JP2016099712A - Mail management device and mail management method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mail management device and a mail management method capable of distributing new mail according to a user's situation. SOLUTION: In a terminal device 10, an unread mail number acquisition unit 22 acquires an unread mail number from a mail client 11, and a mail regulation determination unit 23 determines whether or not to regulate mail using the unread mail number. do. The new mail receiving unit 24 receives a new mail. The new mail importance determination unit 25 determines the importance of the new mail using the information of the new mail received by the new mail receiving unit 24. When the importance of the new mail indicates that the new mail is important, the new mail sorting unit 26 targets the new mail, and when the importance of the new mail indicates that the new mail is not important. , Sort new mail so that new mail is not output. [Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a mail management apparatus and a mail management method.

  Conventionally, it is common to use mail (e-mail) in business or the like. A client device (for example, a mobile terminal or a personal computer) that receives mail may receive a large amount of new mail from a mail server device that holds new mail (mail that has not been received by the client device) (for example, long vacations) If you do not receive e-mail for a long time due to dawn). In this case, when the received mail includes important mail and unimportant mail, the client device needs to distinguish important mail from unimportant mail from a large quantity of mail.

  When the client device receives a large amount of mail as described above, there is a problem that the user of the client device misses an important mail. In order to solve such problems, there is a method of distributing received mail based on a predetermined condition (for example, a specific keyword included in the mail) (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 describes performing a mining process (for example, an analysis process of text included in an e-mail) on a received e-mail, and assigning a storage destination folder based on the mining process result.

JP 2014-178841 A

  As described above, when mails are distributed uniformly, when a user of a client device has the capacity to read unimportant mail, a folder different from the storage destination of important mail must be referred to. As a result, the operation for reading the mail may become complicated. That is, new mail cannot be distributed according to the situation of the user of the client device.

  In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mail management apparatus and a mail management method capable of sorting new mails according to the user's situation.

  An e-mail management apparatus according to the present invention uses an e-mail unread status information acquisition unit for acquiring e-mail unread status information, which is information related to an e-mail unread status, and an e-mail unread status information acquired by the e-mail unread status information acquisition unit. Received by the new mail receiving means when it is decided to restrict mail by the mail restriction determining means for determining whether or not to restrict mail, the new mail receiving means for receiving new mail, and the mail restriction determining means. The importance level determination means for determining the importance level of the new mail using the information of the new mail and the new mail determined by the importance level determination means when the mail restriction determination means decides to restrict the mail. New mail distribution means for distributing new mail based on importance.

  Also, the mail management method according to the present invention is a mail management method executed by a mail management apparatus that manages mail, and a mail unread state information acquisition step for acquiring mail unread state information that is information relating to an unread state of mail. A mail restriction determination step for determining whether to restrict mail using the mail unread state information acquired in the mail unread state information acquisition step, a new mail reception step for receiving new mail, and a mail restriction determination step When it is decided to restrict mail in the mail, the importance judgment step for judging the importance of the new mail using the information of the new mail received in the new mail reception step and the mail in the mail regulation determination step are regulated. New mail that was determined in the importance determination Based on the degree of importance, including the, and the new mail sorting step for distributing new mail.

  According to the mail management apparatus and the mail management method according to the present invention, since it is determined whether or not the mail is restricted based on the mail unread status information, the user situation that can be estimated from the mail unread status information (for example, New mail can be sorted according to busyness.

  In the mail management apparatus according to the present invention, the new mail distribution means outputs a new mail when the importance of the new mail determined by the determination result by the importance determination means indicates that the new mail is important. When the importance level of the new mail determined by the determination result by the importance level determination means indicates that the new mail is not important, the new mail may be distributed so that the new mail is not output. According to such a mail management device, when mail is regulated, whether or not the new mail is to be output based on the importance of the received new mail is sorted. When mail is restricted because it is considered that there is no room for reading mail, it is possible to prevent output of unimportant mail.

  In the mail management apparatus according to the present invention, the new mail distribution means, when the importance of the new mail determined by the determination result by the importance determination means indicates that the new mail is not important, the sender of the new mail You may make it perform the notification process to the effect of not outputting the said new mail addressed to an address. According to such a mail management device, when a new mail is not important, a notification process that the new mail is not output to the address of the sender of the new mail is performed, so that the transmitted new mail is not output. It can be recognized by the user of the transmission source.

  In the mail management apparatus according to the present invention, the mail restriction determination means determines which one of a plurality of predetermined restriction levels corresponds to the new mail distribution by using the mail unread status information. The means may distribute new mail based on the restriction level determined by the mail restriction determination means and the importance of the new mail determined by the importance level determination means. According to such a mail management device, it is possible to define the details of regulation more finely according to the mail unread status information, and to send new mail according to the user's situation that can be estimated from the mail unread status information. Can be sorted.

