JPH11134420A - Electronic circulation system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide an electronic circulation system capable of simplifying operation of a terminal device to be relayed and shortening circulation time. In an electronic circulation system for circulating document information among a plurality of terminal devices via a network, a CPU of a circulation source terminal device operates a circulation order column of a circulation table in accordance with a document circulation processing program in a memory. Set the circulation destination name in the circulation destination name column of the above table in association with the circulation order set in the above, add the circulation table to the circulation document information, circulate to the first circulation destination according to the circulation destination address table, The CPU 11 of the terminal device that relays the circulation document information outputs an incoming call report when the circulation document information arrives according to the document circulation processing program in the memory 13, writes the reference date in the circulation table, and stores the circulation table in the circulation table. The circulation document information to which the is added is circulated to the next circulation destination according to the circulation destination address table based on the circulation table. Done.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a public telephone
The present invention relates to an electronic circulation system for circulating document information between a plurality of terminal devices via a network such as an AN, and more particularly to an electronic circulation system capable of ending circulation in a short time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the progress of networking of personal computers and the like, circulars, which were previously performed using paper documents, have been converted to electronic circulars, although partly. Has been circulated among the terminal devices. For example, JP-A-5-110
The facsimile apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 739 is provided with such a circulation function, and circulates a circulation check sheet as shown in FIG. 11 together with image information so that a check and a next circulation destination can be determined. I have to. In other words, when a facsimile machine that relays a circular receives a circular,
The circulation check sheet is output, a signature is written by hand, the user determines the next circulation destination by looking at the circulation check sheet, and enters the terminal number of the decided circulation destination to circulate to the next circulation destination. Send the document and the circular check sheet.
Finally, the circulation returns to the circulation source indicated as “start” in FIG.

[0003]

However, in the prior art disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-110739, the user must input the terminal number of the next circulation destination in the facsimile machine which relays the circulation. There is a problem that the circulation time is lengthened because there is an annoyance that the circulation does not occur, or when the circulation arrives, it is not noticed or not present. The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an electronic circulation system that solves the above-mentioned problems of the related art, simplifies the operation of the relay terminal device, and can shorten the circulation time. is there.

[0004]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic circulation system for circulating document information among a plurality of terminal devices via a network. The apparatus has a circulation order, a circulation destination name, and a reference date column, and the circulation order column is set in the circulation order column, and the circulation table in which the circulation destination name is set in the circulation destination name column is circulated. A circulation transmitting means for circulating to the first circulation destination in addition to the document information is provided. In a terminal device for relaying the circulation document information, a notifying means for outputting an incoming call report when the circulation document information arrives, It is characterized by comprising reference date writing means for writing a reference date in a table, and circulation relay means for circulating circulation document information to which a circulation table is added to the next circulation destination based on the circulation table.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, in an electronic circulation system for circulating document information between a plurality of terminal devices via a network, in a terminal device for relaying circulated document information,
A clock means for measuring the elapsed time from the arrival of the circulation document information; and automatically circulating the circulation document information if the circulation document information has not been circulated when a predetermined time is counted by the clock means. And a circulation relay means for circulating at a circulation destination. According to the third aspect of the present invention, in an electronic circulation system for circulating document information among a plurality of terminal devices via a network, a rejection period for setting a circulation rejection period in a terminal device for relaying circulation document information. Setting means and circulation relay means for, when the circulation document information is received during the circulation refusal period set by the rejection period setting means, immediately circulating the received circulation document information to the next circulation destination. I have.

