JP2011100363A - Information processing apparatus, method of controlling the same, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce errors in sending emails by a user to destinations not connected by an intranet and to provide a mechanism for efficiently sending emails. <P>SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus controlling the transmission of emails stores intra information including information about destinations connected to the same intranet; obtains an email sent upon reception of a transmission instruction; uses the stored intra information to determine whether the destination of the email obtained is a destination connected to the same intranet; and varies the control of the transmission between emails whose destinations are determined to be connected to the same intranet and emails whose destinations are determined to be not connected to the same intranet. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an e-mail transmission control technique, and more particularly to transmission control of an e-mail received from a terminal.

  In recent years, leakage of personal information and confidential information has been affecting corporate trust. Information leakage may occur due to unauthorized access from the outside, but most are caused by carelessness of people inside the company, and information leakage is caused by inadvertent transmission of files using e-mail, etc. I sometimes get up.

  In order to prevent such erroneous transmission of an electronic mail, in Patent Document 1, an electronic mail to be transmitted is held by an outgoing mail hold device arranged between the mail transmission / reception terminal and the mail delivery device. There has been proposed a technique for canceling transmission when it is determined to be erroneous transmission.

  In general, the company and its group companies are often connected to the intranet, but some group companies are not connected to the intranet due to delays in the construction of the intranet. There can be.

  Therefore, when sending e-mail to a group company that is not connected to the same intranet as your company, it will be sent via a general line, and confidential information will be leaked due to eavesdropping of e-mail by a third party. There is a possibility.

JP 2005-277976 A

  In order to avoid the risk of leakage of confidential information as described above, an administrator who builds and manages an intranet notifies the user in the company when an intranet is newly opened with a group company. When a user sends an e-mail to a group company that is not connected via the same intranet, the user confirms that the e-mail does not contain confidential information, or the attached file attached to the e-mail is encrypted. Measures to confirm whether or not

  However, when sending an e-mail to a group company that is not connected to the same intranet, the user may forget to check whether the attached file is encrypted, and the confidential information still leaks. There is a high possibility that

  That is, conventionally, there is a high possibility that an e-mail including confidential information that is not encrypted is erroneously transmitted to a destination that is not connected via an intranet.

  Furthermore, in order to prevent erroneous transmission of an electronic mail, if the user sets the delay time (holding time) of the electronic mail for each transmission destination of the electronic mail, it must be set for each user. The operation becomes complicated and a setting error may occur depending on the user.

  Furthermore, in Patent Document 1, the outgoing mail hold device can determine whether or not hold is possible only in units of received messages. Therefore, for e-mails with multiple destinations, if even one destination with the possibility of erroneous transmission is included, the email transmission to other destinations will be suspended or canceled. Therefore, it is difficult to send e-mail efficiently. Furthermore, when it is determined whether or not to hold on the condition that the destination is uniform, it is difficult to efficiently send an e-mail depending on the transmission source user.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism that can reduce the erroneous transmission of an electronic mail by a user to a transmission destination that is not connected via an intranet and can efficiently transmit an electronic mail.

  The present invention is an information processing apparatus that controls transmission of electronic mail, and stores storage means for storing intra information including transmission destination information indicating transmission destinations connected via the same intranet, and transmission by receiving a transmission instruction. Whether the transmission destination of the email acquired by the acquisition means is a transmission destination connected by the same intranet, using the acquisition means for acquiring the received email and the intra information stored in the storage means The intra-determination means for determining whether or not the e-mail is determined to be a destination connected by the same intranet by the intra-determination means, and the destination is not a destination connected by the same intranet by the intra-determination means. Sending control means for performing sending control different from the e-mail determined to be.

  Further, the present invention is a control method in an information processing apparatus that performs sending control of an e-mail, comprising storage means for storing intra information including information on destinations connected by the same intranet, wherein the obtaining means comprises: The acquisition step of acquiring an e-mail transmitted by receiving a transmission instruction and the determination unit uses the same intra information stored in the storage unit, and the transmission destination of the e-mail acquired in the acquisition step is the same A determination step for determining whether or not the transmission destination is connected via the intranet, and an electronic mail whose transmission control means is determined to be a transmission destination connected via the same intranet in the determination step, and the determination A sending control step for making sending control different from that of an e-mail that is determined not to be a destination connected by the same intranet in the step. And features.

  Further, the present invention is a program executable by an information processing apparatus that performs transmission control of e-mail, comprising storage means for storing intra information including information on destinations connected via the same intranet, wherein the information The processing device uses the intra information stored in the storage means to acquire the electronic mail transmitted by receiving the transmission instruction, and the transmission destination of the electronic mail acquired by the acquisition means is the same. Determining means for determining whether or not the transmission destination is connected to the same intranet; e-mail determined to be a transmission destination connected to the same intranet by the determination means; and the same intranet by the determination means It is characterized by functioning as a sending control means for making sending control different from that of an e-mail that is determined not to be a destination connected by. .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, while being able to reduce the erroneous transmission of the email by the user to the transmission destination not connected with the intranet, it is possible to efficiently send the email.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an e-mail transmission system according to a first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of a mail transmission / reception terminal and a mail relay apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the mail relay apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the control processing by the control rule which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a non-rotor which shows the detail of the application process of the control rule which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the intra transmission control process which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process which determines whether it is the other party connected by the intranet which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the transmission control determination process which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the action execution process which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a control rule table. It is a figure which shows an example of the table in which the transmission destination information connected by the intranet was set. It is a figure which shows an example of the table in which the intra relay control process was set. It is a figure which shows an example of the information stored in an action application entry buffer. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting screen of a control rule. It is a figure which shows an example of the list screen of a control rule. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen which sets intra relay control processing. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen which sets the transmission destination information connected with the intranet. It is a figure which shows a mode that an email is divided | segmented for every envelope recipient. It is a figure which shows an example of the notification mail to a sender | caller and an administrator. It is a figure which shows an example of the mail transmitted to a broadcast recipient. It is a figure which shows an example of the management screen of a pending mail. It is a flowchart which shows an example in case the transmitted email is suspended and deleted.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic mail relay control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic mail relay control system according to this embodiment includes a mail transmission / reception terminal (terminal device) 110, a mail relay device 150, and a mail delivery device 190. The mail transmission / reception terminal 110, the mail relay device 150, and the mail delivery device 190 are connected to each other via a network so that they can communicate with each other. FIG. 1 shows one mail transmission / reception terminal (terminal device) 110, but in this embodiment, one or a plurality of mail transmission / reception terminals (terminal devices) and the mail relay device 150 and mail delivery via the network. The apparatus 190 is connected to be communicable with each other.
The mail relay device 150 is a configuration serving as an application example of the information processing device of the present invention.

  An e-mail transmitted from the e-mail transmission / reception terminal 110 is sent to another e-mail (not shown) as the destination via the e-mail relay device 150 and the e-mail delivery device 190 according to the e-mail address set as the e-mail destination Sent to the terminal.

A mail transmission / reception terminal 110 that transmits and receives electronic mail is an information processing apparatus in which a user gives various operation instructions. The mail transmission / reception terminal 110 can transmit / receive data to / from the mail relay apparatus 150 via the network.
The mail transmission / reception terminal 110 includes a mail transmission / reception unit 111 and a management operation unit 112.
The mail transmission / reception unit 111 has a function of transmitting an electronic mail to the mail relay apparatus 150 and a function of receiving an electronic mail from the mail relay apparatus 150.

  The management operation unit 112 has a function of receiving operation instructions from the user, such as registration, editing, deletion, and browsing of control rules stored in the storage unit of the mail relay device 150, and a control rule setting unit 154 of the mail relay device 150. On the other hand, it has a function of transmitting an instruction (control rule registration, editing, deletion, browsing, etc.) operated by the user.

  In other words, the management operation unit 112 is set to determine whether to e-mail sent (transmitted) from the mail transmitting / receiving terminal 110 to be temporarily suspended without being sent immediately or to be relayed (sent immediately to the destination). A function is provided for instructing the control rule setting unit 154 to register, edit, delete, and view control rules.

  The control rules stored in the storage means of the mail relay device 150 will be described later with reference to FIG. 10, the intranet table with reference to FIG. 11, and the intra relay control with reference to FIG. The intranet table is an application example of the intra information of the present invention. The control rule is an application example of the control condition of the present invention.

  Further, the management operation unit 112 has a function of accepting an operation instruction by a user such as browsing, deletion, transmission (relay) of an email temporarily held in a storage unit (holding mail storage unit 158) of the mail relay device 150; A function of transmitting an operation instruction received by the user (such as browsing, deleting, and transmitting (relaying) temporarily suspended electronic mail) to the stored mail management processing unit 155 is provided.

  The mail transmission / reception unit 111 is a functional unit corresponding to a mail client (mail user agent: MUA) compatible with generally known protocols such as SMTP, POP, and IMAP. In addition, the management operation unit 112 is realized by using a function of a WEB browser corresponding to HTTP or HTTPS, for example.

  The mail relay device 150 determines whether to relay or temporarily hold the electronic mail transmitted from the mail transmitting / receiving terminal 110 to the mail distribution device, and forwards (relays) the mail to the mail delivery device 190 based on the determination result. )

  The mail relay device 150 includes a mail reception processing unit 151, a rule application processing unit 152, a mail transmission processing unit 153, a control rule setting unit 154, and a pending mail management processing unit 155.