  In the mail management device according to the present invention, the mail unread status information acquisition unit may acquire the number of unread mails as the mail unread status information. According to such a mail management apparatus, since processing is performed based on the number of unread mails, it can be estimated that it is difficult for a user with a large number of unread mails to read the mail (busy state). Can be regulated. As a result, it is possible to prevent the important mail from being buried in many other unread mails and overlooking the important mail.

  In the mail management apparatus according to the present invention, the mail unread status information acquisition unit includes at least one of information indicating the mail text, destination, subject, sender, and importance attached to the mail included in the unread mail. The number of unread mails that match a condition using two pieces of information may be acquired as mail unread status information. According to such a mail management apparatus, it is possible to prevent a mail that is not intentionally referred to by a user (for example, an advertisement mail) from being determined as an unread mail.

  In the mail management device according to the present invention, the mail unread state information acquisition unit may acquire information indicating a period during which the mail is in an unread state as the mail unread state information. According to such a mail management device, since it is determined whether or not to restrict mail based on a period in which the mail is unread, for example, when the period in which the mail is unread is long, the user can Email restrictions can be put in place when it seems difficult to spend time reading.

  Further, in the mail management apparatus according to the present invention, the importance level determination unit includes information indicating the mail text, the destination, the subject, the transmission source, and the importance level attached to the mail as the new mail information. The importance level of the new mail may be determined using at least one piece of information. According to this mail management device, it is possible to appropriately determine the importance of the new mail using information included in the new mail.

  According to the present invention, since whether or not mail is sorted is controlled based on the mail unread state, new mail can be sorted according to the situation of the user.

1 is a block diagram of a mail system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a setting of a control level. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a terminal device 10. FIG. It is a sequence diagram which shows the process sequence of a mail management method.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same or equivalent elements will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

  FIG. 1 shows a mail management system according to this embodiment. The mail management system includes a terminal device 10 (mail management device) and a mail server 30. The terminal device 10 is communicatively connected to the mail server 30 via a communication network such as a mobile phone network, for example. Specifically, the terminal device 10 is a terminal device such as a mobile phone, a tablet terminal, or a personal computer, and is a so-called client device.

  The mail server 30 is a server device that manages mail. Specifically, a mail addressed to an address corresponding to the user of each terminal device 10 is received, and the mail is stored in the storage unit of the mail server 30. In addition, the mail server 30 sends a transmission request for a new mail addressed to an address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10 (mail that has not been received by the terminal device 10) from the terminal device 10 to the stored mail. Is transmitted to the terminal device 10 via the communication network. In response to this, the terminal device 10 receives the new mail from the mail server 30, and holds or displays the new mail.

  The terminal device 10 includes a mail client 11 and a mail restriction unit 20. The mail client 11 is so-called mail software or mailer. Specifically, the mail client 11 holds and displays mail received from the mail server 30. The mail client 11 stores the state of each mail to be held. The state includes information indicating whether the mail is in an unread state or a read state. Here, the unread state means a state that is held by the mail client 11 but has never displayed the mail text. The read state means a state in which the mail text is displayed at least once. Note that newly received mail is in an unread state. In addition, as for the information about the address, the address of the sender, the address of the destination information (the recipient's email address, indicating the email address of the so-called “TO” recipient), the address of the broadcast information (for example, Email address of the recipient of the carbon copy).

  Further, the mail client 11 holds address information (for example, information including the mail address of the boss and the business partner). Here, the address information held by the mail client 11 is information including a mail address as described above, and includes user information (for example, a user name) corresponding to the mail address. When the mail client 11 receives an operation (for example, a selection operation) indicating a mail text display output instruction for unread mail (unread mail), the mail client 11 displays and outputs the text of the unread mail and unread the mail. Change settings from status to read status. The mail status is set by a known technique. In this way, the mail client 11 changes the mail status information from information indicating that it is in an unread state to information indicating that it is in a read state, for example. Change to.

  Also, the mail client 11 triggers an input operation from the user of the terminal device 10 or the mail restriction unit 20 as described above at a predetermined time (for example, every 5 minutes) set in advance by the mail client 11. A notification is made to request transmission of a new mail addressed to the address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10. The mail restricting unit 20 determines whether or not to restrict mail according to this, and when restricting mail, as mail restricting processing, only important mail is sent to the mail client 11, and unimportant mail is discarded. Process. When the mail client 11 receives a highly important mail from the mail restricting unit 20, the mail client 11 holds and displays the mail. The mail client 11 may not only display and output mail, but also perform various outputs such as voice output.

  In addition, when the mail client 11 receives a request for acquiring the number of unread mails from the mail restriction unit 20, the mail client 11 acquires the number of unread mails by calculating the number of unread mails among the mails held by the mail client 11. Then, the mail client 11 notifies the mail restriction unit 20 of the number of unread mails. The mail client 11 obtains the number of unread mails by calculating the number of mails that are unread mails with reference to the stored mail status information.