[0005] With the above configuration, in the electronic circulation system according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the circulation document information arrives in the terminal device that relays the circulation document information, the user is notified of the arrival, and When the user views the circular, the reference date is written in the circular table attached by the user's instruction, and the circular document information attached to the circular table is automatically displayed in the next circular. Circulated earlier. In the electronic circulation system according to the second aspect of the present invention, the circulation document information is still circulated in the terminal device that relays the circulation document information even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the arrival of the circulation document information. If not, the circulation document information is automatically circulated to the next circulation destination. In the electronic circulation system according to the third aspect of the present invention, when the circulation document information is received during the set circulation refusal period in the terminal device that relays the circulation document information, the received circulation document information is immediately transmitted to the next device. Circulated to the circulation destination.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an electronic circulation system in which the present invention is implemented. As shown in the figure, the electronic circulation system includes a plurality of terminal devices 1, 1,..., Such as a personal computer and a facsimile device, through which document information is circulated, and a LAN or a public telephone to which the plurality of terminal devices 1 are connected. And a network 2 such as a network. FIG. 2 shows a configuration of the terminal device 1 connected to the network 2. In this example, network 2 is LA
The case of N will be described. The configuration of the terminal device 1 shown in FIG. 2 is a configuration of a terminal device that can be a circulation source terminal device or a relay terminal device that relays circulation document information. As shown in the figure, a terminal device 1 according to this embodiment includes a CPU 11 that executes control and management operations of the entire device, a LAN communication control unit 12 that controls communication between terminal devices via a LAN,
It consists of AM, ROM, etc., a document registration program,
A memory 13 for storing a document circulation processing program, document information to be circulated, a circulation table, a circulation destination address table, circulation refusal period information, a keyboard 14 for creating a document and performing various operations, a menu. A display device (display) 15 for displaying documents, messages and document information, a scanner 16 for inputting image information constituting the document, a document storage unit 17 for storing the document, and the like are provided. The circulation transmitting means and the circulation relay means described in the claims section are constituted by the CPU 11, the LAN communication control unit 12, the memory 13, and the like. Further, the notification means includes the CPU 11, the display 15, and the like. The reference date description unit and the rejection period setting unit are C
It comprises a PU 11, a memory 13, a keyboard 14, and the like. Further, the function of the timer is performed by the CPU 11.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described according to the flowchart shown in FIG. FIG. 3 shows the operation of the circulation source at the time of transmission of the circulation, and FIGS.
FIG. 6 shows the operation at the time of circulation reception. As shown in FIG. 3, when transmitting a circulation, first, the user specifies a circulation destination and a circulation order (S1). For this purpose, the CPU 11 operating according to the document circulation processing program causes the display 15 to display a circulation table as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the circulation destination user names are entered in the circulation table displayed in the circulation order.
Subsequently, the CPU 11 causes the display 15 to display a message requesting input of the title of the circulation document and the circulation period. Then, when the user inputs them in response to the request, the CPU 11 sets the acquired title and the circulation deadline in the corresponding fields (see FIG. 8) of the header section added to the document information (text) to be circulated (S2). . Also, the registrant name of the document information to be circulated, the registration date of the document, the circulation table information, and the circulation document information are acquired, and the transmission information is shown in FIG.
(S2). The registrant name and the registration date are information registered when the CPU 11 stores the document information in the document storage unit 17 in advance according to the document registration program. The CPU 11 obtains the information from the document management table, and obtains the circulation document information. Is obtained from the document storage unit 17 with reference to the document management table. Also, in the above,
If the document to be circulated has not been created yet, it is created and registered at this time (S2).

Subsequently, the CPU 11 obtains the user name of the circulation order 1 from the circulation table and refers to the circulation destination address table in which the contents are set as shown in FIG. 9 to correspond to the user name. Get the attached destination address. Then, the CPU 11 passes the acquired destination address and the transmission information having the configuration shown in FIG. 8 to the LAN communication control unit 12, and causes the transmission information to be transmitted to the terminal device having the destination address (S3). On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, each terminal device is waiting for the arrival of the circulation document information (S6), and when there is an arrival, the CPU 11 operating according to the document circulation processing program is set in the header of the reception information. And obtains the circulation table information, and matches the user name of the last circulation destination of the table, that is, the own user name set by the registrant (circulation source) in a predetermined area of the memory 13 of the own terminal device. It is determined whether or not to perform (S7). If they match (Yes in S7), it is determined that the circulation document information has returned to the circulation source, and the registrant process described below is executed (S8).
If they do not match (No in S7), the user (user) of the own terminal device is determined to be the referrer of the circulation document information, and the following referrer processing is executed (S9).

In the process for the referrer, as shown in FIG.
When the circulation document information is received, first, it is determined whether or not the own terminal device is in the circulation refusal period (S11). For example, when the user is on a business trip,
3. The circulation refusal period information is set in the predetermined area of No. 3 and the CP
U11 reads the circulation refusal period information from the predetermined area, reads the date and time at that time from a clock circuit (not shown), and compares them. If it is not during the circulation refusal period (No in S11), a message indicating that the circulation document has arrived is sent to the user from a speaker (not shown) or displayed on the display 15 to notify the user ( S12). Thereafter, the CPU 11 monitors whether the user has referred to the circulation document (S13).
→ S15 → S13). That is, for example, it is monitored whether or not the circulation reference icon displayed in a predetermined area of the screen is selected. Then, when the circulation reference icon or the like is selected (Yes in S13), the CPU 11 outputs the received circulation document to the display device 15 or the like according to the document circulation processing program, and then, when the user selects the reference end icon, for example, The date at that time is acquired from the clock circuit and written in the own user name column of the circulation table received together with the circulation document information (text) as shown in FIG. 10 (S1).
4), proceed to step S16.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S11 that the circulation refusal period is in progress (Yes in S11), the process immediately proceeds to step S16, and a predetermined time has elapsed from the arrival of the circulation without referring to the circulation document. In some cases (S
13 and No at S15), at which point step S
Proceed to 16. The determination as to whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed from the circulation reception is made by obtaining the time at the time of the circulation reception from the clock circuit and obtaining the timeout time T1 obtained by adding the predetermined time to the reception time. After that, the current time T2 is periodically acquired from the clock circuit, and the time-out time
This is performed by comparing T1 with the current time T2. In step S16, it is determined with reference to the circulation table whether the next referrer is described. If it is not described (No in S16), the circulation document information is transmitted to the circulation source (registrant) (S17), and if it is described (Yes in S16), the circulation destination address table in the memory 13 is transmitted. And obtains the address of the next circulation destination, and transmits circulation document information and the like to the address (S18).

