JPH11136379A - Information processing method and information processing apparatus and computer readable storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a system capable of easily transmitting a message to a partner using an arbitrary terminal such as a telephone. SOLUTION: A message holding unit 401 holds a message including blanks, and a destination holding unit 402 holds a list of message destinations. Then, an instruction to select a message, an instruction to correct the message, an instruction to select a transmission destination input by the user from a remote device such as the telephone 100,
Recognize the transmission method selection instruction, select a message according to the instruction, modify the message according to the instruction,
A destination is selected according to the instruction, and a transmission method is selected according to the instruction. Then, the selected and corrected message is transmitted to the selected destination by the selected transmission method.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing method and an information processing apparatus for exchanging a message in accordance with an instruction from a remote device, and a computer-readable storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, means for transmitting a message to a remote party include a telephone, a facsimile, an electronic mail, and the like. Telephones are used for real-time communication using a line, and facsimile is basically for transmitting image data in real time. For example, a transmission reservation or the like can be made by a memory transmission function.

[0003] Electronic mail is a service for storing electronic mail in each user's mailbox provided in the network, and each user writes electronic mail in each mailbox at an arbitrary time. Or read it out.

[0004]

However, telephones including portable telephones have the following problems. (1)
When the other party is a private house, it may be difficult to make a phone call at midnight. (2) Some companies do not accept telephone calls outside business hours. (3) The other party may not be able to answer the telephone during a meeting or going out. (4) There are times when a call cannot be made or a call cannot be made due to various reasons of the other party, such as when the other party is turned off the mobile phone or is out of range of radio waves.

[0005] Therefore, as a means for solving such a problem of the telephone, facsimile, electronic mail and the like are used.

However, at present, a computer terminal (or the equivalent thereof) required for transmitting a facsimile or an electronic mail cannot be easily used like a telephone, so that the side trying to transmit a message is out. In many cases, it cannot be used.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing method, an information processing apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium that can easily transmit a message to a partner using an arbitrary terminal such as a telephone. And

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention retains a message including blanks, maintains a list of message transmission destinations, and instructs a user to select a message input from a remote device, to modify a message, Recognize the transmission destination selection instruction, transmission method selection instruction, select a message according to the instruction, modify the message according to the instruction, select a destination according to the instruction, select a transmission method according to the instruction, And controlling the selected and modified message to be transmitted to the selected destination by the selected transmission method.

Here, the above-mentioned remote device is a telephone. The message transmission method is electronic mail or facsimile.

[0010] It is assumed that a user's instruction is input by a push button signal. Alternatively, the user's instruction is performed by voice, and the user's instruction is recognized by confirming the voice.

[0011] Further, when a user's instruction to select a message, an instruction to modify a message, an instruction to select a destination, and an instruction to select a transmission method, an instruction method will be described using synthesized speech.

Further, a user's message selection instruction,
Upon recognizing a message correction instruction, a transmission destination selection instruction, and a transmission method selection instruction, the recognized instruction is output as a synthesized voice for confirmation.

[0013] When controlling to transmit the selected and modified message to the selected destination by the selected transmission method, the contents instructed for confirmation before transmitting the message are output as synthesized sounds. It shall be.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a software configuration of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of FIG.

In FIG. 1, an information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is connected to a telephone 100 via a public network 200, a message holding unit 401 holding a plurality of messages including blanks, and a message transmission unit. And a destination holding unit 402 that holds the destination list.

As an application executed by the CPU, command recognition for recognizing a message selection instruction, a message correction instruction, a transmission destination selection instruction, and a transmission method selection instruction input by the user from the telephone 100 as a remote device. Unit 301, a message selection unit 302 that selects a message according to the instruction, a message modification unit 303 that modifies the message according to the instruction, a destination selection unit 304 that selects a destination according to the instruction, and a transmission that selects a transmission method according to the instruction Method selection unit 30
5. It has a transmission unit 306 and a telephone line control unit 307 for controlling transmission of the selected and modified message to a selected destination by a selected transmission method.

