JP2000295271A - Network facsimile terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To extract data on other networks such as a LAN from a public line. SOLUTION: A user transmits instruction information to a network facsimile terminal 1 by using a facsimile terminal 7 or a telephone set 8. The facsimile communication section 12 of the network facsimile terminal 1 receives the instruction information and a control section 13 analyzes the instruction information. In the case the transfer of a mail is instructed, the network facsimile terminal 1 fetches a mail addressed to the user from a mail server 2 on a LAN 5 through a network communication section 11, converts the mail into facsimile data and uses the facsimile communication section 12 to fax it to the user. For example, in the case of sending instruction information from the telephone set 8, a facsimile terminal is designated as a transfer destination, and a mail is faxed to the designated facsimile terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication system, such as facsimile communication, using a public line.
And a network facsimile apparatus that can be connected to other networks.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, network facsimile apparatuses have been developed which can be connected to a public line as well as to other networks such as a LAN as in the past. By using this network facsimile device, image information can be sent from a device such as a computer connected to another network such as a LAN to another facsimile device. Further, facsimile data received from another facsimile apparatus via a public line can be distributed to devices such as computers connected to another network such as a LAN or users of those devices.

On the other hand, a general facsimile apparatus has a function called polling for transmitting facsimile data designated by a transmitting side to a transmitting side. However, in this polling, facsimile data to be transmitted to the transmitting side had to be stored in the own device in advance. Therefore, even if the network facsimile apparatus is connected to another network such as a LAN, information on the LAN cannot be extracted by polling. For example, when a user who is out of the office tries to retrieve his or her own mail from another facsimile machine, he cannot retrieve it.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a network facsimile apparatus capable of extracting data on another network such as a LAN from a public line. It is assumed that.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a network facsimile apparatus comprising: first communication means for performing communication through a public line, second communication means for performing communication through another network, and the first communication means. Means for acquiring data from the other network via the second communication means based on the instruction information received from the public line by means, and facsimile transmitting the data from the first communication means. It is assumed that. In this way, when the user sends the instruction information from the public line, the data is taken out from another network such as a LAN based on the instruction information and transmitted by facsimile. As a result, the user can obtain data on another network such as a LAN as facsimile data.
For example, an e-mail addressed to the user can be obtained as facsimile data while away from home.

[0006] If a destination is specified as instruction information, facsimile transmission to a source other than the source is possible. As a result, it is possible to instruct the transfer to the facsimile apparatus from a PHS, a mobile phone, a general telephone, or the like. Furthermore, as instruction information, time designation, relay destination,
It is possible to designate a confidential information, a broadcast destination, etc., and perform various facsimile application communications.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a system including an embodiment of a network facsimile apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a network facsimile device, 2 is a mail server, 3 is a file server, 4 is a client device, 5 is a LAN, 6 is a public line, 7 is a facsimile device, 8 is a telephone device, 11 is a network communication unit, 12 Denotes a facsimile communication unit, and 13 denotes a control unit.

[0008] The network facsimile machine 1, the mail server 2, the file server 3, and the client device 4
They are connected to the LAN 5 and are configured so that data can be exchanged between them. In addition, various devices such as many client devices, servers, and routers may be connected to the LAN 5 in addition to these devices.

[0009] The mail server 2 accumulates electronic mail exchanged on the LAN 5 and distributes it upon request. The file server 3 stores various files, and stores the transferred file or reads and transfers the stored file in response to a storage request or a read request.

The network facsimile apparatus 1 has a network communication unit 11, a facsimile communication unit 12, and a control unit 13. The network facsimile apparatus 1 performs communication using the public line 6, and communicates with each device connected to the LAN 5 through the LAN 5. Data communication can be performed between them.

The network communication unit 11 can perform data transfer with various devices such as the mail server 2, the file server 3 and the client device 4 connected to the LAN 5 by using the LAN 5. For example, transmission and reception of electronic mail can be performed, and received facsimile data can be distributed as mail. Also, the designated mail or file retrieval request can be sent to the mail server 2 or the file server 3 to retrieve the designated mail or file.

The facsimile communication section 12 performs facsimile communication with another facsimile apparatus 7 through the public line 6. In addition, it has a function of communicating with a telephone device 8 having no facsimile communication function such as a PHS, a mobile phone, a general subscriber telephone, or a public telephone through the public line 6. Instruction information can be received. The instruction information can be received, for example, by a DTMF signal or the like. When receiving the instruction information from the facsimile machine 7, for example, an F code can be used. As the instruction information, for example, the mail server 2
And a user's e-mail address, passcode, or the like. In addition, an instruction for extracting a file from the file server 3 and a file name or a passcode can be used. Further, when the extracted mail or file is to be transferred to a device different from the current transmission source, a facsimile number of the transfer destination can be included. Further, it can include various data for designating various facsimile application communications such as transmission time designation, relay communication, confidential communication, and broadcast communication. Thus, the instruction information can include various instructions to the network facsimile machine 1 and various data for operating.