The mail relay apparatus 150 includes storage areas such as a control rule storage unit 156, a user account database 157, and a pending mail storage unit 158 in storage means such as the external memory 211.
The mail reception processing unit 151 has a function of acquiring an electronic mail transmitted by the mail transmitting / receiving terminal 110.

  The rule application processing unit 152 determines whether or not the email acquired by the mail reception processing unit 151 matches the various conditions indicated in the control rule stored in the control rule storage unit 156, and the matching control rule is When it is determined that there is a function, a function of applying an action (relay or hold of the e-mail) set in the control rule to the e-mail is provided.

  The mail transmission processing unit 153 has a function of transmitting an electronic mail to the mail delivery device 190. That is, it is a functional unit that transmits an e-mail that is determined to be relayed by the rule application processing unit 152 or an e-mail that is temporarily suspended after a predetermined hold time has elapsed.

  The control rule setting unit 154 receives from the management operation unit 112 of the mail transmission / reception terminal 110 a function for receiving operation instructions such as registration, editing, deletion, and browsing of the control rules stored in the control rule storage unit 156, and in accordance with the operation instructions And a function for executing processing such as registration, editing, deletion, and browsing of the control rules stored in the control rule storage unit 156. In addition, the control rule setting unit 154 is realized by using a function of a WEB server compatible with HTTP or HTTPS, for example.

  In addition, the control rule setting unit 154 transmits and receives mail using user information (a user identifier (for example, a user name of the user) and a password) that identifies the user (user) and a password stored in the user account database 157. A function of authenticating a user who operates the terminal 110 is provided.

The hold mail management processing unit 155 has a function of sending, deleting, or extending a hold of an e-mail held in the hold mail storage unit 158 in accordance with an instruction received from the mail transmitting / receiving terminal 110.
The control rule storage unit 156 is a storage area in which control rules used by the rule application processing unit 152 are stored.

The user account database 157 is stored in storage means such as the external memory 211, and includes a user identifier (for example, a user name of the user) for identifying the user (user), a password, and an e-mail address of the user. And are stored in association with each other.
The hold mail storage unit 158 is a storage area for holding the electronic mail determined to be held by the rule application processing unit 152.

The mail delivery device 190 is a so-called mail server, and has a function (such as an SMTP server function) for transmitting the electronic mail to a destination set in the electronic mail received from the mail transmission processing unit 153. Further, the mail delivery device 190 has a function (such as a function of a POP3 server) that transmits an electronic mail transmitted to the mail transmission / reception terminal 110 to the mail transmission / reception terminal 110 in response to a request from the mail transmission / reception terminal. Also good.
The mail transmission / reception terminal 110, the mail relay device 150, and the mail delivery device 190 are computers.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the mail transmission / reception terminal 110, the mail relay device 150, and the mail delivery device 190.
The CPU 201 comprehensively controls each device and controller connected to the system bus 204.

In the ROM 202 or the external memory 211, a BIOS (BASIC INPUT / OUTPUT SYSTEM), an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as OS), which is a control program of the CPU 201, and functions necessary for realizing each computer will be described later. Various programs are stored.
The RAM 203 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 201.
The CPU 201 implements various operations by loading a program necessary for execution of processing into the RAM 203 and executing the program.
An input controller (input C) 205 controls input from a pointing device such as a keyboard 209 or a mouse (not shown).

  A video controller (VC) 206 controls display on a display device such as a CRT display (CRT) 210. The display device may be a liquid crystal display as well as a CRT. These are used by the user as needed.

  The memory controller (MC) 207 is a hard disk (HD), floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD), or PCMCIA that stores a boot program, browser software, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, various data, and the like. Controls access to an external memory 211 such as a compact flash (registered trademark) connected to the card slot via an adapter.

  A communication I / F controller (communication I / FC) 208 is connected to and communicates with an external device via a network, and executes communication control processing in the network. For example, Internet communication using TCP / IP is possible.

  Note that the CPU 201 enables display on the CRT 210 by executing outline font rasterization processing on a display information area in the RAM 203, for example. In addition, the CPU 201 displays various operation screens, a mouse cursor, and the like (not shown) on the CRT 210 to enable a user instruction.

  Note that a program for realizing each process to be described later is recorded in, for example, the external memory 211 and is executed by the CPU 201 by being loaded into the RAM 203 as necessary.

  Furthermore, the control rule storage unit 156, the user account database 157, the pending mail storage unit 158, and the various information tables 214 are configured to be stored in the external memory 211, for example.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an e-mail transmission control process executed by the CPU 201 of the mail relay apparatus 150. Note that the processing of steps S301 to S305 is realized by the CPU 201 of the mail relay apparatus 150 executing various control programs.
In step S301, the mail reception processing unit 151 of the mail relay device 150 receives the electronic mail transmitted from the mail transmitting / receiving terminal 110.
The mail reception processing unit 151 passes the received e-mail to the rule application processing unit 152, and the rule application processing unit 152 executes the processing after step S302.

  In step S302, the rule application processing unit 152 lists all the control rules (control table (FIG. 10)) stored in the control rule storage unit 156 and the intranet table 1101 stored in the control rule storage unit 156. (FIG. 11) and the intra relay control table 1201 (FIG. 12) stored in the control rule storage unit 156 are read into a memory such as a RAM. Then, after reading the list of all control rules, the intranet table 1101 and the intra relay control table 1201 into the memory, the action application entry buffer is initialized. Here, the action application entry buffer is a storage area secured in a storage unit such as a RAM of the mail relay device 150.

Here, the control rule indicates each record of the table shown in FIG. FIG. 10 showing a list of control rules as a table is referred to as a control table.
Here, the control table (FIG. 10) will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control table showing a list of control rules as a table. The control rule is information of one record including items of “ID”, “user ID”, “condition definition unit”, “division evaluation”, “action definition unit”, and “manager”.

As shown in FIG. 10, the control rules read in step S302 are stored and held in a list format sorted in ascending order using “ID” as a key. The number set in this “ID” indicates the order of control rules applied when executing the processing of FIG. 4 described later. That is, “ID” in the control rule indicates the priority (order) to which the control rule is applied in the control rule application process (FIG. 4).
Here, each item of the control table will be described.
“User ID” is a user identifier such as a user name for identifying a user (user) who has registered a control rule including the user ID.

  The “condition definition unit” includes “sender (sender)”, “receiver (destination)”, and “other conditions”. In the “sender (sender)”, an email address (sender information) of a sender of the email acquired from the mail transmitting / receiving terminal 110 is set. In “recipient” (destination), an e-mail address (recipient information) of an e-mail destination (TO, CC, BCC) acquired from the mail transmitting / receiving terminal 110 is set. In “other conditions”, conditions (information) for specifying an email other than the email address obtained from the email acquired from the email transmission / reception terminal 110 are set. For example, in “other conditions”, it is assumed that information used for specifying an e-mail in a system for filtering transmission / reception of normal e-mail can be set. Specifically, the presence / absence of an attached file, the file name of the attached file, the file type (file extension, etc.), the file size, and the data size of the entire e-mail can be set. That is, whether a file is attached to an e-mail, an attached file with a predetermined file name is attached, or the file type (file extension, etc.) attached to the e-mail is a predetermined file type or electronic It can be set as an application condition whether the file size of the file attached to the e-mail is greater than or less than a predetermined value, or whether the data size of the entire e-mail data is greater than or less than a predetermined value.

  In addition, multiple email addresses can be set for each of “sender (source)” and “receiver (destination)”, and any character string can be set by using meta characters (wildcards) such as asterisks. Can also be expressed.

In the “division evaluation”, a truth value (TRUE, FALSE) indicating whether or not to generate an e-mail addressed to each of a plurality of addresses set in the e-mail acquired from the mail transmitting / receiving terminal 110 is set. Is done.
That is, a condition is set for determining whether to execute the process of step S502 described later or the process of step S503.

  The “action definition section” (transmission control information) is composed of “action” and “delay time”. In “Action”, information (transmission control information) indicating processing for an e-mail that matches each condition set in the condition definition unit is set. In the example of FIG. 10, when “relay” is set, the e-mail is relayed (sent) immediately, but when “hold” is set, the e-mail is held. In the “delay time”, “hold” is set in “action”, and a hold limit time (transmission control information) when the transmission of the e-mail is put on hold is set. For example, an e-mail acquired from the mail transmitting / receiving terminal 110 satisfies the condition set in the condition definition part of the control rule, and the “action” corresponding to the condition is controlled as “pending” and the “delay time” is controlled as “10M”. If the rule is set, the electronic mail is not sent immediately, but the electronic mail is stored in the pending mail storage unit 158 for 10 minutes. That is, the electronic mail is transmitted with a delay of 10 minutes. The “action definition section” (transmission control information) is an application example of the condition transmission control information of the present invention.

  That is, the transmission of the electronic mail is suspended for the time set in the “delay time”. When the “Action” field is “Relay”, the value set in “Delay time” is invalid. If the “Action” field is “Pending” and no value is set for “Delay time”, the e-mail is put on hold indefinitely. In this case, the electronic mail is put on hold until a sending instruction is issued from an external device (such as another mail transmitting / receiving terminal).

  The “administrator” has a notification destination (notification recipient information) that notifies that the e-mail is put on hold when the e-mail matches the condition definition part of the control rule and the e-mail is put on hold. ) And authority information of the notification destination user. Further, a broadcaster identifier indicating whether or not “information on hold control” to be described later is inserted into the e-mail addressed to the broadcaster set as the destination of the e-mail received from the mail transmitting / receiving terminal 110 is set. Yes. In the example of FIG. 10, the broadcaster identifier is indicated by <RCPT>. When the broadcaster identifier is set, this indicates that “information on hold control” is inserted into the e-mail addressed to the broadcaster.

