JP3821710B2 - Notification processing method and notification processing program - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Technical field to which the invention belongs]
  The present invention relates to an e-mail transmission / reception processing technology, and more particularly to a technology for notifying a sender or a recipient of an event such as arrival or reception of an e-mail.
[0002]
[Prior art]
  Web (Web) mail is characterized by mail transmission and browsing by a Web browser, and if a user has a Web browser that can communicate with a Web server, a special or dedicated mailer is not required at all. You can send and receive emails. The distribution center that provides the Web mail service includes a mail server that manages mail contents, and a Web server that controls a Web page for transmitting and browsing mail contents and downloading attached files. Composed.
[0003]
  Content delivered to the user of Web mail is stored in the mail server of the distribution center. Therefore, normally, in order to confirm a new mail, the user needs to voluntarily access a web page of his / her received mail list with a web browser. For this reason, recently, a service for separately notifying recipients of new mail arrival has also come out. That is, an arrival notification mail for notifying the arrival of a new mail is created at the distribution center and transmitted to a pre-registered notification destination mail address. In this way, the recipient can know in real time that a new mail has arrived. Then, it is possible to browse the content and download the attached file at a timing convenient for the user.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
  As described above, the arrival notification mail is useful, but when the number of Web mails addressed to itself increases, the same contents are notified to all the Web mails addressed to itself, so it is difficult to determine which arrival mail is important. Can lead to oversight of important emails. Further, if the number of times increases, the processing becomes complicated for the receiver.
[0005]
  Furthermore, when an email important for the sender is transmitted, it is desirable to be able to confirm whether the recipient has browsed the email or downloaded the attached file. It is possible to send a confirmation notification e-mail when the recipient's mail is viewed from the distribution center or when an attached file is downloaded. In this case, if the distribution center transmits a confirmation notification mail for each act of the recipient, the processing becomes complicated.
[0006]
  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for enabling notification of mail arrival, reception, etc. in a manner reflecting the requests of the sender and the receiver.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  The notification processing method according to the present invention receives a content sender's content, a destination of the content, and a notification condition (for example, sender setting information in the embodiment) generated in association with the content. A step of storing in the storage device, a step of recording the usage status of the system (eg, access information and generated event information in the embodiment) in the storage device, and a specific event based on at least the usage status and the notification condition A step of detecting occurrence, and when it is detected that a specific event has occurred, at least a notification condition and a notification desired condition of a user who is a destination of content related to the specific event (for example, reception in the embodiment) Based on the user setting information) to determine at least the notification mode regarding the notification destination and notification timing. And a mode determining step. In this way, a specific event is notified in a notification mode according to the contents sender and the user's wishes.
[0008]
  Note that the notification condition described above may include only the event type or may include information regarding the event type and the notification time. The content sender can specify necessary events. The information regarding the notification time may be the notification time to the content destination or the notification time to the content sender. If the notification time addressed to the content sender is set, the content sender can select for each content, for example, notification according to the occurrence of an event or notification collectively at a later time. In addition, the information about the notification time may be information about the time when the occurrence of an unreceived event is detected, for example. In other words, the information is at least information about the notification time to the user who is the destination of the content. As a result, the user who is the destination of the content can be prompted to receive the content at a predetermined interval, for example.
[0009]
  Further, in the notification mode determination step described above, when a content sender is included in the notification destination, an additional condition indicating whether to notify in response to the occurrence of a specific event or collectively notify later The notification time may be determined using the further. As a result, content senders who send a large number of emails can receive notifications in a collective manner rather than for each event, so that they are freed from processing for a large number of notifications while receiving necessary notifications.
[0010]
  In addition, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the usage status of the system described above includes information on a content reception refusal instruction by a user who is a content destination. This makes it possible to set a refusal to download that does not exist in the existing Web mail, and to handle a refusal to download as an event.
[0011]
  Furthermore, the user's desired notification conditions described above relate to at least the content sender or content type or the importance of the content sender.informationMay be included. Further, it may be information on at least a content sender, a content type, or a notification time for each content sender. As a result, a notification frequency corresponding to the importance level can be designated, and a desired notification time can be designated for each content type or content sender.
[0012]
  Note that the information regarding the notification time may be information indicating whether to notify in accordance with the occurrence of an event or collectively to be notified later. For example, because it is important, you can specify what you want to be notified immediately after the event occurs, or you can meet the demands that you want to see collectively because the importance is low. It is also possible to set information such as how much later the data will be collected.
[0013]
  Moreover, the structure which further includes the notification implementation step which produces | generates the content of notification about the specific event containing the data of the usage condition of a system, and implements a notification process according to a notification aspect may be sufficient. The notification means is not limited to mail, but may be FAX, telephone, or other means. In addition, for system usage status data, including information such as the date and time of last access, whether the system is being used but not received or even the system is not being used. The content sender will be able to determine. further,The notification execution step described above includes a step of generating notification contents for notification of a specific event that has not yet been determined, and a step of performing notification processing, in which notification forms to be collectively notified later are included. There may be. This is because there is no need to repeatedly notify a specific event that has already been notified.
[0014]
  In addition, the notification execution step described above generates notification contents by classifying specific events that have not been notified for which notification modes to be collectively notified later are classified by event type, content sender, or content type. The configuration may include a step of performing notification processing. This makes it easier to find the event you need.