  Further, when there is no need to restrict mail, the mail restricting unit 20 notifies the mail client 11 to that effect. When there is no need to regulate the mail client 11, the mail client 11 requests the mail server 30 to send a known technique mail. When it is necessary to restrict mail, the mail restricting unit 20 notifies the mail client 11 to that effect. If the mail client 11 needs to be regulated, the mail client 11 does not request the mail server 30 to send a new mail addressed to the address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10. ).

  Further, the mail client 11 generates a mail for transmission (newly created mail, mail for reply to received mail) in response to a request from the user of the terminal device 10, and transmits the mail to the mail server 30. .

  Next, details of the mail restricting unit 20 will be described. The mail restriction unit 20 includes a transmission request detection unit 21, an unread mail number acquisition unit 22 (mail unread state information acquisition unit), a mail restriction determination unit 23 (mail restriction determination unit), and a new mail reception unit 24 (new mail). Receiving means), a new mail importance degree determination unit 25 (importance degree determination means), and a new mail distribution unit 26 (new mail distribution means).

  The transmission request detection unit 21 is a part that detects a transmission request for a new mail addressed to the address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10 by the mail client 11. As described above, the transmission request detection unit 21 receives a new mail addressed to an address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10 by the mail client 11 based on the notification from the mail client 11 (notification that a new mail transmission request is made). When a transmission request is detected, the mail client 11 is notified that the mail client 11 has detected a mail transmission request for a new mail addressed to an address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10. As described above, the transmission request detection unit 21 detects a mail transmission request for a new mail addressed to the address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10 by the mail client 11 and notifies the unread mail number acquisition unit 22 of the request. This triggers the process of determining whether or not to restrict mail.

  The unread mail number acquisition unit 22 is a part that acquires mail unread status information, which is information related to the mail unread status. The unread mail number acquisition unit 22 acquires the number of unread mails (number of unread mails) as mail unread status information. Specifically, when the unread mail count acquisition unit 22 receives from the transmission request detection unit 21 that the mail client 11 has detected a mail transmission request for a new mail addressed to an address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10, The mail client 11 is requested to acquire the number of unread mails, and the number of unread mails is acquired from the mail client 11. When the number of unread mails is acquired, the number of unread mails 22 notifies the mail regulation determination unit 23 of the number of unread mails. The unread mail count acquisition unit 22 uses a predetermined time (for example, every 5 minutes) instead of triggering the reception of the mail transmission request of the mail client 11 from the transmission request detection unit 21. ), The number of unread mails may be acquired.

  The mail restriction determination unit 23 is a part that determines whether to restrict mail using the number of unread mails acquired by the unread mail number acquisition unit 22. When the mail restriction determination unit 23 acquires the number of unread mails from the unread mail number acquisition unit 22, if the number of unread mails is equal to or greater than a pre-stored restriction threshold (threshold for determining whether to restrict), mail Decide to regulate. The restriction threshold value is a value (for example, 100) that is determined to be considered that the user is busy (the user's business or the like is in a congested state). This is based on the tendency that when the user is busy, the mail remains unread, so that the more busy the user, the greater the number of unread mails. And this regulation threshold may be set up by a user's input, and may be set up by a provider of mail regulation part 20 (for example, a communication enterprise which provides a mobile communication function to terminal unit 10). And the said regulation threshold value may differ for every user. Further, the mail restriction determination unit 23 determines not to restrict mail when the number of unread mails is less than the restriction threshold.

  As described above, the mail restriction determination unit 23 determines whether to restrict mail based on the result of comparing the number of unread mails acquired from the number of unread mails acquisition part 22 and the restriction threshold value. As a result, the mail restriction unit 20 performs mail restriction when the user of the terminal device 10 is busy, and considers that there is room to read less important mail among new mails received by the user of the terminal device 10. If it is possible (when the number of unread mail is small), it is possible not to restrict mail.

  When the mail restriction determination unit 23 determines to restrict mail, the mail restriction determination unit 23 notifies the new mail reception unit 24 and the new mail distribution unit 26 to that effect. Further, the mail restriction determination unit 23 notifies the mail client 11 whether or not mail restriction is to be performed.