  Here, an administrator identifier, a caller identifier, or the like can be set as the notification destination. The administrator identifier (administrator user identifier) is an administrator name (administrator user name) that identifies the administrator. Further, the caller identifier is information indicating a transmission source (sender) that has sent a suspended electronic mail. In the example of FIG. 10, the caller identifier is indicated by <FROM>.

  Next, the authority information is three values (true or false values (1 or 0)) set to the right of the notification destination in the “manager” column shown in FIG. , Deletion authority, hold time change (extension) authority. A value “1” indicates that there is an authority, and a value “0” indicates that there is no authority.

  For example, in the control rule with “ID” of 1 in FIG. 10, “ADMIN: 111” is set in the “Manager” column. This indicates that “ADMIN (system administrator)” is set as the notification destination, and the authority of the system administrator is set as authority information “111”. This authority information “111” indicates that “having transmission authority” (1), “having deletion authority” (1), and “having authority to change (extend) holding time” (1), respectively. That is, the system administrator who is the notification destination has the transmission authority, the deletion authority, and the suspension time change (extension) authority for the electronic mail suspended by the control rule having the ID of 1.

Further, in the control rule with “ID” of 4 in FIG. 10, “NAKAMURA: 001” is set in the “Manager” column. This indicates that “NAKAMURA” is set as the notification destination, and the authority of the notification destination (NAKAMURA) is set as the authority information “001”. This authority information “001” indicates that “no transmission authority” (0), “no deletion authority” (0), and “with hold time change (extension) authority” (1). That is, “NAKAMURA” as the notification destination has only the hold time change (extension) authority for the e-mail put on hold by the control rule whose ID is 4.
Next, FIG. 11 will be described.

  FIG. 11 shows an intranet table 1101 which is a list of destination (recipient) domains and / or e-mail addresses 1102 connected to the mail transmitting / receiving terminal 110 or the mail relay device 150 via the intranet.

  The e-mail address 1102 of the transmission destination (recipient) connected via the intranet is sent from the administrator terminal (computer) used by the administrator according to the instruction from the administrator by selecting “Connect via intranet” in the intranet table 1101 (FIG. 11). Is set in the “Destination” field.

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, using a metacharacter (wild card) such as an asterisk representing an arbitrary character string, the domain of the transmission destination (recipient) connected by the intranet is set as “intranet in the intranet table 1101. Can be set in the "Destination connected with" item.
Next, the description returns to the flowchart of FIG.

  After executing the process of step S302 and reading the control rule, the rule application processing unit 152 shifts the process to step S303 and performs the control rule application process (step S303). Details of the processing in step S303 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Next, after executing the process of step S303, the rule application processing unit 152 shifts the process to step S304 and executes an intra transmission control process (step S304). Details of the processing in step S304 will be described later with reference to FIG.

After that, the rule application processing unit 152 executes the process of step S304, then moves the process to step S305 and executes an action. Details of the action execution processing in step S305 will be described later with reference to FIG.
Here, the detailed process of the control rule application process (step S303) will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of the control rule application processing in step S303.
The processing of steps S401 to S405 is realized by the CPU 201 of the mail relay device 150 executing various control programs.

  In step S401, the rule application processing unit 152 selects one (one record) control rule with the highest priority (the smallest ID value) from the control rules in the control table (FIG. 10).

In step S402, the rule application processing unit 152 applies the control rule selected in step S401 to the email acquired in step S301, thereby temporarily holding the email or holding it indefinitely. Or a hold determination process for determining whether to relay. Details of the process in step S402 will be described later with reference to FIG.
Here, the detailed process of the hold determination process (step S402) will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of the hold determination processing in step S402.
The processing of steps S501 to S512 is realized by the CPU 201 of the mail relay device 150 executing various control programs.

  In step S501, the rule application processing unit 152 determines whether “division evaluation” of the control rule selected in step S401 is “TRUE” (true) or “FALSE” (false). In other words, by determining whether or not the “division evaluation” of the control rule is “TRUE” (true), whether or not to generate envelopes each having a plurality of destinations set in the e-mail as a single destination Determine whether.

  When it is determined that the “division evaluation” of the control rule is set to “TRUE” (true) and it is determined that each of the plurality of destinations set in the e-mail is generated as a single destination ( Step S501: Yes), the process proceeds to Step S502.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the “divided evaluation” of the control rule is set to “FALSE” (false) and it is determined not to generate envelopes each having a single destination for each of a plurality of destinations set in the e-mail (Step S501: No), the process proceeds to Step S503.

In step S502, when the “division evaluation” of the control rule is set to “TRUE” (true), the rule application processing unit 152 causes each destination (recipient) included in the envelope of the email acquired in step S301. Each envelope is generated as a single destination.
Here, the envelope and its generation method in step S502 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining generation of an envelope (step S502) with each destination (recipient) of the e-mail as a destination. Reference numeral 1801 denotes the e-mail data acquired in step S301.

  E-mail data 1801 in FIG. 18 indicates that it is composed of at least envelope part information (also referred to as an envelope), header part information (also referred to as a header), and a body. Although 1801 shows the information of the envelope part, the information of the header part, and the text, an attached file may be included.

  The “envelope” is not normally displayed on the mail client of the mail transmission / reception terminal 110, but the sender's (sender) email address and the destination's (recipient) electronic mail used for actual delivery of the email. This information includes email addresses.

  In 1801, “X” is set as an e-mail address of a transmission source (sender) and “A”, “B”, and “C” are set as e-mail addresses of a transmission destination (recipient) in the envelope. ing.

  In step S502, envelope information is generated for each of “A”, “B”, and “C” that are set as e-mail addresses of transmission destinations (recipients) in this envelope.

  That is, envelope information 1802 with “X” as the transmission source (sender) and “A” as the transmission destination (recipient), and “B” as the transmission source (sender) as “X” and the transmission destination (recipient) as “B”. Envelope information 1803 and envelope information 1804 with “X” as the transmission source (sender) and “C” as the transmission destination (recipient) are generated.

  As described above, in step S502, when there are a plurality of destination email addresses in the envelope information of one email acquired in step S301, each of the destination email addresses is set as a destination alone. Each envelope is generated, and a set of a plurality of electronic mails (set of envelopes) is generated.

Even if there is only one e-mail address to which the envelope of one e-mail acquired in step S301 is sent, in step S502, only one e-mail address (one envelope) is sent. Generate a set of emails (a set of envelopes).
This completes the description of the envelope and its generation method in step S502.
Next, the description returns to the flowchart of FIG.
When the rule application processing unit 152 generates an envelope in step S502, the rule application processing unit 152 proceeds to step S504.

  If it is determined in step S501 that an envelope with each destination set in the e-mail as a single destination is not generated, the process of step S503 is executed.

  In step S503, a set of e-mails composed of one e-mail (one envelope) received in step S301 is generated. That is, the process of step S503 is a process for enabling each subsequent process to be processed in the same manner as the result of step S502.

  In step S504, the rule application processing unit 152 initializes an unapplied mail buffer for accumulating unapplied mail. The unapplied mail buffer is a storage area secured in a storage unit such as a RAM of the mail relay apparatus 150.

  Then, the rule application processing unit 152 acquires one envelope from the set of envelopes (emails) generated in step S502 or step S503, and the process proceeds to step S505. Note that the processing in steps S504 to S510 is repeatedly executed for each element of the mail set (for each piece of e-mail data including the envelope acquired in step S504).

  In step S505, the rule application processing unit 152 collates the condition in the condition definition unit of the control rule selected in step S401 with the email data including the envelope acquired in step S504, and sets the condition in the condition definition unit. Determine if they match. Here, it is determined whether or not all the conditions shown in “sender (source)”, “receiver (destination)”, and “other conditions” set in the “condition definition part” of the control rule are satisfied. .

  When it is determined that the rule application processing unit 152 matches in step S505 (step S505: match), the process proceeds to step S506, and when it is determined that they do not match (step S505: does not match), The process proceeds to step S509.

  In step S506, the rule application processing unit 152 refers to the control rule and determines whether the value of “action” corresponding to the matched condition defining unit condition is “relay” or “hold”. If it is determined in step S506 that the value of “action” is “relay” (step S506: relay), the process proceeds to step S507. On the other hand, if the value of “action” is determined to be “hold” (step S506) Step S506: Hold), the process proceeds to Step S508.

  In step S509, the rule application processing unit 152 stores the e-mail data including the envelope acquired in step S504 in the unapplied mail buffer initialized in step S504.

  In step S507, the rule application processing unit 152 stores the e-mail data determined to be relayed in step S506 in the action application entry table 1301 in the action application entry buffer.

  That is, in step S507, the destination 1302 of the action application entry table 1301 stores the transmission destination of the electronic mail determined to be relayed in step S506, and the mail data 1303 stores all the data constituting the electronic mail. Then, “immediately” is stored in the scheduled transmission date and time 1304, and the ID number of the control rule matched in step S505 is stored in the application rule ID 1305. The scheduled transmission date and time is an application example of the transmission date and time of the present invention.

  In step S508, the rule application processing unit 152 stores the e-mail data determined to be suspended in step S506 in the action application entry table 1301 in the action application entry buffer.