[0015]
  The above-described method can be implemented by a program and a computer, and this program is stored in a storage medium or storage device such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or a hard disk. Also, it may be distributed via a network or the like. The intermediate processing result is temporarily stored in the memory.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
  FIG. 1 shows a system outline diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention. For example, in the network 1 which is the Internet, one or a plurality of sender-side devices 5 operated by a sender who transmits content, and one or a plurality of receiver-side devices 7 operated by a receiver who is a destination of the content, A distribution center device 3 that provides a Web mail service and performs main processing in an embodiment of the present invention is connected.
[0017]
  The sender-side device 5 is a computer such as a personal computer, for example. The sender-side device 5 is a notification sent from the Web browser 51 and the distribution center device 3 to notify that the recipient who is the destination of the content has received the content. And a notification receiving unit 53 for receiving. The web browser 51 includes a content transmission unit 55 for transmitting content to the distribution center device 3. The notification receiving unit 53 is, for example, a mailer. In the present embodiment, the notification can also be performed by, for example, a telephone or a FAX. In this case, a telephone or a FAX machine provided separately from the sender apparatus 5 is used. It may become. Here, in order to simplify the description, it is assumed that the notification receiving unit 53 is a mailer.
[0018]
  Receiver device 7Is a computer such as a personal computer, and sends a notification to notify the Web browser 71 and the distribution center device 3 when a mail has arrived or has not been received for the recipient and to notify the event. ReceiveNotification receiver 73Including. The web browser 71 includes a content receiving unit 75 for receiving content from the distribution center device 3. Similarly to the sender-side device 5, the notification receiving unit 73 is, for example, a mailer. However, in the present embodiment, the notification can be performed by, for example, a telephone or a fax. In this case, the receiver-side device 7 In some cases, it may be a telephone or a FAX machine provided separately. Here, in order to simplify the description, it is assumed that the notification receiving unit 73 is also a mailer.
[0019]
  The distribution center device 3 manages a user service unit 33 that realizes a Web server function and responds to an access from a Web browser of the sender-side device 5 or the receiver-side device 7, and a sender setting information DB 41. The sender setting information storage unit 34 for storing and managing sender setting information and the receiver setting information DB 42 are managed, and the receiver setting information is stored and managed.Recipient setting information storage unit 35And a content storage unit 36 that manages the content DB 43 that stores content information received from the sender-side device 5 and an access information DB 44 that stores access information from the sender-side device 5 and the receiver-side device 7. User information management for managing an access information management unit 37 for managing, a generated event information management unit 38 for managing a generated event information DB 45 for storing generated event information, and a user information DB 46 for storing user information about a sender and a receiver Unit 39, a notification content creation unit 31 that generates notification content for each event, and controls and manages the entire event notification process according to the present embodiment, and the notification content created by the notification content creation unit 31 is sent to the sender or And an event notification unit 32 that notifies the recipient. The notification content creation unit 31 has templates for various notifications, and the notification content creation unit 31 creates notification content using a template corresponding to the type of notification.
[0020]
  An example of information stored in the sender setting information DB 41 is shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows information about one sender, and data of other senders is also registered in the sender setting information DB 41. The sender setting information is transmitted to the distribution center device 3 together with the content to be transmitted, and is registered in the sender setting information DB 41 by the sender setting information storage unit 34. As shown in FIG. 2, the sender setting information includes target content information, notification event information that is a name of an event for notifying the sender or receiver, information on notification means to the receiver, Information on the means for notifying the sender and information on the frequency of notification to the receiver are included. The notification frequency is information about the frequency of sending a reminder when the user has not received the notification. In other words, it can be said that it is information about the time when an unreceived event occurs. In the event, the arrival of the content (arrival for the distribution center device 3), the reception completion by the receiver, the non-reception indicating that the receiver has not received the content within the period related to the notification frequency, and the receiver clearly indicate Receiving rejection that rejects reception is included. The means for notifying the recipient is not limited to electronic mail (e-mail) as described above, but may be means such as FAX or telephone. The same applies to the means for notifying the sender. In addition, although not shown in figure, the information of the notification frequency to a sender may be included. This may be common to all target contents or may be changed for each target content.
[0021]
  An example of information stored in the receiver setting information DB 42 is shown in FIG. FIG. 3 shows information about one user, and other user data is also registered in the receiver setting information DB 42. The receiver setting information is set by the user at the time of use registration in the distribution center device 3, for example, and can be changed later. Registration or change in the receiver setting information DB 42 is performed by the receiver setting information storage unit 35. As shown in FIG. 3, the receiver setting information includes sender information, importance level information, and classification information. That is, importance and classification are set for each sender. The importance is classified into levels such as “high”, “average”, and “low”. The classification is used to classify notifications (events) when collectively receiving notifications. In addition, although the structure which sets importance is shown, in the processing flow demonstrated later, it is the same as that which indirectly prescribes | regulates notification time. Therefore, for example, the configuration may be such that the notification time is set directly. In other words, information is set such as whether to notify immediately after the occurrence of an event or whether to notify at a predetermined time in a predetermined period. For example, the information about the notification time is not set for each sender, but may be set for each classification, or may be set for each importance, for example. Here, for example, when the degree of importance is “high”, notification is performed immediately after the occurrence of the event, and when the degree of importance is “normal”, notification is made at a predetermined time (for example, 15:00) all together for a certain period (for example, 24 hours). Such information is assumed to be set.