The control unit 13 controls the entire network facsimile machine 1. In particular, the facsimile communication unit 12
When the instruction information is received in step (1), the instruction information is analyzed, and the designated process is performed according to the analysis result. For example, if the instruction information is a mail transfer instruction, the mail is acquired from the mail server 2 via the network communication unit 11 by, for example, POP. Then, after converting the data into facsimile data, the contents of the mail are transmitted to the facsimile communication unit 1 for the transmission source or the transfer destination specified by the instruction information.
2 and facsimile transmission. For example, if the instruction information is a file transfer instruction, the network communication unit 11
The file is downloaded from the file server 3 via the. Then, after the downloaded file is converted into facsimile data, the contents of the file are transmitted by facsimile from the facsimile communication unit 12 to the transmission source or the transfer destination specified by the instruction information. If the instruction information indicates an application communication such as time designation, relay, confidential, or broadcast, facsimile transmission is performed in accordance with the instruction.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation when receiving instruction information in the embodiment of the network facsimile apparatus of the present invention. In S21, the facsimile communication unit 12 monitors reception from the public line 6. Other facsimile devices 7 and telephone devices 8
If an incoming call is detected, the line is connected and communication is performed with these transmission sources. The facsimile communication unit 12 can receive transmission of instruction information from another facsimile machine 7, a telephone device 8, or the like at the time of an incoming call or subsequent communication. The instruction information is transmitted to the facsimile machine 7.
Or from the telephone device 8 using a DTMF signal or the like. Also, from the facsimile machine 7,
It can also be transmitted by an F code or the like.

In S22, it is determined whether or not the instruction information has been received. If the instruction information has not been received, the process proceeds to S3.
In step 3, a normal facsimile reception operation is performed to receive facsimile data.

When the facsimile communication unit 12 has received the instruction information, the control unit 13 performs a mail or file extraction and transfer operation according to the received instruction information. First, in S23, the received instruction information is analyzed,
Get various data. In S24, it is determined whether or not the data indicating the transfer destination is included in the analyzed instruction information. Here, the transfer destination is specified by the facsimile number of the transfer destination facsimile apparatus when a mail or file on the LAN 5 is transferred to a facsimile apparatus other than the transmission source. If the transfer destination has been specified, the line is disconnected in S25, and the communication with the transmission source that has sent the instruction information ends. If the transfer destination is not specified, the subsequent processing is performed with the line connected to transfer the extracted mail or file to the current transmission source.

In S26, a mail or a file is extracted from the LAN 5 based on the instruction information. For example, when retrieving a mail, a mail addressed to the sender user may be retrieved from the mail server 2 by POP or the like. At this time, it is assumed that the user ID and e-mail address, and in some cases, a passcode and the like required in the instruction information are also included in the instruction information. For example, when a file is taken out, the file may be downloaded from the file server 3. Also in this case, it is assumed that the file name of the file to be taken out and, in some cases, the passcode are included in the instruction information. After the mails and files are extracted in this way, in step S27, the contents of the extracted mails and files are converted into facsimile data (image data).

In S28, similarly to S24, it is determined whether or not the instruction information includes data designating the transfer destination. When the transfer destination is specified, it is necessary to connect a line to a transfer destination different from the transmission source of the instruction information.
Therefore, a call is made to the transfer destination via the public line 6 in S29, and the line is connected in S30 to perform a handshake according to the facsimile procedure. When the transfer destination is not specified, the line is connected to the transmission source of the instruction information as it is, so that the state may be left as it is.

In S31, the facsimile data converted in S27 is transmitted to the currently connected destination by facsimile. When the transmission is completed, the line is disconnected in S32, and the processing when the instruction information is received ends.

When the confidential communication is specified in the instruction information, it is sufficient to notify the confidential communication before transmitting the facsimile data in S31 and then transmit it. When the time is specified in the instruction information, after the mail or the file is extracted in S26, if the line is connected, it is disconnected and the apparatus stands by until the specified time. Then, at the designated time, a new call may be made, a line may be connected, and facsimile transmission may be performed.
Further, when the relay destination is designated, the relay destination may be called instead of calling the transfer destination in S29, and the transfer to the transmission destination may be requested and the facsimile transmission may be performed. Further, if the broadcast communication is specified, S29 to S3
2 may be repeated for each broadcast destination. At this time, for example, a client on the LAN 5 may be configured to be able to be specified as a broadcast destination. Can be sent by e-mail.

An example of the above-described operation will be described by taking as an example a case where a mail or a file is taken out in the case of the system shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of an operation when a mail is taken out from the facsimile apparatus using the embodiment of the network facsimile apparatus of the present invention. Here, a case is considered where a mail addressed to the user of the facsimile machine 7 is extracted from the facsimile machine 7 in FIG. In this case, the user makes a call from the facsimile machine 7 to the network facsimile machine 1 and instructs the user to send a mail addressed to the user as instruction information via the public line 6 by facsimile (). At this time, necessary information such as a user ID, a mail address, and a passcode is also transmitted as instruction information.

When the network facsimile apparatus 1 receives the instruction information sent from the facsimile apparatus 7 through the public line 6, the network facsimile apparatus 1 analyzes the received instruction information, extracts and forwards the mail, and performs various necessary operations. Get the data of Here, it is assumed that the information regarding the transfer destination is not included in the instruction information.