  As described above, the mail restriction determination unit 23 determines whether to restrict mail based on the result of comparing the number of unread mails acquired from the unread mail number acquisition part 22 and the restriction threshold. However, the mail restriction determination unit 23 is not limited to the above example, and sets a plurality of restriction thresholds in advance and associates the levels of the restriction thresholds with each other. , 100 cases, 200 cases, 300 cases, etc.) may be determined. As an example, FIG. 2 shows a correspondence relationship between a regulation level and a regulation judgment value (regulation threshold) corresponding to the regulation level. It is assumed that the information shown in FIG. 2 is held in a storage unit (for example, an auxiliary storage device) of the terminal device 100. That is, the storage unit of the terminal device 100 associates each restriction level with a restriction threshold value (a range for determining whether or not each restriction level is applicable) and each restriction level processing content. Defined. For example, when the number of unread mails is 100 or more, the mail restriction determination unit 23 sets the restriction level 1 when the number of unread mails is 200 or more, and the restriction level 2 when the number of unread mails is 300 or more. To do. As described above, the mail restriction determination unit 23 may determine which restriction level among a plurality of predetermined restriction levels using the number of unread mails. In this case, the mail restriction determination unit 23 notifies the new mail distribution unit 26 of the restriction level, and notifies the new mail reception unit 24 that mail restriction is to be performed. When the mail restriction determination unit 23 determines the restriction level shown in FIG. 2, the new mail distribution part 26 distributes new mail based on the processing contents of the restriction corresponding to the restriction level (details will be described later). To do).

  The new mail receiving unit 24 is a part that receives new mail. When the new mail receiving unit 24 receives a message to restrict mail from the mail restriction determining unit 23 as described above, the new mail receiving unit 24 makes a new mail transmission request to the mail server 30 accordingly. As described above, the new mail receiving unit 24 requests the mail server 30 to send a new mail addressed to an address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10, triggered by the reception of the mail restriction from the mail restriction determining unit 23. Do.

  The new mail receiving unit 24 receives the mail addressed to the address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10 from the mail server 30 by making a mail transmission request to the mail server 30. The new mail receiving unit 24 requests the mail server 30 to send a new mail addressed to the address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10 and receives the mail from the mail server 30 by using a known mail transmission / reception technique. Can be applied.

  When the new mail receiving unit 24 receives a new mail from the mail server 30, the new mail receiving unit 24 transmits the received new mail to the new mail importance level determining unit 25.

  The new mail importance level determination unit 25 determines the importance level of the new mail using the information of the new mail received by the new mail reception unit 24 when the mail restriction determination unit 23 determines to restrict the mail. It is a part to do.

  The new mail importance level determination unit 25 determines the importance level of the new mail received from the new mail reception unit 24. When the new mail reception unit 24 determines that the mail restriction determination unit 23 restricts mail, Receive new mail at Therefore, the new mail importance level determination unit 25 determines the importance level of a new mail when it is determined to restrict mail.

When determining the importance level of each new mail, the new mail importance level determination unit 25 determines the importance of each new mail by determining whether or not the following conditions using the new mail information are met, for example. Determine the degree. The following conditions are assumed to be held in advance by the new mail importance level determination unit 25.
(Condition A) Information indicating the importance set for the mail is set to “important”.
(Condition B) The address of the user of the terminal device 10 is included in the destination information of the mail (that is, the address of the user is not included in the broadcast information and the blind carbon copy (BCC)).
(Condition C) The mail subject (mail title) includes specific words such as “important”, “emergency”, “reply required”, “response required”.
(Condition D) The address indicating the sender (address of the sender of the mail) is the address of a specific person (for example, a boss, a business partner, or an employee).
(Condition E) The mail text is addressed to itself.

  The new mail importance level determination unit 25 refers to the mail information such as the mail subject and the mail text, and determines whether or not the conditions A and C are met by applying a known technique. Further, the new mail importance level determination unit 25 determines whether or not the condition B is satisfied by determining whether or not the address information of the user of the terminal device 10 is included in the mail destination information. In addition, the new mail importance level determination unit 25 refers to address information (such as a manager's address) held in advance by the mail client 11 and determines whether or not the source address matches the address held. Thus, it is determined whether or not the condition D is met.

  Further, the new mail importance level determination unit 25 determines whether or not the name of the user (user) of the terminal device 10 is included in the upper part of the mail text (for example, about three lines from the top of the mail text). Thus, it is determined whether or not the condition E is met. It is assumed that the name of the user of the terminal device 10 is stored in advance in the storage unit of the terminal device 10. Further, the method for determining whether or not the message is important based on the content of the mail text (specific words described in the mail text) is not limited to whether or not the above condition E is met. The new mail importance level determination unit 25 may determine, for example, whether or not information indicating an emergency such as “by date”, “by time”, “during today” is included in the mail text.

  The new mail importance level determination unit 25 may determine the importance level of a new mail based on one of the above conditions, or may determine the importance level of a new mail based on a plurality of conditions. It may be. For example, the new mail importance level determination unit 25 may determine that the new mail is an important mail if the new mail meets at least one of the plurality of conditions. In this case, the new mail importance determination unit 25 can appropriately determine the importance of the new mail using information included in the new mail. The new mail importance level determination unit 25 may determine that the new mail is an important mail when the new mail satisfies a plurality of conditions among the above conditions.