  That is, in step S508, the destination 1302 of the action application entry table 1301 stores the transmission destination of the electronic mail determined to be on hold in step S506, and the mail data 1303 stores all data constituting the electronic mail. The scheduled transmission date and time 1304 stores the scheduled transmission date and time calculated from the reception date and time and the “delay time” of the control rule, and the application rule ID 1305 stores the ID number of the control rule that matched in step S505. Is done.

  The “scheduled transmission date and time” stored in step S508 is calculated from the “reception date and time” when the e-mail is received in step S301 and the “delay time” of the control rule determined to match in step S505. For example, when the reception date and time is “October 01, 2008 12:40:10” and the delay time is “10 minutes”, the sum is calculated and the “scheduled transmission time” is set to “October 01, 2008”. Day 12:50:10 ".

  If no value is set for the “delay time” of the control rule for which the value of “action” is determined to be “hold” in step S506, this indicates that the value is held indefinitely. Stores information indicating that the “scheduled transmission date / time” of the action application entry data has no time limit (“indefinite” in the example of FIG. 13).

  In step S510, after executing the process of step S507, step S508, or step S509, among the e-mail data including the envelope generated in step S502, the e-mail data including the envelope not performing the process of step S505 Is set as a process target, and the process returns to step S505. Then, when the processes of steps S505 to S509 are executed on the e-mail data including all envelopes generated in step S502, the process proceeds to step S511.

In step S511, the rule application processing unit 152 determines whether there is electronic mail data in the unapplied mail buffer. If it is determined that there is email data in the unapplied mail buffer (step S511: Yes), the destination email addresses of one or more envelopes stored in the unapplied mail buffer An e-mail in which all are set as one envelope destination is generated (step S512). This corresponds to the reverse process of the process executed in step S502. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no e-mail data in the unapplied mail buffer (step S511: NO), the process proceeds to step S403. When the process of step S512 is executed, or when it is determined in step S511 that there is no e-mail data in the unapplied mail buffer, the process proceeds to step S403.
Next, the description returns to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S403, the rule application processing unit 152 determines whether or not the e-mail acquired in step S301 matches the control rule condition (condition definition unit) selected in step S401 in step S402. That is, it is determined whether there is an electronic mail (unapplied mail) that does not match the condition of the control rule selected in step S401. Here, it is determined whether or not there is unapplied mail by determining whether or not e-mail data is stored in the unapplied mail buffer.

  If it is determined in step S403 that there is an unapplied mail (step S403: yes), the process returns to step S401, and has the next highest priority after the previously applied control rule (rather than the ID of the previously applied control rule). The control rule having the next largest value is selected, and the process of step S402 is executed in the same manner.

  On the other hand, the rule application processing unit 152 determines that there is no unapplied mail in step S403 (when all e-mails generated in step S502 and step S503 match the conditions of the control rule selected in step S401). ) (Step S403: NO), the process proceeds to step S304.

  Also, the rule application processing unit 152 performs processing when there is an email whose email does not match the conditions of all the control rules in the control table (FIG. 10), and it is determined in step S403 that there is an unapplied email. The process proceeds to step S405.

  In step S405, the rule application processing unit 152 stores the email data stored in the unapplied mail buffer in the action application entry table 1301 (FIG. 13) in the action application entry buffer. In step S405, the destination (transmission destination) set in the e-mail stored in the unapplied mail buffer is stored in the destination 1302 of the action application entry table 1301 (FIG. 13), and the e-mail is stored in the mail data 1303. Are stored in the scheduled transmission date and time 1304, and the date and time when the e-mail is received in step S301 plus a predetermined time is stored. In the application rule ID 1305, “control” is stored. “No rule” is stored.

The date and time stored in the scheduled transmission date and time 1304 in step S405 is, for example, when the reception date and time is “2009/12/01 23:00:00” and the predetermined time is “59 minutes 59 seconds”. The sum is “December 01, 2009 23:59:59”.
When executing the process of step S405, the rule application processing unit 152 proceeds to step S304.

As described above, by executing the control rule application process in step S303, each of the destinations set in the received email is generated as a single destination, and the control rules are used. , It is possible to generate information (action application entry table) for transmission control for each generated e-mail.
Next, detailed processing of the intra transmission control processing (step S304) will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of the intra transmission control processing in step S304.
The processing of steps S601 to S607 is realized by the CPU 201 of the mail relay device 150 executing various control programs.

  In step S601, the rule application processing unit 152 generates envelopes each having a single destination as the destination set in the email acquired in step S301.

  Next, in S602, the rule application processing unit 152 acquires one domain or e-mail address (one record) from the intranet table (FIG. 11) read in Step S302.

In step S603, the rule application processing unit 152 determines whether the transmission destination of the envelope email generated in step S601 matches the domain or email address acquired in step S602. Is a transmission destination connected via an intranet. Details of the intra determination processing in S603 will be described later with reference to FIG.
Next, detailed processing of the intra determination processing (step S603) will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of the intra determination processing in step S603.
The processing of steps S701 to S605 is realized by the CPU 201 of the mail relay device 150 executing various control programs.

  First, in step S701, the rule application processing unit 152 initializes an unapplied mail buffer for storing unapplied mail data. Then, the rule application processing unit 152 acquires one envelope e-mail from the set of envelope e-mails generated in step S601, and proceeds to step S702. Note that the processing in steps S701 to S704 is repeatedly executed for each element of the set of envelope emails.

  In step S702, the rule application processing unit 152 determines whether the domain or e-mail address acquired in step S602 matches the envelope transmission destination acquired in step S701.

  That is, it is determined whether the transmission destination of the envelope acquired in step S701 is the same as the domain acquired in step S602 or the same as the e-mail address acquired in step S602.

  Then, the rule application processing unit 152 determines that they match in step S702, that is, if it is determined that the transmission destination of the envelope email generated in S601 is a transmission destination connected via the intranet (step S102). (S702: YES), the process proceeds to step S705. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S702 that they do not match, that is, if it is determined that the transmission destination of the envelope email generated in S601 is a transmission destination that is not connected via the intranet (step S702: NO), The process proceeds to step S703.

  In step S703, the e-mail data including the envelope acquired in step S701 is stored in the unapplied mail buffer. Then, the process proceeds to step S704.

  In step S705, the rule application processing unit 152 stores information (“intra”) indicating that it is a transmission destination connected via an intranet in “not intra / intra” 1306 of the action application entry data. The process proceeds to step S704.

  Then, when the process from step S702 to step S703 or step S705 is executed for all envelope e-mails generated in step S601, the process proceeds to step S604.

If there is an envelope email generated in step S601 that has not been executed in steps S702 to S703 or S705, the email is set as a processing target, and steps S702 to S703 or S705 are performed. Repeat the process.
Next, the description returns to FIG.

  In step S604, the rule application processing unit 152 determines whether there is envelope e-mail (unapplied mail) data stored in the unapplied mail buffer.

  If it is determined that there is an unapplied mail (S604: Yes), the process returns to S602, and the domain or e-mail address in the intranet table (FIG. 11) that has not yet been acquired in step S602 is acquired. An intra determination process (step S603) is executed.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S604 that there is no envelope email (unapplied mail) data stored in the unapplied mail buffer (S604: none), the rule application processing unit 152 performs processing. The process proceeds to S607.

  If it is determined in step S604 that there is unapplied mail data, and if the intra determination process is executed for all domain names or e-mail addresses in the intranet table (FIG. 11), S602 is performed. To S605 is terminated, and the process proceeds to S606.

  In step S606, the rule application processing unit 152 sets “not intra / intra” 1306 in the action application entry data of the envelope e-mail stored in the unapplied mail buffer to the destination connected via the intranet. Information indicating that it is not present (“not intra”) is stored, and the process proceeds to step S607.

In step S607, the rule application processing unit 152 determines e-mail transmission control in each action application entry data according to the action application entry table 1301.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of the transmission control determination processing executed in step S607.
In step S607, when transmission control determination processing is executed and electronic mail transmission control is determined, the processing proceeds to step S305 (action execution processing).

In the control rule application process in step S303, if the division evaluation of the applied control rule is “FALSE” that is an email including a plurality of transmission destinations, an action application entry in steps S606 and S705. When “intra” or “not intra” is set in the data, it is set as a new record.
Next, detailed processing of the transmission control determination processing (S607 in FIG. 6) will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of the transmission control determination processing in step S607.
The processing of steps S801 to S812 is realized by the CPU 201 of the mail relay device 150 executing various control programs.
Note that the processing of steps S801 to S812 is executed by the rule application processing unit 152 of the mail relay device 150.
First, in step S801, action application entry data is acquired from the action application entry table (FIG. 13).

  Then, from the application rule ID of the acquired action application entry data, whether the action (transmission control information) of the control rule that matches the condition in the control rule application process (S303) is “pending” or “relay”, It is also determined whether there is a control rule that matches the condition (step S802).

  That is, it is determined whether the action of the action definition section (FIG. 10) (transmission control information) corresponding to the application rule ID of the acquired action application entry data is “pending” or “relay”.

  Here, since the same value as the item “ID” of the control table (FIG. 10) for identifying the applied control rule is stored in the application rule ID of the action application entry data, the acquired action application entry data By determining whether the action in the control rule (FIG. 10) with the ID that matches the application rule ID of “Hold” or “Relay”, the email of the acquired action application entry data is “Pending” ”Or“ relay ”can be determined. If “no control rule” is stored in the application rule ID of the acquired action application entry data, it is determined that there is no control rule that matches the condition.