In FIG. 2, a CPU (central processing unit) 10 controls the entire information processing apparatus including the above-described applications. Storage device 20
Is a large-capacity storage device for storing necessary information, such as a hard disk or a floppy disk, and includes the above-described message storage unit 401 and transmission destination storage unit 402.

The telephone line control device 30 connects the telephone line to the information processing device and controls transmission and reception of telephone calls. The memory 40 includes a ROM storing a control program executed by the CPU 10, a storage area for various data,
It is composed of a RAM or the like that provides a work area of the PU 10. The input / output device 50 is a device that inputs and outputs information such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a display.
It connects the above elements.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation which is a feature of this embodiment.

In this embodiment, an application program stored in the storage device 20 and describing a control procedure as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
It is assumed that information processing is performed by developing the program in the AM and controlling it by the CPU 10.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a message sent in this embodiment, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a destination list.

That is, the message holding unit 401
It is assumed that a message text with a part left blank as shown in FIG. 4 is stored in the destination holding unit 402 as shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in S100, the information processing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as the present apparatus) waits for a telephone call from the user in the telephone line control unit 307. Then, when a call is received from the user, the process proceeds to the next process S101.

In step S101, the telephone line control unit 307 connects the apparatus to the telephone 100 via a public line. Next, use start processing of the present apparatus such as user authentication is performed (S102).

Next, the command recognition unit 301 waits for a command input by the user. The user inputs a command for selecting a message to be transmitted from the messages held in the message holding unit 401.

In the present apparatus, the command recognition unit 301
It recognizes what kind of input the command was, and determines a message to be transmitted according to the command (S10).
3).

Here, the user inputs a command by, for example, a push button of the telephone 100.
In this case, the command recognizing unit 301 recognizes a signal transmitted when the push button is pressed, stores a process for the signal in advance, and presses a button of the telephone 100 based on this rule, and The command recognition unit 301 of the device recognizes.

For example, a command for selecting a message is a push button "#", and it is determined in advance that the button pressed after "#" is the message ID number.
When the user presses “# 02”, the command recognition unit 3
In step 01, the user request is interpreted as "selecting the second message", and the message selecting unit 302 selects the second message as the message to be transmitted.

Next, in the message correction unit 303,
With user command input. The user inputs a command for filling in blanks of the message selected in S103.

In the present apparatus, the command recognition unit 301 recognizes the command, fills in blanks of the message according to the command, and creates a message to be transmitted (S1).
04). Also in this case, similarly to the processing in S103, the input method of the command to fill the blank is determined in advance, the user operates according to the rule, and the apparatus interprets the user's request according to the rule and performs the corresponding processing.

For example, "##" fills in a blank with a number corresponding to the button pressed subsequently, and "*" indicates "-"
If the user decides to replace with "# 03 * 1
If the user presses the push button "23 * 4567", the apparatus embeds the character string "93-123-4567" in the blank of the message.

Next, the transmission destination selection unit 304 waits for a command input by the user. The user is the destination holding unit 402
The user selects a transmission destination to be transmitted from the transmission destinations held in, and inputs a command for selecting the transmission destination. even here,
As in S103 and S104, the rule of the command for selecting the transmission destination is determined in advance, and when the user inputs the command for selecting the transmission destination, the command is recognized by the command recognition unit 301 and transmitted according to the command. The destination is determined (S105).

For example, if "*" is a command for selecting a destination and a rule for selecting a destination corresponding to a button pressed subsequently is determined, the user presses "* 03". In this case, the command recognition unit 301 interprets the command as a request to “select a third transmission destination”, and the transmission destination selection unit 305 selects the third transmission destination.

Next, the transmission destination selection unit 305 waits for a command input by the user. The user selects a method that can be transmitted by the system, and inputs a command for selecting a transmission method. When the user inputs a command for selecting a transmission method, the command recognition unit 301 recognizes the command and determines a transmission method (S106). Again, S1
03, S104 and S105, the command recognition unit 3
In 01, a transmission method corresponding to a command input method for determining a transmission method is determined, and a message method is determined according to a user input. As a message transmission method, electronic mail, facsimile, and the like can be considered.

