone number” included in the mail and calling, and converting the mail contents into voice data and reading it out.
[0040]
On the other hand, if there is a corresponding record in the contact condition registration file 14 (step F5), the "telephone number" is read from the record (step F6), and the telephone contact condition information is read (step F7). Check whether the corresponding "mail address of sender" and "subject" match the specified conditions. If multiple conditions are registered as condition information, check whether all conditions match. (Step F8).
Here, when it is detected that all the conditions match, a process of calling the "telephone number" read from the contact condition registration file 14 and converting the voice of the mail content to speech is performed ( In step F9), if the condition mismatch is detected, the telephone communication process (step F9) is canceled and the process proceeds to step F10, where it is checked whether or not the file reading has been completed (EOF). And the above operation is repeated.
[0041]
As described above, in the second embodiment, the mail server 1 registers the user's own e-mail address arbitrarily designated in advance and the telephone number of the contact at the destination (recipient side) of receiving the e-mail. In addition, since a call is made to this contact's telephone number, the recipient of the e-mail can receive a telephone call with the contents of the e-mail at the contact specified arbitrarily. Even a mail recipient who does not have a telephone receiver can receive a telephone call on the go.
[0042]
If at least one of the “sender's mail address” and the “subject” of the mail is registered as the condition information for telephone communication on the recipient side, the mail server 1 When a mail is not opened, a call is sent only to the mail that matches the condition information, so only the mail from the recipient and the mail corresponding to the subject are required for the recipient Can be accepted, and unnecessary telephone communication can be canceled.
[0043]
In the second embodiment described above, the "own mail address" and the "contact telephone number" arbitrarily specified by the receiver are registered in association with each other. The "contact desired time zone" arbitrarily designated as may be registered in association with the telephone number of the contact. If the desired contact time zone is specified and registered in this way, the mail server 1 will call the contact when it detects that the current system date and time is within the desired contact time zone. A call can be made.
[0044]
In the above-described second embodiment, any one of the “mail address of the sender” and the “subject” of the mail is registered as the condition information for telephone communication. "Title", "part of mail body", for example, "〇〇 proposal" may be registered as condition information, and the condition of telephone communication may be any combination thereof. Good.
[0045]
Further, in the first and second embodiments described above, the mail body created by the mail sender is converted into voice and read out, but the mail body to be read out is fixed data prepared in advance on the mail server 1 side. It may be.
In this case, instead of creating the mail body, the mail sender adds a search key for searching for fixed data to the mail, and the mail server 1 reads out the search key added to the received mail. What is necessary is just to read out the fixed data associated with the key, convert it into voice as the mail text, and read it out. For example, if various information about the sender, such as the name and address of the mail sender, is registered in advance as fixed data, the name, address, etc., are created at the mail sender each time a mail is created. The trouble of inputting can be saved.
[0046]
On the other hand, a recording medium (for example, a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a RAM card, or the like) in which a program code for causing each of the above-described units to be executed may be provided to the computer.
That is, a recording medium having a program code that can be read by a computer, a function of monitoring whether an e-mail has been opened within a predetermined opening wait time, and a function of not monitoring the e-mail within the opening wait time. If a call is detected, a function to make a call to the telephone number of the destination of the mail and a voice conversion of the contents of the mail to the telephone of the called party are output. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for realizing the functions is recorded may be provided.
[0047]
【The invention's effect】
According to the invention (invention of claim 1), when an e-mail is not opened within a predetermined opening waiting time, a call is transmitted to the telephone number of the destination, Since the contents of the mail are converted to voice and output to the other party's phone, if the mail terminal is turned off, the mailbox is not opened, or the incoming melody of the mobile phone is Even if the received mail is not immediately read, for example, when it is turned off, the contents of the mail can be transmitted by telephone communication, which is extremely effective as a method for transmitting emergency contents. In addition, when the sender of the mail does not produce a voice due to illness or the like, or when the person who has difficulty in speech is used, the mail can be used instead of a telephone.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an electronic mail system.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a file configuration on each mail server 1 side.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing the contents of a mail management file 12. FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing basic components of the mail server 1.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an outline of a main process in the mail server 1;
FIG. 6 is a flowchart detailing a mail transmission process shown in FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart detailing a mail receiving process shown in FIG. 5;
FIG. 8 is a flowchart detailing an opening check process shown in FIG. 5;
FIG. 9 is a view showing the contents of a telephone number registration file 13 for explaining an application example in the first embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the contents of a contact condition registration file 14 in the second embodiment.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a registration process in which the mail server 1 starts execution in response to a contact condition registration access from the recipient side in the second embodiment.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of an opening check process according to the second embodiment;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 mail server
3 mail terminal
4,5 network
6 telephone terminals
11 Mailbox
12 Mail management file
13 telephone number registration file
14 Contact condition registration file
101 CPU
102 storage device
104A, 104B communication device
105 Input device
107 Voice Conversion Speech Device

Claims (8)

In an e-mail system that sends and receives e-mail via a network, monitoring means for monitoring whether the e-mail has been opened within a predetermined opening wait time,
If the monitoring means detects that the e-mail has not been opened within the opening waiting time, a call originating means for making a call to the destination telephone number;
Voice output means for voice-converting and outputting the mail content to the telephone of the other party called by the call transmission means;
An e-mail system comprising: The monitoring means monitors whether the mail has been opened based on the opening wait time obtained from the mail, when the opening wait time arbitrarily designated by the sender of the electronic mail is added to the mail. ,
2. The electronic mail system according to claim 1, wherein: The call originating means, when the destination telephone number arbitrarily designated by the source of the e-mail is added to the e-mail, transmits a call call to the telephone number obtained from the e-mail. Do
2. The electronic mail system according to claim 1, wherein: When a plurality of destination telephone numbers arbitrarily designated by the source of the e-mail are added in the mail, the call transmitting means transmits a call to any of the telephone numbers. If the connection is not established, repeat the operation of making a call by specifying the next phone number,
The electronic mail system according to claim 3, wherein A destination information registering means for registering destination information indicating correspondence between a mail address of a destination arbitrarily designated in advance and a telephone number at a source of the electronic mail,
When the monitoring means detects that the e-mail has not been opened within the opening wait time, the call originating means obtains the telephone number of the destination from the destination information and transmits a call. ,
2. The electronic mail system according to claim 1, wherein: A contact registration means for registering the mail address of the user who receives the e-mail in association with the mail address of the user arbitrarily designated in advance and the telephone number of the contact,
When it is detected that the e-mail was not opened within the opening waiting time by the monitoring means, the call sending means obtains a telephone number from the contact storage means and sends a call.
2. The electronic mail system according to claim 1, wherein: The contact registration means, in addition to its own e-mail address and the telephone number of the contact arbitrarily designated in advance at the recipient of the e-mail, at least of the e-mail transmission source e-mail address, e-mail subject, If one of them is specified as restriction information for telephone communication, register including this restriction information,
When it is detected that the electronic mail has not been opened within the opening wait time by the monitoring means, the call transmitting means transmits a call, on condition that the mail matches the restriction information,
7. The electronic mail system according to claim 6, wherein: Against the computer
A function to monitor whether an e-mail has been opened within a predetermined opening wait time,
A function that, when it is detected that the e-mail has not been opened within the open waiting time, makes a call to the telephone number of the destination of the e-mail;
A function of voice-converting and outputting the mail content to the telephone of the called party
The program to realize.

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