  When it is determined in step S802 that the action of the control rule that matches the condition is “pending” in the control rule application process (S303), the process proceeds to step S803, and it is determined that the action is “relay” Shifts the processing to step S809. If it is determined in the control rule application process that there is no control rule that matches the condition, the process proceeds to step S806.

  Next, in step S803, it is determined whether “intra” or “not intra” is stored in the “intra / not intra” item 1306 of the action application entry data acquired in step S801. That is, it is determined whether or not the transmission destination of the e-mail of the action application entry data acquired in S801 is a transmission destination connected via intra.

  If it is determined in step S803 that “intra” is stored in “not intra / intra” 1306 of the action application entry data acquired in step S801 (step S803: intra), the intra relay control table 1201 Referring to FIG. 12, in order to shorten the holding time, the scheduled transmission date and time of the action application entry data is shortened by a predetermined period (step S805). The intra relay control table 1201 (FIG. 12) is an application example of the intra relay control information of the present invention.

Specifically, when it is determined in step S803 that the destination is an intra-connected destination, the intra-relay control table 1201 (FIG. 12) is referred to, the “control rule action” is suspended, "Intra relay control processing" (reduction of holding time in the example of FIG. 12) and "Time" (3 minutes in the example of FIG. 12) of the record in which "" is set as intra are executed. That is, in the example of FIG. 12, a value obtained by shortening the “scheduled transmission date / time” of the action application entry data currently being processed by 3 minutes is overwritten on the “scheduled transmission date / time” of the action application entry data.
Here, FIG. 12 will be described.

FIG. 12 shows an intra-relay control table 1201 for determining how to relay-control an e-mail in which the destination is set, depending on whether the destination is a destination connected via an intranet. is there.
FIG. 12 includes items of “control rule action”, “destination”, “intra relay control processing”, and “time”.
In the “control rule action”, “relay”, “hold”, and “no control rule” are set.

  “Relay” in “Control Rule Action” indicates that the action applied in step S303 is relay. Further, “hold” in “control rule action” indicates that the action applied in step S303 is on hold. Further, “no control rule” in “control rule action” indicates that there is no control rule that matches the condition in step S303.

  “Transmission destination” indicates whether or not the transmission destination of the email of the action application entry data acquired in step S801 is a transmission destination connected via an intranet. That is, “intra” indicates that the destination is connected via the intranet, and “not intra” indicates that the destination is not connected via the intranet.

  The “intra relay control processing” includes “immediate relay” indicating that the email of the action application entry data acquired in step S801 is immediately relayed, “hold” indicating that the email is to be held for a predetermined period, and a holding time. "Holding time extension" indicating that the holding time is extended and "Holding time reduction" indicating that the holding time is reduced are set.

“Time” includes the hold time (when “intra relay control process” is “hold”), the time to extend the hold time (when “intra relay control process” is “hold time extension”), and the hold time. Time to shorten (when "Intra relay control processing" is "Reserve hold time") is set.
“Intra relay control processing” and “time” shown in FIG. 12 are transmission control information.
Next, the description returns to FIG.

  If it is determined in step S803 that "not intra" is stored in "not intra / intra" 1306 of the action application entry data acquired in step S801 (step S803: not intra), intra relay control Referring to table 1201 (FIG. 12), in order to extend the holding time, the scheduled transmission date and time of the action application entry data is lengthened for a predetermined period (step S804).

  Specifically, when it is determined in step S803 that the transmission destination is not connected by intra, referring to the intra relay control table 1201 (FIG. 12), the “control rule action” is suspended, and “transmission” The “intra relay control process” (extended holding time in the example of FIG. 12) and “time” (5 minutes in the example of FIG. 12) of the record set as “destination” is not intra are executed. That is, in the example of FIG. 12, a value obtained by extending the “scheduled transmission date / time” of the action application entry data currently being processed by 5 minutes is overwritten on the “scheduled transmission date / time” of the action application entry data.

  In step S806, as in step S803, whether “intra” or “not intra” is stored in the “not intra / intra” item 1306 of the action application entry data acquired in step S801. judge. That is, it is determined whether or not the transmission destination of the e-mail of the action application entry data acquired in S801 is a transmission destination connected via intra.

  If it is determined that “intra” is stored (the transmission destination is connected by intra) (step S806: intra), the process proceeds to step S808, and “not intra” is stored. If it is determined that it is a transmission destination that is not connected by intra (step S806: not intra), the process proceeds to step S807.

  In step S808, an intra relay control process (immediate relay) is executed for a record in which “control rule action” in the intra relay control table 1201 is “no control rule” and “transmission destination” is “intra”. That is, it is determined to immediately relay the email of the action application entry data acquired in S801.

  In step S807, an intra relay control process (hold) for a record in which “control rule action” in the intra relay control table 1201 is “no control rule” and “transmission destination” is “not intra” is executed. That is, it is determined to hold the electronic mail of the action application entry data acquired in S801 for 10 minutes.

  In step S809, as in step S803, whether “intra” or “not intra” is stored in the “not intra / intra” item 1306 of the action application entry data acquired in step S801. judge. That is, it is determined whether or not the transmission destination of the e-mail of the action application entry data acquired in S801 is a transmission destination connected via intra.

  If it is determined that “intra” is stored (the destination connected by intra) (step S809: intra), the process proceeds to step S811, and “not intra” is stored. If it is determined that it is a transmission destination that is not connected by intra (step S809: not intra), the process proceeds to step S810.

  In step S811, intra relay control processing (immediate relay) is executed for a record in which “control rule action” in the intra relay control table 1201 is “relay” and “transmission destination” is “intra”. That is, it is determined to immediately relay the email of the action application entry data acquired in S801.

  In step S810, an intra-relay control process (hold) is executed for a record in which “control rule action” in the intra-relay control table 1201 is “relay” and “transmission destination” is “not intra”. That is, it is determined to hold the electronic mail of the action application entry data acquired in S801 for 3 minutes.

  After executing the processes of step S804, step S805, step S807, step S808, step S810, and step S811, the process proceeds to step S812.

  In step S812, it is determined whether or not the processing from step S802 to step S811 has been executed for all action application entry data stored in the action application entry table. If processing has not been executed for all action application entry data, the process returns to step S801, action application entry data that has not been executed is acquired, and the processing of step S802 is repeatedly executed. If the process has been executed for all action application entry data, the process shown in FIG. 8 is terminated, and the process proceeds to step S305.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the detailed process of the action execution process for the electronic mail in step S305. The following operations are realized by the CPU 201 of the mail relay device 150 executing various control programs.
In step S901, the rule application processing unit 152 initializes the message buffer for the broadcaster and clears the stored data.

  In step S902, the rule application processing unit 152 sorts (rearranges) the action application entry data in the action application entry list in the order from the latest scheduled transmission date and time. By this sort processing, action application entry data is sent from higher-order records, e-mails with pending actions and delay times not specified (holding indefinitely), e-mails with long delay times (delays longer than the specified time) E-mail with a long time), E-mail with a short delay time (e-mail with a short delay time than a predetermined time), E-mail with action relayed (sending) (e-mail with a scheduled sending date and time) . Until all the action application entry data in the sorted action application entry list is executed, the repetitive processing from step S903 to step S912 described later is executed.

  In step S904, the rule application processing unit 152 acquires action application entry data from the head of the sorted action application entry list (from action application entry data with a later scheduled transmission date and time).

  In step S905, the rule application processing unit 152 inserts the data (information on hold control) stored in the message buffer for the broadcaster into the header of the email stored in the mail message of the acquired action application entry data. To do. Then, the electronic mail in which the data (information related to the hold control) is inserted is stored in the mail message (destination) of the action application entry data acquired in step S904. If the data is not stored in the message buffer for the broadcaster, the data is not inserted into the header of the e-mail.

  Here, “information regarding hold control” means “sender (sender) name of the hold email” or “e-mail address of the sender of the hold email”, and obtains the email in step S301. To the management screen corresponding to the "date and time (reception date and time)", "scheduled transmission date and time", "sending status" indicating who the e-mail was put on hold, the notification destination (destination) or the authority information of the broadcaster Each piece of information such as “link information” indicating a link destination (such as a URL) is indicated. Details of the management screen will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S906, the rule application processing unit 152 determines whether the scheduled transmission date and time of the action application entry data acquired in step S904 is “immediate” (relay). That is, it is determined whether or not the acquired action application entry data is an electronic mail to be suspended. If it is determined that the electronic mail is not on hold (step S906: NO), the mail transmission processing unit 153 inserts data (information on hold control) in the action application entry data stored in step S905. The sent electronic mail is immediately transmitted (step S913). On the other hand, if it is determined that the email is to be suspended (step S906: YES), the process proceeds to step S907.

  FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of an e-mail that is sent out in step S913 or saved (stepping off sending) in step S911 described later. As shown in FIG. 20, data (information on hold control) stored in the message buffer for the broadcaster is displayed in a part 2003 of the header of the e-mail. That is, the recipient who received this e-mail (a part of the broadcaster) can confirm that there is a broadcaster who has not received the e-mail.

  In step S907, the same ID (value) as the application rule ID of the acquired action application entry data (the application rule ID corresponds to “ID” in the control rule list (FIG. 10) (is the same value)). The notification destination (administrator identifier or sender identifier) or broadcaster (broadcaster identifier) included in the “manager” column of the control rule is specified. The processing from step S907 to step S910 is repeated until it is executed for all the notification destinations and broadcasters specified here.