  For example, the new mail importance determination unit 25, when a plurality of restriction levels are set in the mail restriction determination unit 23, based on whether or not the conditions A to E are met. You may make it determine the importance applicable to which regulation level among several regulation levels. For example, as shown in the “regulation process” column of FIG. 2, when only the condition E is met, the new mail importance level determination unit 25 determines that the importance level corresponds to the regulation level 1. If only the condition E and the condition D are met, the new mail importance level determination unit 25 determines that the importance level corresponds to the restriction level 2. If only the condition C, the condition D, and the condition E are met, the new mail importance level determination unit 25 determines that the importance level corresponds to the restriction level 3. Further, when only the condition A, the condition C, the condition D, and the condition E are met, the new mail importance level determination unit 25 determines that the importance level corresponds to the restriction level 4.

  The new mail importance level determination unit 25, as information indicating the importance level of each new mail, information indicating whether it is important or information indicating which level of importance corresponds to each new mail, and each new mail Are sent to the new mail distribution unit 26.

  The new mail distribution unit 26 distributes new mail based on the importance level of the new mail determined by the new mail importance level determination unit 25 when it is determined by the mail restriction determination unit 23 to control the mail. It is.

  Specifically, the new mail distribution unit 26 determines that the importance level of the new mail determined by the new mail importance level determination unit 25 when the mail restriction determination unit 23 determines to restrict the mail is the new mail distribution unit 26. When indicating that the mail is important, the new mail is output, and when the importance of the new mail determined by the determination result by the new mail importance level determination unit 25 indicates that the new mail is not important, the new mail Sort new mails so that they are not output.

  The new mail distribution unit 26 recognizes that it is determined to restrict mail by receiving information indicating that mail is restricted from the mail restriction determination unit 23. Then, the new mail distribution unit 26 receives the determination result and the new mail from the new mail importance level determination unit 25.

  The new mail distribution unit 26 indicates that the new mail is important based on the determination result received from the new mail importance determination unit 25 (for example, satisfies at least one of the above-described conditions A to E). ), The new mail is transmitted to the mail client 11. In response to this, the mail client 11 outputs the received new mail so that it can be displayed to the user of the terminal device 10. In other words, the new mail sorting unit 26 sets the new mail as an output target when the importance level of the new mail determined by the new mail importance level determination unit 25 indicates that the new mail is important.

  Further, when the new mail distribution unit 26 indicates that the new mail is not important based on the determination result received from the new mail importance level determination unit 25, the new mail distribution unit 26 discards the new mail without transmitting it to the mail client 11. That is, the new mail distribution unit 26 prevents the new mail from being output when the importance level of the new mail determined by the determination result by the new mail importance level determination unit 25 indicates that the new mail is not important.

  As described above, the new mail sorting unit 26 sorts whether to send a new mail to the mail client 11 or discard it based on whether or not the new mail is important when the mail is regulated. .

  When the importance level of the new mail determined by the determination result by the new mail importance level determination unit 25 indicates that the new mail is not important, the new mail sorting unit 26 sends the new mail to the address of the sender of the new mail. You may make it perform the notification process (reception impossible notification process) of not outputting the said new mail to the terminal device 10. FIG. For example, when the new mail distribution unit 26 indicates that the new mail is not important based on the determination result received from the new mail importance level determination unit 25, the new mail distribution unit 26 sends the mail server 30 to the address of the transmission source of the new mail. A new mail may be discarded by making a notification request not to output the new mail to the terminal device 10 by a known technique. In this case, the terminal device 10 can notify the user of the new mail transmission source that the mail could not be output to the user of the terminal device 10. As a result, the user of the device from which the new mail is sent does not erroneously recognize that the mail should have been sent (should have been transmitted).

  When the new mail distribution unit 26 receives the restriction level from the mail restriction determination unit 23, the new mail distribution unit 26 determines the restriction level determined by the mail restriction determination unit 23 and the importance of the new mail determined by the new mail importance determination unit 25. The new mail may be distributed based on the degree (information indicating the degree of importance corresponding to which restriction level).

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the number of unread mails is 100 or more and 199 or less, the restriction level is 1, and the new mail is sent to the mail client 11 only when the importance is more than the restriction level 1. If the degree of importance is not higher than the regulation level 1, it indicates that the mail is to be discarded.

  Further, when the number of unread mails is 200 or more and 299 or less, the mail is transmitted to the mail client 11 only when the importance level of the new mail is more than the importance level of the restriction level 2 and the restriction level 2 or more. If the priority is not, it indicates that the mail is to be discarded. When the number of unread mails is 500 or more, the restriction level is 5, and all mails are not output. As described above, the new mail sorting unit 26 increases the condition of the mail to be output as the restriction process every time the number of unread mails increases, reduces the number of mails to be output, and finally has the highest restriction level. When the value (regulation level 5) is reached, all mails are excluded from output until the regulation level falls.