According to the instruction information, the network facsimile apparatus 1 requests the mail server 2 to transfer the mail (), and retrieves the mail addressed to the user who transmitted the instruction information (). Then, the contents of the extracted mail are converted into facsimile data (image data), and the facsimile is transmitted to the transmission source facsimile machine 7 ().

In this manner, by instructing the facsimile machine 7 to take out the mail on the LAN 5, the contents of the mail can be obtained from the facsimile machine 7. The user of the facsimile machine 7 can receive a mail on the LAN 5 by facsimile with the same feeling as when performing polling reception. The same applies to the case where a file stored in the file server 3 is taken out.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the operation in the case of transmitting instruction information from a telephone device and extracting the contents of a file from the facsimile device using one embodiment of the network facsimile device of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that the instruction information is transmitted from the telephone device 8 in FIG. 1 to the network facsimile device 1 and the content of the file stored in the file server 3 is extracted from the facsimile device 7 different from the telephone device 8. For example, a PHS, a mobile phone, and the like do not usually have a facsimile communication function, and are disadvantageous in terms of ability to receive facsimile data. Further, even with a general subscriber telephone or a public telephone, a file cannot be taken out unless a data terminal is connected, and facsimile reception is not possible without a facsimile function. But,
Such a telephone device 8 can also instruct the other installed facsimile device 7 to perform facsimile transmission.

The user makes a call from the telephone device 8 to the network facsimile device 1 and instructs the facsimile device 7 to transmit information for specifying a file to be taken out as the instruction information to the facsimile device 7 through the public line 6. At this time, necessary information such as a file name and a passcode is also transmitted as instruction information. Further, the facsimile number of the facsimile machine 7 to be the transfer destination is also transmitted as the instruction information.

When the network facsimile device 1 receives the instruction information sent from the telephone device 8 through the public line 6, the network facsimile device 1 analyzes the received instruction information, extracts and transfers a file, and performs various necessary operations. And the facsimile number of the facsimile machine 7 as information on the transfer destination. Then, at this point, the line with the telephone device 8 is disconnected, and the communication is terminated.

The network facsimile machine 1 accesses the file server 3 according to the analyzed instruction information () and downloads the file specified by the instruction information (). Then, the contents of the downloaded file are converted into facsimile data (image data).

Next, a call is made to the facsimile machine 7 which is the transfer destination indicated by the instruction information, and the line is connected. Then, the facsimile data obtained by converting the contents of the file is transmitted to the facsimile machine 7 (). This transmission processing can be performed in the same manner as normal facsimile transmission.

In this way, the telephone device 8 sends the LAN 5
By instructing to take out the above file and transfer the file to the facsimile machine 7, the contents of the file can be acquired from the facsimile machine 7. Note that the same applies to the case of extracting mail. In this way, a command to retrieve a file or mail can be issued even from the telephone device 8 without the facsimile function, and the contents of the file or mail can be received from the facsimile device or the like.

In the above two examples, the instruction information includes time designation, relay communication, confidential communication, broadcast communication, etc.
Information for instructing various kinds of application communication and data required for the function can be included. When such application communication is instructed, processing corresponding to each function is performed.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, there is an effect that information such as mail and files in a network such as a LAN can be extracted from an external facsimile machine. At this time, it is also possible to take out data from an external facsimile machine in the same manner as polling, or to send out take-out instruction information from a telephone device that does not have a facsimile function and transfer it to another facsimile machine.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a system including an embodiment of a network facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation when receiving instruction information in the embodiment of the network facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of an operation when a mail is taken out from a facsimile apparatus using the embodiment of the network facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of an operation when transmitting instruction information from a telephone device and extracting a file content from the facsimile device using the embodiment of the network facsimile device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Network facsimile machine, 2 ... Mail server, 3 ... File server, 4 ... Client device, 5 ...
LAN, 6 public line, 7 facsimile device, 8 telephone device, 11 network communication unit, 12 facsimile communication unit, 13 control unit.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI theme coat ゛ (reference) H04N 1/00 107 H04L 11/20 B 1/32 F term (reference) 5B089 GA26 HA01 HA06 JA05 JB03 JB14 KA00 KC26 KH12 LA00 LA06 LA09 5C062 AA02 AA13 AA30 AA35 AB38 AC40 AC41 AC42 AC43 AE02 AE08 AE16 BA00 BC01 BC03 5C075 AA02 AB02 AB08 BB11 CA14 CA90 CD13 DD04 EE02 FF90 5K030 GA18 HA06 HB04 HC02 HC05 HD05 J05 KK01 J05

Claims (3)

[Claims] A first communication unit that communicates through a public line, a second communication unit that communicates through another network, and the first communication unit, based on instruction information received from the public line. Acquiring data from the other network via the second communication means and transmitting the data to the first network;
A network facsimile apparatus having control means for facsimile transmission from the communication means. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit uses the first communication unit to transmit data acquired from the another network to a destination specified by the instruction information. A network facsimile apparatus as described. 3. The network facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data obtained from the other network is electronic mail data.