  In step S908, the rule application processing unit 152 determines whether or not the broadcaster identifier (RCPT) is specified in step S907. If it is determined that the broadcaster identifier (RCPT) has been specified (step S908: YES), the process proceeds to step S909. On the other hand, if it is determined that the broadcaster identifier (RCPT) has not been specified (step S908: NO), that is, if the notification destination (administrator identifier or sender identifier (FROM)) is specified, step The process proceeds to S914.

  In step S909, “information regarding hold control” is stored in the message buffer for the broadcaster. A method of acquiring “information related to hold control” stored in the message buffer for the broadcaster will be described later.

  In step S914, an e-mail (also referred to as notification mail) is generated and sent to the specified notification destination. Here, the e-mail address associated with the current processing target notification destination (administrator identifier) identified in step S907 is acquired from the user account database 157, and a notification mail is generated and transmitted with the acquired e-mail address as the destination. To do.

  If the notification destination currently being processed is a sender identifier (FROM), the sender (sender) 's electronic mail is determined from the header of the email included in the mail message (destination) of the action application entry data acquired in step S904. A mail address is acquired, and a notification mail addressed to the e-mail address is generated and sent.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification mail. Here, the e-mail data 1902 acquired in step S301 is attached, and the “information about hold control” (data stored in the message buffer for the broadcaster) of the hold e-mail is inserted into the mail body 1901. An example of generating a notification mail is shown.

  More specifically, in the mail body 1901, “information on hold control” (sender, reception date / time, hold reason, transmission status, URL to the management screen (link information)) of the hold email is inserted. The example which produced | generated the e-mail (notification mail) to which the e-mail data acquired by step S301 was attached is shown.

  It is preferable that a link destination (URL) to the management screen corresponding to the authority information of the notification destination (administrator identifier or sender identifier) is generated and inserted. In that case, authority information of the notification destination (administrator identifier or sender identifier) determined in step S908 is acquired from the “manager” column of the control rule. And, in the acquired broadcaster's authority information, one of the authority to send the suspended email, the authority to delete the suspended email, and the authority to change (extend) the suspended email hold time is set If so, link information indicating a link destination to the management screen corresponding to the execution of the set authority is generated. Details of the management screen will be described later with reference to FIG. On the other hand, if there is no authority, link information is not generated and link information is not inserted into the notification mail.

  Further, in the “information regarding hold control” stored in step S909, the above-described “sender (sender) name of the suspended email” or “e-mail address of the sender of the suspended email” is described above. The management screen corresponding to the “date and time (reception date and time)”, “scheduled transmission date and time” at which the e-mail was acquired in step S301, “transmission status” indicating who the e-mail was put on hold, and authority information of the notification destination Information such as a link destination (URL) is included. Below, the acquisition method of "information regarding hold control" is demonstrated.

  The “sender (sender) name of the suspended email” is the sender (sender) of the email header stored in the email message (destination) of the action application entry data acquired in step S904. It is obtained by specifying an e-mail address and acquiring a user name (sender name) associated with the specified e-mail address from the user account database. The “sender's e-mail address” is acquired from the header of the e-mail stored in the mail message (destination) of the action application entry data acquired in step S904.

  Further, the “reception date / time” is acquired as the “reception date / time” as the date / time when the electronic mail is received in step S301. The “scheduled transmission date / time” is acquired from the action application entry data acquired in step S904. The destination user name indicated in the “transmission status” is acquired from the user name included in the destination address portion (destination) of the header portion of the email included in the mail message (destination) of the action application entry data acquired in step S904. Is done. Alternatively, the destination user name indicated in the “transmission status” is the email included in the destination address portion (destination) of the header portion of the email included in the email message (destination) of the action application entry data acquired in step S904. The user name associated with the address is acquired from the user account database 157.

  The “link destination” is generated based on, for example, the broadcaster authority information determined in step S908 from the “administrator” field of the control rule, and the acquired broadcaster authority information. In other words, when any of the authority to send the suspended email, the authority to delete, and the authority to change (extend) the holding time is set, a screen that can execute the set authority (for example, FIG. 21). Link information indicating the link destination is generated and stored in step S909. Note that link information for each authority may be stored and held in advance. On the other hand, link information is not stored when there is no authority.

  In step S911, when the above processing is executed for all the notification destinations and / or broadcasters specified in step S907, the action application entry data stored in step S905 is stored in the pending mail storage unit 158.

  In step S912, if unprocessed action application entry data exists in the action application entry list, the process proceeds to step S904, and the action application entry data next to the action application entry data acquired in the previous step S904 is acquired. To do. On the other hand, when the process is completed for all action application entry data in the action application entry list, the process ends.

  Note that the destination e-mail address set in the e-mail envelope included in the action application entry data acquired in step S904 is set as a destination in the field of TO or CC (carbon copy, CARBON COPY). If this is the case, the subsequent processing from step S905 to step S910 is executed, but if it is set in the BCC (blind carbon copy, BIND CARBON COPY) field, that is, the e-mail address is set in the TO or CC field. If not, the process from step S905 to step S910 thereafter may not be executed, and the process may proceed to step S911.

  With this configuration, when the destination e-mail address is set to BCC, “information regarding hold control” and e-mail not including the e-mail data acquired in step S301 (normal e-mail) Will be sent. In other words, security (intention using BCC) can be maintained by preventing all email addresses of envelope destinations from being displayed in the header of the email to be transmitted.

  FIG. 21 is displayed on the display unit of the mail transmission / reception terminal used by the user (notification destination or broadcaster) who has all the authority of sending the suspended email, deleting the authority, and changing (holding) the hold time. It is a figure which shows an example of a management screen. This screen is displayed by accessing the link destination (URL) to the management screen described in the electronic mail received by the user (notification destination or broadcaster) by the WEB browser operating on the mail transmission / reception terminal. In the first embodiment, the link destination (URL) server is the mail relay device 150.

  In the example of the management screen of FIG. 21, data (e.g., an e-mail address of a transmission source, an e-mail address of a transmission destination, a mail text, a reception date / time, a scheduled transmission date / time, an operation history) 2101 is displayed. Has been. In addition, the hold mail management processing unit 155 in the mail relay device 150 has a send button 2102 for instructing immediate sending of the hold e-mail, a delete button 2103 for instructing deletion, a hold extension button 2105 for instructing hold extension, Is displayed. In addition, an extension time setting unit 2104 for designating a holding extension time is also displayed.

  That is, when the send button 2102 is pressed by the notification destination user or the broadcaster, the rule application processing unit 152 sends the suspended email. In addition, when the delete button 2103 is pressed by the notification destination user or the broadcaster, the rule application processing unit 152 deletes the suspended email. Further, when the notification extension user or the broadcaster inputs the hold extension time to the extension time setting unit 2104 and presses the hold extension button 2105, the rule application processing unit 152 holds the hold extension time of the held e-mail. Set up.

  The extension time setting unit 2104 receives an input of a time for extending the holding time, but may receive an input of a time for shortening the holding time. For example, when a “positive number” is input to the extension time setting unit 2104, the holding time is extended. When a “negative number” is input to the extension time setting unit 2104, the holding time is reduced. be able to. In this way, it is possible to change the hold time of the hold email according to the value input to the extension time setting unit 2104.

  When the send button 2102 is pressed by a notification destination user or broadcaster, the CPU of the mail transmission / reception terminal transmits an instruction for sending the displayed electronic mail to the mail relay apparatus 150. Upon receiving the instruction, the CPU of the mail relay device 150 refers to the action application entry list and changes the “scheduled sending date / time” of the action application entry data of “destination” including the electronic mail to “immediately”.

  Further, when the delete button 2103 is pressed by the notification destination user or the broadcaster, the CPU of the mail transmission / reception terminal transmits an instruction to delete the displayed electronic mail to the mail relay apparatus 150. Upon receiving the instruction, the CPU of the mail relay device 150 refers to the action application entry list and deletes the action application entry data of “destination” including the electronic mail.

  In addition, when the hold extension time is input to the extension time setting unit 2104 by the notification destination user or the broadcaster and the hold extension button 2105 is pressed, the CPU of the mail transmission / reception terminal displays a message to the mail relay device 150. A hold extension instruction is given to hold the received e-mail for a hold extension time. Upon receiving the hold extension instruction, the CPU of the mail relay device 150 refers to the action application entry list, and is instructed to hold the “scheduled transmission date and time” of the action application entry data of the “destination” including the e-mail. Change to a time that is longer than the hold extension time.

  Note that in the case where the authority information held by the notification destination or the broadcaster is only the e-mail transmission authority for which the e-mail is suspended, only the e-mail data 2101 and the transmission button 2102 are displayed. Further, when the authority information held by the notification destination is only the deletion authority of the email that is suspended, only the email data 2101 and the deletion button 2103 are displayed.

  Thus, by changing the link information to be inserted in step S905 according to the notification destination or the authority information of the broadcaster, various changes (sending, deleting, extending) processing for the suspended e-mail can be performed. It becomes possible to limit to authorized users. Therefore, it is possible to improve the security related to the transmission control of the suspended electronic mail.

  Here, the transmission process of the electronic mail (the electronic mail whose transmission has been suspended) in the action application entry data stored in the suspended mail storage unit 158 in step S911 will be described.

