JP2003169056A - Communication device and managing server - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication device which enables a user to communicate with a desired communication device without being aware of changes of a communication path, a communication procedure, and identification information of a communication device in a system even in such a case. <P>SOLUTION: A managing server 7 manages in a management table 24 communication paths, communication procedures, identification information, etc., that respective communication devices can use as registration information. Changes of a communication path, a communication procedure, and identification information of a communication device are reported to the managing server 7 and the registration information in the management table 24 is updated. The whole or part of the management table 24 is distributed to respective communication devices in specified timing or at a request from each communication device. Consequently, each communication device has its management table 14 always held in the latest state and can communicate with another communication device by automatically selecting one of pieces of the latest registration information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device that can use a plurality of communication paths or a plurality of communication procedures, and a management server that manages communication paths and communication procedures that can be used in each communication device. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, communication channels and communication procedures have become diversified with the multi-functionalization of communication apparatuses, and communication apparatuses capable of utilizing a plurality of communication channels or a plurality of communication procedures have been developed. For example, in the past, a facsimile machine that could only perform facsimile communication using a public line network (PSTN) can use an extension network (PBX), and a LAN
Communication with terminals equipped with an interface and connected to a LAN or using an intranet or the Internet connected to a LAN has become possible. Regarding the communication procedure, in addition to various protocols for facsimile communication, SMTP, POP, HTT used when using LAN, Internet, etc.
Communication using various communication procedures such as P has become possible.

Due to such diversification of communication paths and communication procedures, identification information corresponding to each communication path and communication procedure must be used when specifying a communication device of the other party. For example, when using a public line network, the identification information is a telephone number, when using a LAN or the Internet, an IP address is used, and particularly when transmitting by electronic mail, an electronic mail address and H as a communication procedure are used.
When using TTP, the URL serves as identification information of the communication device of the other party.

Conventionally, in a communication device that can use a plurality of communication paths and communication procedures, the communication path and communication procedure to be used are set, and the identification information of the other party communication device is set according to the set communication path and communication procedure. Had to set. Therefore, it is necessary to set the communication path and the communication procedure according to the communication apparatus of the other party after knowing what kind of communication path and communication procedure are available in the communication apparatus of the other party. In addition, if multiple communication channels and communication procedures are available for the other party's communication device, different identification information may have to be set even for the same party, and the setting is very complicated. It was Further, which communication path or communication procedure is to be used is left to the user, and an operation of selecting a communication path or communication procedure must be performed each time communication is performed, which is complicated.

Further, when the communication path or communication procedure that can be used in the communication device of the other party is changed, or the communication device itself is updated or newly added, it cannot be used unless the changed matter is notified, and the other party. In the first place, users of other communication devices must be notified of the changes. Therefore, both the side that has changed the communication device and the side that communicates with the changed communication device must perform complicated work.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and does not require a user to perform a complicated operation, and the difference in communication paths and communication procedures, the communication paths and Without the user being aware of the difference in the identification information corresponding to the communication procedure, and even if the communication path or communication procedure of the other party's communication device or the identification information is changed, the user is not aware of the change, An object of the present invention is to provide a communication device capable of communicating with a desired communication device. Moreover, it aims at providing the management server which manages such a communication apparatus.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a communication device in a communication device, which is capable of performing communication by a plurality of communication paths and communication procedures, a communication path and a communication procedure available in each communication device, and the communication path and A management table composed of a plurality of registration information including identification information used in a communication procedure, and one of the registration information corresponding to the communication device of the other party, which is acquired in advance from the outside, is selected to communicate with the communication means. It is characterized by having a control means for performing the above.

Further, the present invention provides a communication device, a communication means capable of communicating by a plurality of communication paths and a communication procedure, a communication path and a communication procedure available in a communication apparatus of a partner, and the communication path and the communication procedure. It is characterized by further comprising control means for acquiring one or a plurality of registration information including identification information to be used from the outside, selecting one of the registration information and causing the communication means to perform communication.

As described above, in the communication apparatus of the present invention, registration information is acquired in advance as a management table from outside, and one of the registration information corresponding to the communication apparatus of the other party is selected at the time of communication, for example, according to a predetermined priority order. Then, it communicates with the communication device of the other party. Alternatively, at the time of communication, one or more registration information corresponding to the communication device of the other party is acquired from the outside,
One of the registration information is selected, for example, according to a predetermined priority order to communicate with the communication device of the other party. At this time, the user only needs to specify the communication device of the other party, and set the communication path and communication procedure and the identification information corresponding to the communication path and communication procedure one by one and select the communication path and communication procedure. You don't need to be aware of it, you can automatically
Communication is performed by selecting identification information and the like. In addition, since the selected registration information is acquired from the outside, the user does not need to perform an operation such as registration. Further, if the registration information is managed in the latest state outside, it is possible to automatically select the communication path and the communication procedure using the latest registration information. Even in the communication device, it is desirable to obtain the latest management table from the outside,
For example, it can be updated periodically or by being acquired from the outside when the registered information is changed.

Further, according to the present invention, in the management server, in the management server that manages the communication device capable of communicating by a plurality of communication paths and communication procedures, a communication means capable of directly or indirectly communicating with each communication device, A management table composed of a plurality of registration information including communication paths and communication procedures available in each communication device and identification information used in the communication paths and communication procedures, and in response to a request from the communication device or at a predetermined timing. A control means for causing the communication means to transmit all or part of the management table to the requesting communication device or each communication device is provided.