In the registrant process, as shown in FIG. 6, the CPU 11 refers to the returned circulation table,
It is determined whether all circulation destinations have been referred to (S21).
That is, it is determined whether or not all the columns other than the circulation source at the bottom of the reference date column of the table have been written.
If all circulation destinations have been referred to (Y in S21)
es), the CPU 11 displays the end of circulation on the display 15 or the like (S23). In contrast, step S2
If it is determined in step 1 that the circulation has not been completed (S21
No), the CPU 11 refers to the circulation period in the header section (see FIG. 8) and determines whether the circulation period has passed (S22). And if it has passed (Yes in S22)
A message to the effect that the circulation to the circulation destinations other than the user (the user name whose reference date is blank) is completed is displayed on the display 15 or the like (S23). If the circulation time limit has not passed (No in S22), a circulation document or the like is transmitted to the next uncirculated destination (S24).

[0012]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following excellent effects can be exhibited. According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the circulation document information arrives in the terminal device that relays the circulation document information, the fact is notified to the user, and when the user views the circulation, the user is notified of the user. The reference date is described in the circular table attached with the instruction, and the circular document information attached to the circular table is automatically circulated to the next circulation destination, so that delays in circular circulation can be prevented. In addition, when the circulation document returns to the circulation source terminal device, the circulation document can be automatically circulated to the circulation destination without the reference date, and the circulation source user (registrant) can use any circulation destination. You can know if the circulation has been delayed. According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device for relaying the circulation document information, if the circulation document information has not been circulated even after a predetermined time has passed since the arrival of the circulation document information, Since the circulation document information is automatically circulated to the next circulation destination, the delay in circulation is further improved. According to the third aspect of the invention, when the circulation document information is received during the set refusal period in the terminal device that relays the circulation document information, the received circulation document information is immediately circulated to the next circulation destination. The circulation delay is further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an electronic circulation system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of each terminal device of the electronic circulation system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart at the time of circulation transmission of the circulation source terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart at the time of circular reception of each terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of the circulation relay terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart at the time of circulation reception of the circulation source terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are main part data configuration diagrams at the time of circulation transmission of the circulation source terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a data configuration diagram of transmission information of the electronic circulation system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a data configuration diagram of a main part of each terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a data configuration diagram of a main part of the circulation relay terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram relating to a facsimile apparatus showing an example of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 terminal device, 2 networks, 11 CPUs, 1
2 LAN communication control unit, 13 memory, 14 keyboard, 15 display device, 17 document storage unit.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electronic circulation system for circulating document information among a plurality of terminal devices via a network, wherein the circulation source terminal device has columns for a circulation order, a circulation destination name, and a reference date. A circulation order is set in the circulation order column, and a circulation table in which a circulation table in which the circulation destination name is set is added to the circulation document information in the circulation destination name column to circulate to the first circulation destination. Means for outputting an incoming call report when circulation document information arrives, reference date description means for describing a reference date in a circulation table, and a circulation document to which a circulation table is added. An electronic circulation system comprising: a circulation relay unit that circulates information to a next circulation destination based on a circulation table. 2. An electronic circulation system for circulating document information between a plurality of terminal devices via a network, wherein the terminal device for relaying the circulated document information measures the elapsed time from the arrival of the circulated document information. Means, and circulation relay means for automatically circulating the circulated document information to the next circulation destination if the circulated document information has not been circulated when a predetermined time is counted by the time counting means. Electronic circulation system characterized by the above. 3. An electronic circulation system for circulating document information between a plurality of terminal devices via a network, wherein a rejection period setting means for setting a circulation rejection period in the terminal device for relaying the circulation document information; An electronic circulation system comprising: a circulation relay unit that, when circulation document information is received during a circulation refusal period set by a period setting unit, immediately circulates the received circulation document information to a next circulation destination.