  As described above, the terminal device 10 uses the number of unread mails to determine which of the predetermined restriction levels corresponds to any restriction level, and the determined restriction level and the importance of the mail New mail is distributed based on the mail unread status information, so that the details of the regulation can be defined more precisely according to the mail unread status information, and new mail can be sent according to the user's situation that can be estimated from the mail unread status information. Can be sorted.

(Explanation of hardware configuration diagram)
Subsequently, a hardware configuration diagram of the terminal device 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal device 10 communicates with one or a plurality of CPUs 101, a RAM 102 and a ROM 103 which are main storage devices, an operation unit 104 of an input device (for example, a key on a touch panel), and a mail server 30. It is a module and is configured as a computer system including a wireless communication unit 105 that is a data transmission / reception device such as a network card, a display 106 that is an output device, and an antenna 107. The functions described above are exhibited by the operation of these components. The above is the configuration of the terminal device 10.

  Next, processing (mail management method) executed by the terminal device 10 according to the present embodiment will be described using the sequence diagram of FIG. The sequence diagram shown in FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a process of detecting that the mail client 11 has requested transmission of a new mail, applying mail restriction based on the number of unread mails, and distributing mail based on the mail restriction. It is. Note that the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 4 is an example in the case where there is only one restriction threshold.

  First, when the transmission request detection unit 21 detects a new mail transmission request addressed to the address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10 by the mail client 11 (step S1), the transmission request detection unit 21 acquires the number of unread mails. The unit 22 is notified that a new mail transmission request addressed to the address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10 has been made. In response to this, the unread mail number acquisition unit 22 requests the mail client 11 to acquire the number of unread mails (step S2 mail unread state information acquisition step).

  When the number of unread mails is acquired from the mail client 11, the unread mail number acquisition unit 22 notifies the mail regulation determination unit 23 of the number of unread mails. When the mail restriction determining unit 23 acquires the number of unread mails from the unread mail number acquiring unit 22, the mail restriction determining unit 23 compares the number of unread mails with a previously stored restriction threshold value and determines whether or not to perform mail restriction ( Step S3 Mail regulation determination step).

  When the number of unread mails is equal to or greater than the restriction threshold (step S3; NO), the mail restriction determination unit 23 notifies the mail client 11 that no restriction is made, and the mail client 11 notifies the mail server 30 to use the terminal device 10. A new mail transmission request addressed to the address corresponding to the person is requested (step S11), and the process is terminated.

  When the number of unread mails is equal to or greater than the restriction threshold (step S3; YES), the mail restriction determination unit 23 determines to restrict mail (step S4 mail restriction determination step). Then, the mail restriction determining unit 23 notifies the new mail receiving unit 24 and the new mail sorting unit 26 that the mail is restricted. The mail restriction determination unit 23 also notifies the mail client 11 that mail restriction is to be performed.

  When the new mail receiving unit 24 receives an email restriction from the mail restriction determining unit 23, the new mail receiving unit 24 requests the mail server 30 to send a new mail addressed to the address corresponding to the user of the terminal device 10. A new mail is received (step S5 new mail reception step). Further, when the new mail receiving unit 24 receives a new mail, the new mail receiving unit 24 notifies the new mail importance degree determining unit 25 of the new mail.

  When the new mail importance level determination unit 25 receives a new mail from the new mail reception unit 24, the new mail importance level determination unit 25 determines the importance level of the new mail from the information of the new mail (step S6 new mail importance level determination step). After determining the importance level of the new mail, the new mail importance level determination unit 25 notifies the new mail distribution unit 26 of the determination result.

  When the new mail distribution unit 26 receives the mail restriction notification from the mail restriction determination unit 23 and obtains from the new mail importance determination unit 25, whether the new mail is to be output based on the importance of the new mail. It is determined whether or not (step S7 new mail distribution step).

  If the new mail distribution unit 26 determines that the new mail is to be output based on the importance (step S7; YES), the new mail distribution unit 26 transmits the new mail to the mail client 11 (step S8 new mail distribution step), and performs processing. finish.

  If it is determined that the new mail is not an output target based on the importance (step S7; NO), the new mail distribution unit 26 discards the new mail (step S9 new mail distribution step). Further, the new mail distribution unit 26 notifies the mail sender that it could not be received (step S10 new mail distribution step), and ends the process.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the unread mail number acquisition unit 22 acquires the number of unread mails as the mail unread state information has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and instead of acquiring the number of unread mails, information indicating a period during which the mail is in an unread state may be acquired as the mail unread state information.