[0022]
  An example of information stored in the access information DB 44 is shown in FIG. The access information management unit 37 updates the access time corresponding to the user ID (or user name) every time the user accesses, for example. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the access information includes the user name or user ID and the last access date and time.
[0023]
  An example of information stored in the occurrence event information DB 45 is shown in FIG. The occurrence event information management unit 38 transmits one content and transmission destination (recipient) information from the sender-side device 5 and accumulates it in the content accumulation unit 36. One record is generated, and data is updated every time a download (reception), reception refusal, or unreceived event occurs by the receiver. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the occurrence event information includes the content name or ID information, the sender name or ID, the receiver name or ID, the arrival date and time, the reception completion date and time, the reception rejection date and time, and the unreceived event occurrence. Contains the last date and time. Since no reception can occur many times, it is the final date and time. When the record in the first row in FIG. 5 is viewed, it can be seen that the recipient has received the content A immediately after arrival. Also, looking at the record in the second row, since no reception was performed for one week after the arrival of the content B, an unreceived event has occurred. One week is a period set as a notification frequency to the receiver in the sender setting information of FIG. Since an unreceived event has occurred, the recipient is notified, and the receiver has completed reception 5 minutes after the unreceived event has occurred. Looking at the record in the third row, since the content C has not arrived for one week, an unreceived event has occurred. One week is a period set as the frequency of notification to the receiver in the sender setting information as in the second row. The recipient is notified because an unreceived event has occurred, and the recipient is35 minutes laterHas refused to receive. Looking at the record in the fourth row, no event has occurred after the arrival of the content D.
[0024]
  An example of information stored in the user information DB 46 is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 6, the user information includes a user name, an electronic mail (e-mail) address, a telephone number, and a FAX number. This is a destination when the event notification unit 32 performs notification. Although not shown, the user ID and password are also registered and used for authentication processing.
[0025]
  For example, the content sender can access the distribution center device 3 and view the transmitted content list. At this time, the sender accesses the distribution center device 3 using the Web browser 51 of the sender-side device 5. In response to this access, the user service unit 33 of the distribution center device 3 transmits a user ID and password input request to the sender-side device 5. The web browser 51 of the sender apparatus 5 displays a user ID and password input screen and prompts the sender to input a user ID and password. When the sender inputs the user ID and password and instructs transmission, the sender-side device 5 transmits the input user ID and password to the distribution center device 3. The user service unit 33 of the distribution center device 3 requests, for example, a registration password corresponding to the received user ID from the user information management unit 39. The user information management unit 39 searches the user information DB 46 to read a registered password corresponding to the received user ID and outputs it to the user service unit 33. The user service unit 33 performs authentication processing by confirming whether the received password matches the registered password. In addition,User information management unit 39May perform the authentication process. If the received password and the registered password match, it is assumed that the authentication is successful and the following processing is performed. That is, the access information management unit 37 is requested to register access information for the sender. In addition, when authentication fails, the sender side apparatus 5 is notified to that effect.
[0026]
  Further, when the sender desires to browse the transmission content list, the user service unit 33 causes the occurrence event information management unit 38 to generate data of the occurrence event in which the sender is registered as the sender. Request. The occurrence event information management unit 38 searches the occurrence event information DB 45 to extract occurrence event data in which the sender is registered as a sender, and outputs the data to the user service unit 33. The user service unit 33 configures Web page data using the generated event data, and transmits the Web page data to the sender-side device 5. The web browser 51 of the sender apparatus 5 displays the received web page data on the display device.
[0027]
  An example of the screen displayed at this time is shown in FIG. Here, an example in which four transmissions are performed is shown, and a destination column, a content name column, an arrival date / time column, and a latest event column are provided. For the latest event, the event name of the latest event among the dates and times recorded corresponding to the occurrence event is used. If it has arrived, the recipient has not yet seen it. If the reception is completed, for example, the download of the attached file is completed. If not received, it indicates that the state of not receiving for a predetermined period has continued.
[0028]
  The sender looks at the screen of FIG. 7 and clicks one of the content names in the content name column, for example, when confirming the transmitted content. In response to this, the Web browser 51 of the sender-side device 5 transmits a request for the content to the distribution center device 3. In response to this, the user service unit 33 of the distribution center apparatus 3 requests the content storage unit 36 for the content requested by the sender. The content storage unit 36 reads the requested content from the content DB 43 and outputs it to the user service unit 33. The user service unit 33 composes Web page data from the received content information and transmits it to the sender-side device 5. Further, the access information management unit 37 updates access information about the sender. The web browser 51 of the sender apparatus 5 displays the received web page data on the display device. As a result, the sender can confirm the content of the content transmitted by the sender. In addition to this, the date and time of occurrence of each event or sender setting information can also be confirmed.
[0029]
  Next, processing when content is transmitted from the sender-side device 5 to the distribution center device 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. The sender operates the sender side device 5 to instruct to move to a web page for content transmission. The web browser 51 of the sender device 5 accesses a web page for content transmission. It should be noted that since the authentication process is performed once above, the authentication process is not required here. However, if the authentication is not yet performed, the authentication process is performed at this stage.