As described above, when the processing for selecting / correcting the message and selecting the destination / transmission method is completed, the transmission unit 30
6, the message selected by the user is transmitted to the destination selected by the user using the transmission method selected by the user (S
107). Here, the transmission unit 306 searches the destination list stored in the transmission destination holding unit 402 for the address or FAX number of the electronic mail of the transmission destination selected in the previous step S105, and searches for the corresponding address or FAX number. Send a message.

After transmitting the message, if the user inputs a command to end or detects that the user has disconnected the telephone (S108), the connection between the apparatus and the telephone 100 is disconnected (S109), and the next user is disconnected. Prepare for use (S10
1). If the processing is not to be ended, the processing returns to the processing of S103, and the processing for transmitting the next message is performed.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified.

For example, in the above-described message correction in S104, it is possible to determine in advance a candidate for a sentence in which a few hours are to be filled in a blank and select from the candidates. For example, in the blank of the message "I'm going to [blank].", "1. Show", "2.
Character string candidates for filling in blanks, such as "3. Library", are determined in advance, and commands for selecting these are determined. When the user inputs a predetermined command, the command recognition unit 301 interprets the command, and the message correction unit 303 creates a message with a blank space filled.

As shown in FIG. 6, a speech synthesis output unit 308 may be added to the configuration of the present apparatus described above, and in S103, a selectable message may be read out to the user. Similarly, in S104, S105, and S106, selectable options can be output as synthesized speech. For example, in S106, when deciding the transmission destination, it is possible to wait for the user's command input after giving guidance that "Press # 1 when sending by e-mail or # 2 when sending by facsimile". .

In addition, S103, S104, S10
5. In each of the processes of S106, the command input by the user recognized by the command recognition unit 301 may be output as a synthesized voice in order to confirm the command input. For example, S1
At 03, the synthesized message is output as saying, "The selected message is" I am away, but will return at 10:00 "."

After outputting the content of the command recognized by the command recognition unit 301 as a synthesized sound, a process of confirming whether the command is intended by the user may be performed by inputting the command.

In other words, in the above example, after outputting a synthesized sound, "The selected message is" I am away, but will return at 12:00 "" Output a synthesized sound asking for confirmation, and wait for the user's command input. According to the rules determined by the user in advance,
When a command meaning "this is all right" or "redo" is input, processing corresponding to the command is performed. If "this is fine", the process proceeds to the next process, and if "redo", the process is restarted from the beginning.

The confirmation message based on the synthesized sound in the command recognition unit 301 includes S103, S104,
The transmitting unit 30 does not perform the processing for each of the steps S105 and S106.
In step 6, it may be performed collectively at the time of transmission in S107. For example, before transmitting the message in S107, a message "Send a message" I am away but will return by 18:00 "to Suzuki by e-mail" is output as a synthetic sound.

In step S107, the transmitting unit 306 may output a message or destination to be transmitted before transmission as a synthetic sound, and then ask the user to confirm whether or not to transmit the message.

In the above description, S103 to S10
In each of the processes 6, a command input such as selection or correction is always required, but a default combination may be determined in advance, and only necessary changes may be made. In order to realize this, a command for proceeding to the next process without changing the default is prepared. If this command is recognized in each process of S103 to S106, the default setting is not changed and the next setting is not changed. To the processing of.

In the above description, S103, S10
4. Although the command input in S105 and S106 is realized by pressing the touch phone, the command input may be performed by voice recognition instead of the touch phone input. For example, as shown in FIG.
09 is provided, and in S104, it is determined in advance that the 〇th message is selected when it is recognized as the “〇th message” (〇 is an arbitrary number). According to this rule, when the message that the user wants to select is the third message, the user utters “third message”, the command recognition unit 301 performs voice recognition, and the recognition result is “third message”. , Select the third message.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device.