  The rule application processing unit 152 periodically retrieves the action application entry data stored in the hold mail storage unit one by one (one record), compares the scheduled transmission date and time of the action application entry data with the current date and time, and plans the transmission If the date and time exceeds the current date and time, the e-mail included in the action application entry is sent to the mail transmission processing unit 153 and sent to the mail delivery device 190. Then, the action application entry data including the electronic mail sent to the mail delivery device 190 is deleted from the pending mail storage unit 158.

  Further, the action application entry data e-mail whose scheduled transmission date and time is set to “indefinite” does not execute the process of sending to the mail delivery device 190 shown here. Also, the processing shown here for sending to the mail delivery device 190 is executed at intervals (1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc.) suitable for the length of the holding time.

Next, a process in which a user or administrator registers an e-mail control rule will be described. This registration process is generally executed prior to the mail relay apparatus process described with reference to FIG. However, it can also be executed when a control rule is changed (addition / deletion, etc.) during operation.
The management operation unit 112 of the user's mail transmission / reception terminal 110 accesses the control rule setting unit 154 of the mail relay device 150 using a WEB browser or the like.

  Then, the management operation unit 112 transmits user information (user name, password) input via a screen (not shown) to the control rule setting unit 154 of the mail relay device 150. Then, the control rule setting unit 154 authenticates the user using the user information in the user account database 157 in the mail relay device 150.

If authenticated, the control rule setting unit 154 of the mail relay device 150 receives data for displaying a list screen of control rules for which the user has management authority on the mail transmission / reception terminal 110 of the user. Send. On the other hand, if the authentication is not successful, a response indicating that the mail relay device 150 cannot be accessed is sent.
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control rule list screen.
FIG. 15 shows an example of the control rule list screen, in which each item of the control rule for which the authenticated user has authority is displayed.

  The priority (priority) of the control rules (corresponding to “ID” shown in FIG. 10) is changed by pressing an arrow as shown in the “Operation” column of the rule list screen 1500. Can do. For example, when the arrow button 1505A “↑” is pressed, the priority of applying the control rule for the pressed record increases, and when the arrow button 1505B “↓” is pressed, the control rule for the pressed record is applied. The priority to be reduced.

  The priority needs to be unique for all control rules registered in the control rule storage unit, but the system administrator sets the range of priority values that can be used for each user in the user account database 157, for example. It is possible to control the application order of the entire control rule.

  FIG. 14 shows a rule setting screen displayed when a new control rule is created. The control rule setting screen 1400 is displayed, for example, by pressing a new creation button 1510 shown in FIG.

  On the control rule setting screen, information corresponding to one line of the control rule list shown in FIG. 10 can be input and registered. Here, the user identifier of the user who registered the control rule is recorded in the user ID column of the control rule list in FIG. At this time, the sender condition column of the control rule registered by a general user is fixed to the user's own e-mail address. However, if the user has the authority to manage other users' e-mails, the e-mail address of the sender within the scope of the management authority can be set.

Next, processing when a user or an administrator registers transmission destination information connected via an intranet will be described. This registration process is generally executed prior to the mail relay apparatus process described with reference to FIG. However, it is also executed during additional registration and registration deletion during operation.
The management operation unit 112 of the user's mail transmission / reception terminal 110 accesses the control rule setting unit 154 of the mail relay device 150 using a WEB browser or the like.

  Then, the management operation unit 112 transmits user information (user name, password) input via a screen (not shown) to the control rule setting unit of the mail relay device 150. Then, the control rule setting unit 154 authenticates the user using the user information in the user account database 157 in the mail relay device 150.

If authenticated, the control rule setting unit 154 of the mail relay device 150 transmits data for displaying a list screen of destination information connected via the intranet to the mail transmission / reception terminal 110 of the user. On the other hand, if the authentication is not successful, a response indicating that the mail relay device 150 cannot be accessed is sent.
FIG. 17 shows an example of a setting screen for destination information connected via the intranet, and displays destination information for which the authenticated user has authority.

In the setting screen shown in FIG. 17, an instruction for adding and deleting a destination connected via an intranet is accepted. When the user inputs information in the input field 1702 and the add button 1703 is pressed, transmission destination information connected via the intranet is additionally registered in the intranet table and stored in the storage unit of the mail relay apparatus 150. When inputting information to 1702, an arbitrary character string can be expressed by using a metacharacter (wild card) such as an asterisk.
Further, when the user presses a delete button 1705 in the column of destination information to be deleted, the deletion of the already registered destination information is accepted.

Next, processing when the user or administrator registers e-mail transmission control information will be described. This registration process is generally executed prior to the mail relay apparatus process described with reference to FIG. However, it can also be executed when transmission control is changed during operation (e.g., extending or shortening the hold time).
The management operation unit 112 of the user's mail transmission / reception terminal 110 accesses the control rule setting unit 154 of the mail relay device 150 using a WEB browser or the like.

  Then, the management operation unit 112 transmits user information (user name, password) input via a screen (not shown) to the control rule setting unit of the mail relay device 150. Then, the control rule setting unit 154 authenticates the user using the user information in the user account database 157 in the mail relay device 150.

If authenticated, the control rule setting unit 154 of the mail relay device 150 transmits data for displaying a list screen of destination information connected via the intranet to the mail transmission / reception terminal 110 of the user. On the other hand, if the authentication is not successful, a response indicating that the mail relay device 150 cannot be accessed is sent.
FIG. 16 shows an example of the transmission control information registration screen, and accepts registration and change of control information.

  In the example of FIG. 16, 1602, 1603, and 1604 are radio buttons, 1602 accepts the selection of the action of the control rule, 1603 accepts the selection of whether the transmission destination is connected via the intranet, and 1604 accepts the intra relay. The selection of the content of the control process is accepted.

  In addition, when the intra relay control process is “hold”, “hold time reduction”, or “hold time extension”, in the input field 1605, the hold time, the time to reduce the hold time, and the hold time are extended by the user input. Each time is accepted.

With such a registration method, sending control for an e-mail whose destination is connected via an intranet and sending control for an e-mail whose destination is not connected via an intranet can be registered independently. Can be made different or the same.
When the registration button 1606 is pressed by the user, the transmission control information is registered and set in the intra relay control table (FIG. 12).

FIG. 22 is a flowchart exemplarily showing an actual operation scenario of the mail relay apparatus 150 for a certain electronic mail. Here, after the e-mail sent from the user is held by the mail relay device 150, the broadcaster extends the hold time of the held e-mail, and then the sender deletes the hold mail. A scenario for canceling transmission of an e-mail to a specific destination is shown.
In step S2201, an e-mail with the sender condition A and the reception conditions B and C is transmitted from the mail transmitting / receiving terminal 110.
In step S2202, the mail relay device 150 receives an e-mail.

  In step S2203, an intra relay control process is executed. Here, the e-mail received by the mail relay device 150 and the control rules in the control rule storage unit 156 are compared in order of priority (ID order), and “the sender condition is A, the receiver condition is B, It is assumed that the control rule Z in which the division evaluation is TRUE, the action is on hold, the delay time is 5 minutes, the administrator is set as the sender identifier, and the broadcaster identifier is applied. Note that not all control rules are applied to the mail to the recipient C.

  Further, in step S2203, after collation with the control rule, it is determined whether or not the transmission destination is connected via the intranet. Here, it is assumed that the receiver B is not connected via the intranet, and the receiver C is connected via the intranet. In addition, the control rule action is “pending” and the transmission control information to the destination not connected on the intranet is extended for 5 minutes, and the control rule action is “no control rule” and connected on the intranet. It is assumed that the transmission control information to the transmitted destination is immediate relay.

  In the mail application processing step S402 of the control rule Z, first, the e-mail whose recipient addresses are B and C in step S502 is divided into an e-mail to the recipient B and an e-mail of the recipient C. Then, since it is determined that the email of the recipient B is matched with the condition definition unit in step S505, the process proceeds to step S508. In step S508, an action application entry N is created which includes the destination, mail data, mail reception time and the scheduled transmission date and time of 5 minutes and the ID of the control rule Z, and is stored in the action application entry buffer.

  Since the divided e-mails to the remaining recipients C do not match the condition definition part of the control rule Z, the process proceeds to step S509. Since there are no more divided mails, the process proceeds to step S510, step S511, and step S512, and only the electronic mail to the recipient C is regarded as an unapplied mail, and the subsequent control rule application process proceeds.

  In step S405, an action application entry Y composed of a destination and mail data is created for the electronic mail to the recipient C and stored in the action application entry buffer. Note that the application rule ID is stored as “no control rule”.

  Next, in step S304, since the e-mail to the recipient B does not correspond to the transmission destination connected via the intranet shown in FIG. 11, the “intra / not intra” item of the action application entry X is set to “intra. "None" is added, and the information with the scheduled transmission date and time of 5 minutes is overwritten.

  Since the e-mail to the recipient C corresponds to the transmission destination connected via the intranet shown in FIG. 11, “intra” is added to the item “not intra / intra” of the action application entry Y, and the scheduled transmission date and time Is overwritten as “immediate”.

  In step S305, action execution processing is performed. In step S305, the action application entry X is first extracted. Since the scheduled transmission date and time of the action application entry X represents a hold, the control rule Z is extracted using the application rule ID. Since there is a sender identifier in the manager column of the control rule Z, the notification mail shown in FIG. 19 is transmitted to the sender of the electronic mail. At this time, since the management authority information of the caller has all the authority of transmission, deletion, and extension of hold, the URL of the hold mail management screen where all these operations can be performed is described in the notification mail. Next, the action application entry N is stored in the pending mail storage unit 158 (S2204).