[0030]
  The user service unit 33 of the distribution center device 3 transmits Web page data for content transmission to the transmitter device 5. Further, the access information management unit 37 updates access information about the sender. When the Web browser 51 of the sender apparatus 5 receives the Web page data for content transmission, the Web browser 51 displays it on the display device. In this Web page for content transmission, content name (email title) and comment designation, transmission destination designation or designation of a file including transmission destination information, and sender setting information as shown in FIG. It can be specified. When the sender performs a predetermined input to instruct transmission, the content transmission unit 55 of the Web browser 51 transmits the content (attached file and comment), transmission destination information, and sender setting information to the distribution center device 3.
[0031]
  In response to this, the user service unit 33 of the distribution center device 3 receives the content, destination information, and sender setting information from the sender-side device 5 and outputs the content and destination information to the content storage unit 36. The content storage unit 36 registers content and transmission destination information in the content DB 43. Further, the user service unit 33 outputs the sender setting information to the sender setting information storage unit 34, and the sender setting information storage unit 34 registers the sender setting information in the sender setting information DB 41 (step S1: FIG. 8). The user service unit 33 also outputs the sender and content information and the content destination information to the occurrence event information management unit 38. The occurrence event information management unit 38 generates a new occurrence event information record and registers it in the occurrence event information DB 45 (step S3). That is, it includes the content name or ID, the sender or ID, the receiver or ID, and the content arrival date and time (reception date and time at the distribution center device 3), the reception completion date and time, the reception rejection date and time, and the last unreceived event occurrence date and time. Creates an empty record and registers it. The access information management unit 37 updates the access information about the sender.
[0032]
  In this wayOccurrence event information DB45When a new record is generated, an arrival event has occurred, and the occurrence of the arrival event has been detected. The occurrence event information management unit 38 notifies the event notification unit 32 of the occurrence of the arrival event. Upon receiving the notification of the occurrence of the arrival event from the occurrence event information management unit 38, the event notification unit 32 acquires the sender setting information of the content related to this arrival event via the sender setting information storage unit 34, and the content In the sender setting information, it is determined whether the arrival event is a notification target event designated by the sender (step S7). If it is determined that the event is not a notification target event, the process ends. On the other hand, when it is determined that the arrival event is a notification target event, the event notification unit 32 receives the importance of the content or the like for the content transmission destination (recipient) via the receiver setting information storage unit 35. It is acquired from the user setting information DB 42, and it is determined whether the importance of the content is high for the recipient (step S9). If the importance of the content is not high for the recipient (step S9: No route), post-processing described in detail later is performed (step S13). Then, the process ends.
[0033]
  On the other hand, when the importance of the content is high for the receiver (step S9: Yes route), the event notification unit 32 notifies the receiver of the content by means of notifying the receiver set in the sender setting information by the sender. The arrival is notified (step S11). At this time, the event notification unit 32 requests the notification content creation unit 31 to generate the notification content of the arrival event, and the notification content creation unit 31 generates the notification content of the arrival event using the template for the arrival event. Output to the notification unit 32. The event notification unit 32 notifies the recipient of an arrival event by e-mail, FAX, or in some cases by telephone. In the case of a telephone, for example, the notification content of the arrival event is notified by voice by voice synthesis. The mail address for electronic mail, the FAX number for FAX, and the telephone number for telephone are acquired from the user information DB 46 via the user information management unit 39.
[0034]
  FIG. 9 shows an example of the e-mail or FAX transmitted in step S11. Here, the content name, sender name, arrival date and time, and comment are included, and the content prompts the user to download the attached file.
[0035]
  By adopting such a notification mode, it is possible to promptly notify arrival events for content that is highly important for the recipient, and collectively notify arrival events for content that is not very important. It becomes like this.
[0036]
  On the other hand, a process when it is determined in step S9 that the importance of the content is not high for the recipient will be described with reference to FIG. The event notification unit 32 does not perform the process until, for example, a specified time set by the receiver or a specified time set by the system (step S21). If the designated time comes, the event notification unit 32 acquires the recipient setting information of the recipient to be processed from the recipient setting information DB 42 via the recipient setting information storage unit 35, and the generated event information management unit 38. The information of the event to be processed (here, the arrival event) occurring for the recipient within the specified period is read from the occurrence event information DB 45. A configuration in which the receiver sets the specified period may also be used. Whether or not the event is a processing target event that has occurred within the specified period is determined based on the date and time of occurrence of the processing target event. Then, the event notification unit 32 extracts, from the acquired processing target event information, processing target event information for a sender or content whose importance is not set to “high” in the receiver setting information (step S23). ). If the importance level is set to “high”, the notification is made immediately from the occurrence of the arrival event in step S11 of FIG. 8, so that the content or sender whose importance level is set to other than “high” is set. This event can be determined to be an unreported event. This is because it is not appropriate to notify the event that has already been notified. The event notification unit 32 outputs the extracted event information to the notification content creation unit 31.
[0037]
  Note that the processing of step S23 is simple if a queue for unreported events is prepared for each notification destination, for example, and event information that is not immediately transmitted in step S9 of FIG. 8 is placed in this queue. become.