A storage medium storing program codes of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (including a CPU or an MPU) of the system or the apparatus stores the storage medium in the storage medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing the stored program code.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the function of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium on which the program code is recorded constitutes the present apparatus.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-R
An OM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS and the like running on the computer are actually executed based on the instructions of the program code. It goes without saying that a part or all of the above-described processing is performed and the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention, a message including a blank is held, a list of message transmission destinations is held, and a message selection instruction input from a remote device by a user and a message correction instruction are stored. ,
Recognize the destination selection instruction, transmission method selection instruction, select a message according to the instruction, modify the message according to the instruction, select a destination according to the instruction,
A transmission method is selected according to the instruction, and the selected and modified message is controlled to be transmitted to the selected destination by the selected transmission method.

Therefore, the message can be sent by electronic mail or facsimile without regard to the time zone or the situation of the destination to which the message is sent. In addition, even if there is no computer terminal necessary for transmitting a facsimile or electronic mail, a message can be sent using a public telephone or the like, so that it can be easily used even when going out.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of software of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of hardware of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing operation according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a message sent in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a destination list used in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of software of an information processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of software of an information processing apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 CPU, 20 storage device, 30 telephone line control device, 40 memory, 50 input / output device, 60 bus, 100 telephone, 200 public network, 301 command recognition unit, 302 message selection unit Reference numeral 303: message modification unit 304: transmission destination selection unit 305: transmission method selection unit 306: transmission unit 307: telephone line control unit 401: message storage unit 402: transmission destination storage unit

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A method for storing a message including blanks and storing a list of message destinations, an instruction to select a message input from a remote device by a user, an instruction to correct a message, an instruction to select a destination, Recognizing a transmission method selection instruction; a message selection step of selecting a message according to the instruction; a message modification step of modifying a message according to the instruction; a destination selection step of selecting a destination according to the instruction; A transmission method selection step of selecting a transmission method according to an instruction; and a transmission control step of transmitting the selected and modified message to the selected transmission destination by the selected transmission method. Processing method. 2. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein each instruction by the user is input by a push button signal. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the user gives an instruction to select a message, an instruction to modify a message, an instruction to select a transmission destination, and an instruction to select a transmission method, an instruction method is provided using synthetic speech. An information processing method characterized by the following. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the user recognizes a message selection instruction, a message correction instruction, a transmission destination selection instruction, and a transmission method selection instruction, the instruction recognized for confirmation is synthesized speech. An information processing method characterized by outputting. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the selected and modified message is transmitted to the selected transmission destination by the selected transmission method, the contents instructed for confirmation before transmitting the message. An information processing method characterized by outputting as synthesized speech. 6. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the instruction of the user is performed by voice, and the user's instruction is recognized by voice recognition of the user's voice. 7. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the instruction to modify the message designates a character to fill in a blank of the message. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the default message that does not include a blank is held, and the instruction to modify the message includes an instruction to select the default message without modifying the message. Characteristic information processing method. 9. A holding means for holding a message including a blank space and holding a list of message transmission destinations, an instruction to select a message to be transmitted input from a remote device by a user, an instruction to correct the message, an instruction to modify the transmission destination Command recognition means for recognizing a selection instruction and transmission method selection instruction; message selection means for selecting a message in accordance with the instruction; message modification means for modifying a message in accordance with the instruction; and a destination for selecting a transmission destination in accordance with the instruction Selection means; transmission method selection means for selecting a transmission method according to the instruction; and transmission control means for transmitting the selected and modified message to the selected destination using the selected transmission method. An information processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 10. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for controlling an information processing apparatus, the method comprising: holding a message including a blank, and holding a list of message transmission destinations; Recognizing a message selection instruction, a message correction instruction, a transmission destination selection instruction, and a transmission method selection instruction input from a remote device, a message selection step of selecting a message according to the instruction, and a message according to the instruction. Modifying a message, a destination selecting step of selecting a destination according to the instruction, a transmission method selecting step of selecting a transmission method according to the instruction, and transmitting the selected and modified message to the selected destination. Transmission system for transmitting data using the selected transmission method Steps and a computer readable storage medium storing a program, characterized in that it comprises a.