  For example, at the time when the transmission request detection unit 21 detects a transmission request from the mail client 11, an unread period of mail that is a period from unread to read is acquired for the mail that has been read most recently. May be. In this case, since the terminal device 10 determines whether or not to restrict the mail based on the period in which the mail is unread, the time for the user to read the mail as in the case where the period in which the mail is unread is long. E-mail restrictions can be applied when it is considered difficult to break. For example, the mail restriction determination unit 23 determines to restrict mail when the period during which the mail is in an unread state is equal to or greater than a predetermined unread period threshold (for example, 24 hours). Further, as a period in which the mail is in an unread state, a period from the reception date / time of the oldest mail among the unread mails to the acquisition date / time of the mail unread state information may be acquired.

  As described above, the unread mail count acquisition unit 22 acquires information indicating a period during which the mail is in an unread state as mail unread state information, and the mail restriction determination unit 23 performs mail restriction using this information. When determining whether or not, the content of the restriction process corresponding to the restriction level may be defined in advance for each period (for example, every 24 hours) divided into a plurality of restriction levels.

  In the above description, a case has been described in which the unread mail number acquisition unit 22 acquires information indicating a period in which a mail is in an unread state as mail unread state information instead of acquiring the number of unread mails. However, the unread mail number acquisition unit 22 may acquire both the number of unread mails and information indicating a period during which the mail is in an unread state. In this case, the mail restriction determination unit 23 may determine whether or not to restrict mail based on the number of unread mails and a period during which the mail is in an unread state. For example, the mail restriction determination unit 23 may restrict mail when the number of unread mails is equal to or greater than a restriction threshold and the period during which the mail is in an unread state is equal to or greater than the threshold for the unread period. Further, when the mail restriction determination unit 23 determines which of the plurality of restriction levels corresponds to the information acquired by the unread mail number acquisition unit 22, the number of unread mails and the mail are in an unread state. You may make it determine based on a period.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the mail restricting unit 20 is configured independently of the mail client 11 has been described. However, the mail restricting unit 20 may be included in the mail client 11.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the terminal device 10 includes the mail restriction unit 20 has been described. However, the mail server 30 may be provided instead of the terminal device 10. In this case, when the mail server 30 acquires the number of unread mails, the mail server 30 does not request acquisition to the terminal device 10 to acquire the number of unread mails, and does not request acquisition of new mail to an external device. The point which acquires mail from own storage means is different from the above-mentioned embodiment.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the unread mail number acquiring unit 22 acquires the number of unread mails in the mail held by the mail client 11 as the number of unread mails has been described. The number of mails addressed to the user's address of the terminal device 10 that is held may be acquired as the number of unread mails. In this case, the number of mails addressed to the user's address of the terminal device 10 held by the mail server 30 is also acquired as the number of unread mails, and the mail is regulated based on the number of unread mails. When the user of the apparatus 10 has not received mail for a long time due to a long holiday or the like, it can be prevented that a large amount of new mail is received at one time.

  In the above-described embodiment, the unread mail number acquisition unit 22 sends an unaddressed mail message to the mail client 11 when acquiring the number of unread mails from the mail client 11. A request may be made not to include state mails in the number of unread mails, and these mails may be excluded from the number of unread mails.

  In this case, the mail client 11 determines whether the mail held by the mail client 11 is an advertisement with a subject, determines whether it is an unspecified number from the mail destination, By determining whether or not a mail has been unread for a long time based on the received time information of the mail, mail for advertisements, unspecified majority, or mail that has been unread for a long time is included in the number of unread mail Without calculating the number of unread mail. Further, the mail client 11 may calculate the number of unread mails in mail satisfying characteristics (for example, specific sender, subject, information indicating the importance level attached to mail) related to the determination of important mail. . In other words, the mail client 11 stores unread mail that matches the condition using at least one of the mail text, destination, subject, sender, and information indicating the importance attached to the mail included in the unread mail. May be acquired as mail unread status information.

  In the above-described embodiment, the new mail distribution unit 26 outputs a new mail when the importance level of the new mail determined by the determination result by the new mail importance level determination unit 25 indicates that the new mail is important. A case has been described in which new mail is distributed so that the new mail is not output when the importance of the new mail determined by the determination result by the new mail importance determination unit 25 indicates that the new mail is not important. . However, the new mail distribution unit 26 is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and when the mail restriction determination unit 23 decides to restrict the mail, the new mail importance determination unit 25 uses a mode other than the above in the new mail importance determination unit 25. New mail may be distributed based on the determined importance of the new mail.

  For example, the new mail distribution unit 26 determines whether important mail is important based on the importance of the new mail determined by the new mail importance determination unit 25 when the mail restriction determination unit 23 determines to restrict mail. It is also possible to store different destinations for unimportant mail.

  Although not described in the above embodiment, the mail restriction determination unit 23 may release the mail restriction by various operations (for example, an input operation by the terminal device 10) after applying the mail restriction.