[0038]
  Then, the notification content creation unit 31 classifies the events according to a predetermined standard, and creates the notification content using a template for the processing target event (step S25). For this classification, the sender setting information of the content related to the extracted event is acquired from the sender setting information DB 41 via the sender setting information storage unit 34, and the receiver setting information is further received by the receiver setting information storage unit. Through the receiver setting information DB 42. Then, after the notification means to the receiver included in the sender setting information is the same and once classified, it is further classified according to the classification included in the receiver setting information. For example, after being classified for each notification means such as e-mail, telephone, and FAX, classification is further made such as arrival event information for public charges, arrival event information for stocks, arrival event information for transactions, and the like. Then, the event notification unit 32 notifies the receiver of the notification content generated by the notification content creation unit 31 by each notification means designated by the sender (step S27). At this time, specific notification destination information is acquired from the user information DB 46 via the user information management unit 39, and notification is performed based on the information.
[0039]
  An example of the notification sent by e-mail or FAX in step S27 is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 11, three arrival events that do not have a high importance of recipients occur within a predetermined period, two in the utility charge classification and one in the stock classification. For each content, the sender name and the arrival date and time are shown.
[0040]
  By such processing, notification is not performed every time a content arrival event that is not important to the recipient and troublesome processing is performed, and an important content arrival event is not overlooked.
[0041]
  In the present embodiment, the notification destination is only the recipient in the arrival event, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to this. Further, in the processing flow of FIG. 10, a configuration is shown in which notifications are divided for each notification means to the receiver set in the sender setting information. You may make it employ | adopt a method.
[0042]
  On the other hand, the user can access the distribution center device 3 and view the arrival content list. This may or may not be after the arrival event notification is received. At this time, the distribution center device 3 is accessed using the Web browser 71 of the receiver side device 7. In response to this access, the user service unit 33 of the distribution center device 3 transmits a user ID and password input request to the receiver-side device 7. The Web browser 71 of the receiver side device 7 displays a user ID and password input screen and prompts the user to input the user ID and password. When the user inputs the user ID and password and instructs transmission, the Web browser 71 of the receiver side device 7 transmits the input user ID and password to the distribution center device 3. The user service unit 33 of the distribution center device 3 requests, for example, a registration password corresponding to the received user ID from the user information management unit 39. The user information management unit 39 searches the user information DB 46 to read a registered password corresponding to the received user ID and outputs it to the user service unit 33. The user service unit 33 performs authentication processing by confirming whether the received password matches the registered password. If the received password and the registered password match, it is assumed that the authentication is successful and the following processing is performed. That is, the access information management unit 37 is requested to register access information about the user. If the authentication fails, the receiver side apparatus 7 is notified that the authentication has failed.
[0043]
  Further, when the user desires to browse the arrival content list, the occurrence event information management unit 38 is requested for data of the occurrence event registered as the receiver. The occurrence event information management unit 38 searches the occurrence event information DB 45 to extract occurrence event data in which the user is registered as a receiver, and outputs the data to the user service unit 33. Note that content in which reception completion is recorded may be excluded. The user service unit 33 composes Web page data using the generated event data, and transmits it to the receiver side device 7. The Web browser 71 of the receiver side device 7 displays the received Web page data on the display device.
[0044]
  An example of the screen displayed at this time is shown in FIG. Here, an example is shown in which there are four received contents, and a content name column, an arrival date / time column, and a sender name column are provided. The userFIG.For example, when confirming the arrived content, click one of the content names in the content name column. In response to this, the Web browser 71 of the receiver side device 7 transmits a request for the content to the distribution center device 3. In response to this, the user service unit 33 of the distribution center device 3userThe content storage unit 36 is requested for the content requested by the user. The content storage unit 36 reads the requested content from the content DB 43 and outputs it to the user service unit 33. The user service unit 33 composes Web page data from the received content information and transmits it to the receiver side device 7. Further, the access information management unit 37 updates access information about the user. The Web browser 71 of the receiver side device 7 displays the received Web page data on the display device.
[0045]
  An example of the screen displayed at this time is shown in FIG. This is detailed information of one arrival content, and includes a content name, a sender name, arrival date and time, the number of stored files, a total file size, and a comment. In addition, a “Receive” button for downloading an attached file and a “Reject reception” button for registering reception rejection are also provided. Hereinafter, processing when the “receive” button is clicked will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. Further, a process when the “reject reception” button is clicked will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17.
[0046]
  If the “Receive” button is clicked, the Web browser 71 of the recipient apparatus 7 transmits an instruction to download the attached file to the distribution center apparatus 3. When the user service unit 33 of the distribution center device 3 receives the instruction to download the attached file,Content storage unit 36Request the specified attachment to.Content storage unit 36Reads out the designated attached file from the content DB 43 and outputs it to the user service unit 33, for example, and the user service unit 33 transmits it to the receiver side device 7 (step S31).: FIG.). Further, the access information management unit 37 updates access information about the user. The content receiving unit 75 of the receiver side device 7 receives the attached file from the distribution center device 3 and stores it in the storage device of the receiver side device 7, for example. When the download of the specified attached file is completed, the user service unit 33 notifies the occurrence event information management unit 38 of the download completion of the content related to the attached file by the user. The occurrence event information management unit 38 registers the reception completion date and time in the occurrence event information DB 45 in the record for the combination of the content and the user (recipient) (step S33).