  In addition, since there is a broadcaster identifier in the manager field of the control rule Z, a message that the transmission of the mail to the recipient B is suspended until the scheduled transmission date and time is added to the message buffer for the broadcaster. To do. At the same time, since the authority to hold extension is set in the management authority information of the broadcaster, the URL of the hold mail management screen on which this mail hold extension can be performed is added to the message buffer for the broadcaster.

  In step S305, the action application entry Y is extracted. Since the scheduled transmission date and time of the action application entry Y is “immediately”, the contents of the message buffer for the broadcaster are taken out, and the e-mail shown in FIG. 20 is delivered and sent to the mail transmission processing unit 153 (S2211). At this time, information indicating that transmission to the recipient B is suspended is added to the portion 2003 shown in FIG.

  In step S2212, the mail transmitting / receiving terminal used by the user of the e-mail address C receives the e-mail. The user having the electronic mail address C confirms the additional header part (2003 in FIG. 20) of the received mail. At this time, for example, it is assumed that the user having the electronic mail address C wants to further extend the delay time of mail transmission to the recipient B to one hour. In that case, click the URL described in the e-mail, display the management screen illustrated in FIG. 21 with a WEB browser, etc., enter 1 hour in the extended time setting section 2104 of the management screen, and then hold The extension button 2105 is pressed to transmit a hold extension request to the mail relay device 150 (step S2215). In this case, the mail relay device 150 extends the scheduled transmission date and time of the action application entry X stored in the hold mail storage unit in step S2216 by one hour.

  In step S2206, the mail transmitting / receiving terminal that has transmitted the e-mail receives the hold notification mail transmitted in step S2205. Therefore, if the e-mail address B is inappropriate as the destination of the e-mail sent in S2201, the user of the e-mail address A clicks the URL of the management screen described in the hold notification mail (S2207). ). Then, the management screen illustrated in FIG. 21 is displayed by a WEB browser or the like (S2208). The user confirms the contents and clicks the delete button on the management screen (step S2209).

  In step S2210, the mail relay device 150 accepts the deletion request for the email suspended in S2204, and deletes the action application entry X from the suspended email storage unit.

  As described above in detail, according to the e-mail transmission system including the mail relay device 150 according to the first embodiment, it is possible to reduce erroneous transmission of e-mail by the user and to be applied to various usage situations. An e-mail transmission system can be provided. In particular, various changes (sending, deleting, extending) processing can be performed on a suspended mail by a user having a preset authority.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention may be applied to a system constituted by a plurality of devices or may be applied to an apparatus constituted by one device.
Further, part or all of the processing performed by the mail relay device 150 in the above-described embodiment may be performed by the mail transmission / reception terminal 110.

  The present invention can also be achieved by supplying a program that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments directly or remotely to a system or apparatus, and the system or apparatus reads and executes the supplied program code. The Accordingly, the program code itself installed in the computer in order to realize the functional processing of the present invention by the computer is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  In this case, the program may be in any form as long as it has a program function, such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS.

  Examples of the recording medium for supplying the program include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, an optical disk (CD, DVD), a magneto-optical disk, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, and a ROM.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the read program. In addition, based on the instructions of the program, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

  Further, the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 Mail transmission / reception terminal 111 Mail transmission / reception part 112 Management operation part 150 Mail relay apparatus 151 Mail reception process part 152 Rule application process part 153 Mail transmission process part 154 Control rule setting part 155 Hold mail management process part 156 Control rule storage part 157 User account Database 158 Hold mail storage unit 190 Mail delivery device

Claims (14)

An information processing apparatus that controls sending of e-mail,
Storage means for storing intra information including destination information indicating destinations connected by the same intranet;
An acquisition means for acquiring an e-mail transmitted by receiving a transmission instruction;
Using the intra information stored in the storage means, the intra determination means for determining whether the transmission destination of the email acquired by the acquisition means is a transmission destination connected by the same intranet;
An e-mail that is determined to be a destination connected by the same intranet by the intra determination unit and a different e-mail that is determined not to be a destination connected by the same intranet by the intra determination unit Sending control means for controlling,
An information processing apparatus comprising: The intra determination unit further determines whether each of a plurality of transmission destinations set in the e-mail acquired by the acquisition unit is a transmission destination connected by the same intranet,
The transmission control means is the transmission apparatus determined by the intra determination means to be the transmission destination e-mail determined to be a transmission destination connected by the same intranet, and the transmission determined not to be a transmission destination connected by the same intranet The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein transmission control different from that of the previous electronic mail is performed.   When a plurality of transmission destinations are included in the e-mail acquired by the acquisition means, and the transmission date / time for at least one transmission destination is different from the transmission date / time for other transmission destinations, The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an insertion unit that inserts information indicating that there is a transmission destination on hold in the electronic mail. The storage means further stores a control condition including a pair of a transmission source and a transmission destination of the electronic mail,
Control condition determination means for determining whether the electronic mail acquired by the acquisition means satisfies a control condition stored in the storage means;
A determination unit that determines transmission control information indicating content to be transmitted by the transmission control unit according to a determination result by the control condition determination unit and a determination result by the intra determination unit;
Further comprising
4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sending control unit performs sending control of the electronic mail according to the sending control information determined by the determining unit. 5. Further comprising generating means for generating envelope information with each of a plurality of destinations set in the e-mail acquired by the acquiring means as a single destination,
The intra determination unit further determines whether or not the transmission destination of the envelope information generated by the generation unit is a transmission destination connected by the same intranet,
The sending control means is an envelope that is determined by the intra determination means to be an e-mail of envelope information that is determined to be a destination connected by the same intranet, and an envelope that is not a destination connected by the same intranet 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein transmission control is performed differently from information electronic mail. An extension receiving means for receiving an instruction to extend the holding time of the email held by the sending control means by the user of the transmission destination who has received the email sent by the sending control means;
A hold extension means for extending the hold time of the e-mail for which the extension instruction has been received by the extension receiving means by the time instructed to be extended by the extension receiving means;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: Deletion accepting means for accepting an instruction to delete the e-mail put on hold by the sending control means by the user of the destination who received the e-mail sent by the sending control means;
A deletion unit that deletes an e-mail for which a deletion instruction has been received by the deletion reception unit;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: Immediate sending accepting means for accepting an immediate sending instruction of the email suspended by the sending control means by the user of the transmission destination who has received the email sent by the sending control means;
Immediate sending means for immediately sending an e-mail for which an immediate sending instruction has been accepted by the immediate sending accepting means;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The control condition stored in the storage means further includes notification destination recipient information indicating an e-mail notification destination indicating that the e-mail is held when the e-mail satisfying the control condition is held. Is set,
The sending control means further sends out a new e-mail indicating that the hold has been made with the notification recipient information set in the control condition as a destination when the e-mail is put on hold,
The extension accepting unit accepts an instruction to extend the hold time of the hold email by the user who has received the new email,
9. The holding extension means extends the holding time of an e-mail that has received an extension instruction from the user by the time specified to be extended by the extension receiving means. The information processing apparatus described in 1. The control condition stored in the storage means further includes notification destination recipient information indicating an e-mail notification destination indicating that the e-mail is held when the e-mail satisfying the control condition is held. Is set,
The sending control means further sends out a new e-mail indicating that the hold has been made with the notification recipient information set in the control condition as a destination when the e-mail is put on hold,
The deletion accepting unit accepts an instruction to delete the held email by the user who has received the new email,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the deletion unit deletes an electronic mail that has received the deletion instruction. The control condition stored in the storage means further includes notification destination recipient information indicating an e-mail notification destination indicating that the e-mail is held when the e-mail satisfying the control condition is held. Is set,
The sending control means further sends out a new e-mail indicating that the hold has been made with the notification recipient information set in the control condition as a destination when the e-mail is put on hold,
The immediate sending accepting unit accepts an instruction to send the suspended email immediately from the user who has received the new email,
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the immediate transmission unit immediately transmits the electronic mail that has received the immediate transmission instruction. The storage means further includes intra-transmission control including condition transmission control information indicating the content of transmission control applied by the determination result by the control condition determination means, and transmission control information corresponding to the determination result by the intra determination means. Remember information,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the determination unit determines transmission control information according to intra relay control information stored in the storage unit. A control method in an information processing apparatus that performs transmission control of an electronic mail, comprising storage means for storing intra information including information on a destination connected by the same intranet,
An acquisition step in which an acquisition unit acquires an email transmitted by receiving a transmission instruction;
A determination step for determining whether or not the transmission destination of the e-mail acquired in the acquisition step is a transmission destination connected through the same intranet, using the intra information stored in the storage unit. When,
An e-mail that is determined to be a transmission destination connected by the same intranet in the determination step, and an e-mail that is determined not to be a transmission destination connected by the same intranet in the determination step A delivery control process for different delivery control of
A control method comprising: A program that can be executed by an information processing apparatus that performs transmission control of an e-mail, including storage means for storing intra information including information on a destination connected by the same intranet,
The information processing apparatus;
An acquisition means for acquiring an e-mail transmitted by receiving a transmission instruction;
A determination unit that determines whether the transmission destination of the email acquired by the acquisition unit is a transmission destination connected by the same intranet using the intra information stored in the storage unit;
The sending control of the e-mail determined to be a destination connected by the same intranet by the determining means and the e-mail determined not to be the destination connected by the same intranet by the determining means are different. A program which functions as a transmission control means.

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