(Function and effect)
Then, an effect is demonstrated. In the terminal device 10, the unread mail number acquisition unit 22 acquires the number of unread mails from the mail client 11, and the mail restriction determination unit 23 restricts mail using the number of unread mails acquired from the unread mail number acquisition unit 22. Decide whether or not to do. The new mail receiving unit 24 receives new mail. The new mail importance level determination unit 25 determines the importance level of the new mail using the information of the new mail received by the new mail reception unit 24 when the mail restriction determination unit 23 determines to restrict the mail. To do. The new mail distribution unit 26 distributes new mail based on the importance level of the new mail determined by the new mail importance level determination unit 25 when it is determined by the mail restriction determination unit 23 to control the mail.

  Thus, since the terminal device 10 acquires the number of unread mails and determines whether or not to restrict mails based on the number of unread mails, the terminal device 10 is newly adapted according to the user's situation that can be estimated from the number of unread mails. Mail can be sorted.

  In addition, the new mail distribution unit 26 determines that the importance level of the new mail determined by the new mail importance level determination unit 25 is important when the mail restriction determination unit 23 determines that the mail is to be restricted. The new mail is output, and when the importance of the new mail determined by the determination result by the new mail importance determination unit 25 indicates that the new mail is not important, the new mail is output. Sort new emails so that they do n’t.

  As described above, the terminal device 10 acquires the number of unread mails, determines whether or not to restrict mail using the number of unread mails, and when restricting mails, when the mail is restricted, important terminal mails are received. By allocating mail so that it does not output unimportant mail as an output target, whether or not mail is sorted based on the mail unread state is controlled, so that new mail can be output according to the user's situation.

  Further, since the terminal device 10 performs processing based on the number of unread mails, it is difficult for a user with a large number of unread mails to read the mail by restricting when the number of unread mails is large. It can be regulated when it can be estimated that there is a certain (busy state). As a result, it is possible to prevent important mails from being buried in many unread mails and overlooking important mails.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Terminal device, 11 ... Mail client, 20 ... Mail control part, 21 ... Transmission request detection part, 22 ... Unread mail number acquisition part, 23 ... Mail control determination part, 24 ... New mail reception part, 25 ... New mail important Degree determination unit, 26 ... new mail distribution unit, 30 ... mail server, 101 ... CPU, 102 ... RAM, 103 ... ROM, 104 ... operation unit, 105 ... wireless communication unit, 106 ... display, 107 ... antenna.

Claims (9)

Mail unread status information acquisition means for acquiring email unread status information, which is information related to the email unread status,
Mail restriction determination means for determining whether to restrict mail using the mail unread state information acquired by the mail unread state information acquisition means;
New mail receiving means for receiving new mail;
Importance determining means for determining the importance of the new mail using information of the new mail received by the new mail receiving means when it is determined to restrict the mail by the mail restriction determining means;
A new mail distribution unit that distributes new mail based on the importance of the new mail determined by the importance level determination unit when it is determined that the mail restriction determination unit controls the mail;
A mail management device comprising:   The new mail distribution means sets the new mail as an output target when the importance of the new mail determined by the determination result by the importance determination means indicates that the new mail is important. The mail management device according to claim 1, wherein when the importance level of the new mail determined by the determination result by the means indicates that the new mail is not important, the new mail is sorted so as not to output the new mail.   When the importance level of the new mail determined by the determination result by the importance level determination means indicates that the new mail is not important, the new mail distribution means sends the new mail to the address of the sender of the new mail. The mail management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a notification process for not outputting is performed. The mail restriction determination means determines which restriction level corresponds to a predetermined restriction level from among a plurality of predetermined restriction levels, using the mail unread status information.
The new mail distribution means distributes new mail based on the restriction level determined by the mail restriction determination means and the importance of the new mail determined by the importance determination means. The mail management device according to any one of the above.   The mail management device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the mail unread state information acquisition unit acquires the number of unread mails as mail unread state information.   The mail unread status information acquisition unit is configured to read unread mail that matches a condition using at least one of the mail text, the destination, the subject, the transmission source, and the importance level attached to the mail included in the unread mail. The mail management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the number of mails is acquired as mail unread status information.   The mail management device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the mail unread state information acquisition unit acquires information indicating a period during which the mail is in an unread state as mail unread state information.   The importance determination means uses at least one piece of information indicating the importance of the mail text, destination, subject, sender, and mail included in the new mail as the information of the new mail. The mail management device according to claim 1, wherein the importance level of the new mail is determined. A mail management method executed by a mail management device for managing mail,
An email unread status information acquisition step for acquiring email unread status information, which is information related to the email unread status,
A mail restriction determination step for determining whether to restrict mail using the mail unread state information acquired in the mail unread state information acquisition step;
A new mail receiving step for receiving a new mail;
An importance determining step of determining the importance of the new mail using the information of the new mail received in the new mail receiving step when it is determined to restrict the mail in the mail restriction determining step;
A new mail distribution step of distributing new mail based on the importance of the new mail determined in the importance determination when it is determined to restrict the mail in the mail restriction determination step;
Mail management method including

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