[0047]
  When the reception completion date and time is registered in the occurrence event information DB 44 in this way, a reception completion event has occurred, and the occurrence of a reception completion event has been detected. The occurrence event information management unit 38 notifies the event notification unit 32 of the occurrence of the reception completion event. The event notification unit 32 acquires the sender setting information about the content related to the reception completion event from the sender setting information DB 41 via the sender setting information storage unit 34, and the reception completion event is a notification designated by the sender. It is determined whether the event is a target event (step S35). If the reception completion of the content is not designated as a notification target event, the process ends.
[0048]
  On the other hand, when reception completion is specified as the notification target event for the content, the event notification unit 32 requests the notification content creation unit 31 to create notification content, and the notification content creation unit 31 receives the reception completion notification. The notification content is created using the template for the event and output to the event notification unit 32. Then, the event notification unit 32 notifies the sender of the notification content generated by the notification content creation unit 31 according to the notification means to the sender included in the sender setting information (step S37). A specific notification destination is acquired from the user information DB 46 via the user information management unit 39.
[0049]
  An example of a notification sent by e-mail or FAX is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 15, the content destination (recipient) name, the content name, the arrival date and time, and the reception date and time are included.
[0050]
  As a result, the sender can know that the recipient who is the destination of the content has completed the reception of the content as desired. Notification means are also used as desired. In the present embodiment, only the sender is notified of the reception completion event, but the present invention is not limited to this.
[0051]
  However, the sender may send the content to a very large number of users. In such a case, in the processing flow of FIG. 14, a notification is made every time a user who receives content appears, and the sender is busy with the processing of this notification. Accordingly, the notification to the sender may be configured such that events occurring within a predetermined period are collectively notified at a predetermined time. That is, when the sender setting information or the user information includes information about a predetermined period and a predetermined time, or when the information is set on the system side, for example, the processing shown in FIG. 10 may be performed. . Note that the notification destination is not the receiver but the sender. In addition, a queue for each sender is provided separately, information on the events that have occurred is stored there, and a notification is created and sent based on the event information in the queue when a predetermined time arrives. It may be a simple configuration. Note that the notification may be generated after classification according to the type of content or event.
[0052]
  When the “reject reception” button is clicked in the scene shown in FIG. 13, the Web browser 71 of the recipient-side device 7 issues a reception rejection instruction for the attached file to the distribution center device 3. Send to. The user service unit 33 of the distribution center device 3 notifies the occurrence event information management unit 38 of the rejection of reception of the content by the user. The occurrence event information management unit 38 registers the reception refusal date and time in the occurrence event information DB 45 in the record for the combination of the content and the user (recipient) (step S41: FIG. 16). Further, the access information management unit 37 updates access information about the user.
[0053]
  Thus, when the reception refusal date and time is registered in the occurrence event information DB 45, a reception refusal event has occurred, and the occurrence of the reception refusal event has been detected. The occurrence event information management unit 38 notifies the event notification unit 32 of the occurrence of a reception refusal event. The event notification unit 32 acquires the sender setting information of the content related to reception refusal from the sender setting information DB 41 via the sender setting information storage unit 34, and the reception refusal event for the content is a notification target designated by the sender. It is determined whether it is an event (step S43). If the reception refusal event for the content is not a notification target event designated by the sender, the process ends.
[0054]
  On the other hand, when the reception rejection event is a notification target event designated by the sender, the event notification unit 32 requests the notification content creation unit 31 to create the notification content, and the notification content creation unit 31 receives the reception rejection event. The notification content is created using the template for the event and output to the event notification unit 32. Then, the event notification unit 32 notifies the sender of the notification content generated by the notification content creation unit 31 according to the notification means to the sender included in the sender setting information (step S45). Specific information about the notification destination is acquired from the user information DB 46 via the user information management unit 39.
[0055]
  An example of a notification sent by e-mail or FAX is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 17, the content destination (recipient) name, the content name, the arrival date and time, and the reception refusal date and time are included.
[0056]
  As a result, the sender can know that the recipient who is the destination of the content refuses to receive the content as desired. Notification means are also used as desired. In addition, although the structure which notifies only about a sender here was shown, it is not limited to this.
[0057]
  However, the sender may send the content to a very large number of users. In such a case, in the processing flow of FIG. 16, a notification is made every time a user who refuses to receive content appears, and the sender is busy with the processing of this notification. Accordingly, the notification to the sender may be configured such that events occurring within a predetermined period are collectively notified at a predetermined time. This is the same as when a reception event occurs.
[0058]
  The above is the processing when the content sender or the receiver performs some action, but the content destination user may not download the content indefinitely. In this case, the user of the content transmission destination should be prompted and a notification that there is no reception should be sent to the sender. Hereinafter, processing when content is not received will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0059]
  The occurrence event information management unit 38 acquires notification frequency information of each content from the sender setting information DB 41 via the sender setting information storage unit 34 at a predetermined timing. And, for each content, an unreceived event that the reception and reception rejection of the content are not made within the period related to the notification frequency specified by the sender, that is, the reception completion date and time and the reception rejection date and time are not registered in the occurrence event information DB 45 Is detected, and the date and time is registered in the last unreceived event occurrence date and time for the record (step S51). The occurrence and detection of unreceived events are the same here. Then, the occurrence event information management unit 38 notifies the event notification unit 32 of the occurrence of the unreceived event. The event notification unit 32 sends the sender setting information of the content.Sender setting information storage unit 34To determine whether the unreceived event is a notification target event designated by the sender (step S53). If it is not a notification target event designated by the sender, the process is terminated.
[0060]
  On the other hand, when the sender designates the event to be notified, the receiver setting information of the transmission destination (recipient) of the content related to the unreceived event is set via the receiver setting information storage unit 35. It is acquired from the information DB 42, and it is determined whether or not the importance of the content included in the recipient setting information is high (step S55). If the degree of importance is not high, the process proceeds to step S59 and the processing described in FIG. 10 is performed.
[0061]
  FIG. 19 shows an example of the e-mail transmitted in step S27 of FIG. 10 in the case of an unreceived event. Here, there are three unreceived events that are to be notified together, two are unreceived events for public charges, and one is an unreceived event for stocks. The notification content creation unit 31 calculates how many days it has not been received from the difference between the arrival date and time included in the generated event information and the last unreceived event occurrence date and time, and includes that information in the notification content. .
[0062]
  Also, when it is determined that the importance of the content is high, the event notification unit 32 requests the notification content creation unit 31 to create notification content for the unreceived event, and the notification content creation unit 31 receives the notification content. The notification contents created using the template for the unreceived event addressed to the person are output to the event notification unit 32. The event notification unit 32 notifies the content transmission destination (recipient) by means of notifying the recipient specified in the sender setting information (step S57). At this time, the user information management unit 39 is requested for notification destination information corresponding to the notification means, and the user information management unit 39 acquires the requested notification destination information from the user information DB 46. For example, an e-mail address is acquired for e-mail, a FAX number is acquired for FAX, and a telephone number is acquired for telephone.
[0063]
  In this way, users who have been designated as important but have not received them can be notified of non-reception, so that users can re-recognize the arrival of content. Become.
[0064]
  An example of the notification sent by e-mail or FAX in step S57 is shown in FIG. Since this notification is an important unreceived event, information about one unreceived event is included. In the example of FIG. 20, the content name, the sender, the arrival date and time, the elapsed days, and the comment are included. The elapsed days are obtained by the notification content creation unit 31 calculating the difference between the arrival date and time included in the generated event information and the last unreceived event occurrence date and time.
[0065]
  Returning to the description of FIG. 18, after step S <b> 57, the occurrence event information management unit 38 determines whether the unreceived event has occurred three or more times for the combination of the same content and the same destination (recipient) ( Step S61). Three times is an example, and other times can be used as a reference. This number of times may be set by the sender. The number of times can be calculated by dividing the difference between the arrival date and time and the last unreceived event occurrence date and time by the period related to the notification frequency. If the number of occurrences of unreceived events is less than 3 for the combination of the same content and the same destination, the process ends. If more than 3 timesif there is,The event notification unit 32 requests the notification content creation unit 31 to create a notification content for an unreceived event, and the notification content creation unit 31 creates the notification content using a template for a destination unreceived event. Output to the event notification unit 32. Then, the event notification unit 32 notifies the sender of the notification content generated by the notification content creation unit 31 according to the notification means to the sender included in the sender setting information (step S63). At this time, the user information management unit 39 is requested for notification destination information corresponding to the notification means, and the user information management unit 39 acquires the requested notification destination information from the user information DB 46 and sends it to the event notification unit 32. Output.
[0066]
  An example of the notification sent by e-mail or FAX in step S63 is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 21, the content name, destination (recipient) name, arrival date and time, elapsed days, last access date and time, and receiver contact information are included. The last access date and time is acquired from the access information DB 44 via the access information management unit 37. If the arrival date / time is before the last access date / time, you can see that there was an opportunity to receive but not received. You can see that there was no. Instead of the last access date and time, it may be configured to include comments such as “not accessed recently” or “accessed to xxxxx but not received”. Further, the recipient contact information is acquired from the user information DB 46 via the user information management unit 39.
[0067]
  As a result, the sender can know that the user who is the destination of the content does not receive the content within the period specified by the notification frequency as desired.
[0068]
  However, the sender may send the content to a very large number of users. In such a case, in the processing flow of FIG. 18, notification is made for each user who has not received the content, and the sender is busy with the processing of this notification. Accordingly, the notification to the sender may be configured such that events occurring within a predetermined period are collectively notified at a predetermined time. It may be configured that only unreceived events are notified collectively.
[0069]
  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the functional block division of the distribution center device 3 shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and does not necessarily correspond to the actual program / module division. The distribution center device 3 may be realized by a plurality of computers instead of a single computer. The sender device 5 and the receiver device 7 are not only personal computers but also PDAs (Personal Digital).Assistant) And mobile phones. A single user may use a plurality of terminals. The screen examples shown in FIGS. 7, 12, and 13 are also examples, and other screen configurations may be used as long as they have the same contents. The notification contents in FIGS. 9, 11, 15, 17, 19, 20, and 21 are examples, and more information can be included, or some information can be deleted.
[0070]
(Appendix 1)
  Storing the content of the content sender, the destination of the content, and the notification condition of the notification generated in association with the content;
  Recording system usage in a storage device;
  Detecting the occurrence of a specific event based on at least the usage status and the notification condition;
  When it is detected that the specific event has occurred, at least a notification mode regarding a notification destination and a notification timing based on at least the notification condition and a notification request condition of a user who is a destination of content related to the specific event A notification mode determination step for determining
  Notification processing method including
[0071]
(Appendix 2)
  The notification processing method according to supplementary note 1, wherein the notification condition includes at least information on an event type and a notification time.
[0072]
(Appendix 3)
  The notification processing method according to claim 2, wherein the information related to the notification time includes information related to a time when occurrence of an unreceived event is detected.
[0073]
(Appendix 4)
  The notification processing method according to appendix 2, wherein the information related to the notification time includes at least information related to the notification time to the user who is the destination of the content.
[0074]
(Appendix 5)
  In the notification mode determination step, when the content sender is included in the notification destination, an additional condition indicating whether to notify in response to the occurrence of the specific event or to be collectively notified later is further included The notification processing method according to any one of appendices 1 to 4, wherein the notification timing is determined by using the notification timing.
[0075]
(Appendix 6)
  The notification processing method according to any one of appendices 1 to 5, wherein the usage status of the system includes information on a content reception refusal instruction by a user who is a destination of the content.
[0076]
(Appendix 7)
  The user's desired notification condition relates to at least the content sender or content type or the importance of the content sender.informationThe notification processing method according to any one of appendices 1 to 6, wherein the notification processing method includes:
[0077]
(Appendix 8)
  The notification processing method according to any one of appendices 1 to 7, wherein the user's desired notification condition is at least information related to a content sender, a content type, or a notification time for each content sender.
[0078]
(Appendix 9)
  9. The notification processing method according to appendix 8, wherein the information regarding the notification time is information indicating whether to notify in accordance with the occurrence of an event or to collectively notify later.
[0079]
(Appendix 10)
  A notification execution step of generating notification contents for the specific event including data on the usage status of the system and performing notification processing according to the notification mode
  The notification processing method according to any one of appendices 1 to 9, further including:
[0080]
(Appendix 11)
  The notification execution step includes:
  Generate notification contents for notification of the specific event that has not been notified for which the notification mode is determined to be collectively notified later, and perform notification processingStep
  The notification processing method according to appendix 10, including:
[0081]
(Appendix 12)
  The notification execution step includes:
  A step of performing notification processing by classifying the unreported specific events whose notification mode to be collectively notified later is classified for each event type, content sender or content type, and generating notification content
  The notification processing method according to appendix 10, including:
[0082]
(Appendix 13)
  A program for causing a computer to execute the notification processing method according to any one of appendices 1 to 12.
[0083]
(Appendix 14)
  Means for storing the content of the content sender, the destination of the content, and a notification condition of a notification generated in association with the content, in a storage device;
  Means for recording the usage status of the system in a storage device;
  Means for detecting the occurrence of a specific event based at least on the usage status and the notification condition;
  When it is detected that the specific event has occurred, at least a notification mode regarding a notification destination and a notification timing based on at least the notification condition and a notification request condition of a user who is a destination of content related to the specific event Notification mode determining means for determining
  A notification processing system.
[0084]
【The invention's effect】
  According to the present invention, it is possible to perform notification about the arrival and reception of mail in a manner that reflects the requests of the sender and the receiver.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of sender setting information.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of recipient setting information.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of access information.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of generated event information.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of user information.
FIG. 7 is an example of a transmission content list screen shown to a sender.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a processing flow of event notification processing at the time of content transmission.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification sent in an arrival event of content having high importance for a receiver.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow when event notification is collectively performed later.
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification sent in the arrival event of content having low importance for a receiver.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an arrival content list screen shown to a user.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an arrival content detail screen shown to the user.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a processing flow of event notification processing at the time of content reception.
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification of a reception completion event notified to a sender.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a processing flow of event notification processing when reception is refused.
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification of a reception refusal event notified to a sender.
FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a processing flow of event notification processing when an unreceived event occurs.
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification sent in a non-reception event of content having low importance for a receiver.
FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification sent in a non-reception event of content having high importance for a recipient.
FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of notification of an unreceived event notified to a sender.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Network 3 Distribution Center Device
5 Sender-side device 7 Receiver-side device
31 Notification content creation unit 32 Event notification unit
33 User service section 34 Sender setting information storage section
35 Recipient Setting Information Storage Unit 36 Content Storage Unit
37 Access information management unit 38 Occurrence event information management unit
39 User information management part 41 Sender setting information DB
42 Recipient setting information DB 43 Content DB
44 Access information DB 45 Occurrence event information DB
46 User information DB

Claims (5)

Storing the content of the content sender, the destination of the content, and the notification condition of the notification generated in association with the content;
Recording system usage in a storage device;
Detecting occurrence of an event according to an access status to the content by a user who is a destination of the content based on at least the usage status and the notification condition;
If the event corresponding to the access status to the content by the user is detected to have occurred, based on the notification desired condition of at least the notification condition and the user, determines the notification form for at least notification destination and the notification timing A notification mode determination step to perform,
Notification processing method including The notification processing method according to claim 1, wherein the notification condition includes information related to a time when occurrence of an unreceived event is detected. In the notification mode determination step, when the content sender is included in the notification destination, an additional condition indicating whether to notify in response to the occurrence of the specific event or to be collectively notified later is further included The notification processing method according to claim 1, wherein the notification timing is determined by using. The notification processing method according to claim 1, wherein the usage status of the system includes content reception refusal instruction information by a user who is a content destination.   A program for causing a computer to execute the notification processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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