As described above, according to the management server of the present invention,
Registration information such as communication paths and communication procedures that can be used by each communication device, identification information, etc. is managed in a centralized manner as a management table,
All or part of it can be transferred to a communication device for use. Change registration information in each communication device,
Addition and deletion need only be performed on the management server, and there is no need to notify the user of each communication device as in the conventional case. In addition, the user of any communication device does not need to perform the setting registration in each communication device by receiving the registration information from the management server, and can always use the latest registration information for communication. Becomes

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a communication system including a first embodiment of a communication device and a management server of the present invention. In the figure, 1 to 6 are communication devices, and 7
Is a management server, 11 and 21 are control units, 12 and 22 are communication units, 13 and 23 are storage units, 14 and 24 are management tables,
31 is a public line network, 32 is an extension network, and 33 to 35 are LAs.
N and 36 are the Internet. In this example, six communication devices and one management server 7 that manages registration information of these communication devices are shown, and the public line network 3 is used as a communication path.
1, extension network 32, LAN33-35 and LAN33-35
The Internet 36 using is shown. Of course, the number of communication devices in the communication system is not limited.
Further, a communication path other than the above may exist as the communication path, and for example, a communication path such as a wireless communication or an optical communication may exist in addition to the wired communication path. There may be some communication procedures when each communication path is used.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the communication device 1 can communicate via the public line network 31, the extension network 32, and the LAN 33, and the communication device 2 can communicate via the public line network 31 and the extension network 32. Yes, communication device 3 is public network 3
1, communication via the LAN 33 is possible. The communication device 4 can communicate via the LAN 34, the communication device 5 can communicate via the public line network 31, the extension network 32, and the LAN 34, and the communication device 6 can communicate with the public line network 3.
1, communication via the LAN 34 is possible. The communication device in the communication system can communicate by an arbitrary communication path and communication procedure.

The communication device 1 includes a control unit 11, a communication unit 12,
The storage unit 13 and the like are included. Control unit 11
Controls each unit of the communication device 1 and realizes transmission and reception with other communication devices via the communication unit 12. Before performing communication with the communication device of the other party, the management table 14 is acquired in advance from the external management server 7 via the communication unit 12. The management table 14 can be acquired, for example, by requesting the management server 7 to transfer the management table 14 periodically or irregularly from the communication device side, or periodically or irregularly from the management server 7. The distributed management table 14 can be acquired. Note that the information acquired from the management table 14 may be the entire management table 14 or may be only the registration information that has been changed or added except for the beginning and the deletion instruction. When it is not possible to directly communicate with the management server 7, the management table 14 can be acquired by having another communication device relay the data.

When the other party's communication device is designated by the operation unit (not shown) or another device connected to the communication unit 1, the control unit 11 will be described later by the specific information for identifying the designated other party's communication device. The management table 14 in the storage unit 13 is searched to acquire one or more pieces of registration information. When there are a plurality of pieces of registration information, one of them is selected according to a predetermined priority order, and communication is performed with the communication device of the other party via the communication unit 12 according to the communication path and communication procedure in the selected registration information.

As a priority order when selecting the registration information, for example, the order of registration in the management table 14 or the priority order is set according to the setting, or the order of the communication path or the type of communication procedure is set. It is possible to select them in order of priority such as adding them. Alternatively, it is possible to use the low cost registration information by comparing the communication costs to the communication device of the other party when using each communication path and communication procedure, or to use the best reception in the communication according to the receiving ability of the other party. It may be configured to select the registration information in which the information on the ability is registered. In some cases, it may be advantageous to perform communication by relaying another communication device, and whether or not to use the relay can be taken into consideration when determining the priority order. Furthermore, as a result of performing communication according to the registration information selected as described above, if the communication cannot be terminated normally, control is performed to select the registration information of the next rank and perform communication again. can do. The information of such priority may be acquired from the management server 7.

Further, when the communication device cannot directly communicate with the communication device of the other party, the communication device can communicate with the communication device 1 and the communication device can communicate with the communication device of the other party. A communication device capable of relaying various communication devices,
Request the relayable communication device to relay to the partner communication device, communicate with the relayable communication device, and indirectly communicate with the partner communication device. . Conversely, it may have a function of receiving a relay request from another communication device and relaying it.

The communication unit 12 is capable of communication using one or a plurality of communication paths. Further, according to the control of the control unit 11, it is possible to perform communication by one or a plurality of communication procedures even on the same communication path. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the communication unit 12 can perform communication using the Internet 36 via the public line network 31, the extension network 32, the LAN 33, and the LAN 33 as a communication path. Further, it is possible to perform communication according to various communication procedures using these communication paths. For example, if the public line network 31 is used, G3 or G4 communication is possible, or if the LAN 33 is used, information is transmitted. In addition to SMTP and POP3 used when transferring as electronic mail, HTTP, FTP and the like may be selectively used.

The storage unit 13 stores various kinds of information. In particular, the management table 14 is stored. Management table 14
Is centrally managed by the management server 7, and is acquired by accessing the management server 7 from the communication device or by being delivered from the management server 7 and acquired.
It is stored in 3. In the management table 14, as will be described later, specific information for identifying a communication device, a communication path and a communication procedure that can be used when communicating with the communication device, identification information used in the communication path and the communication procedure, and the like. It is a table in which a large number of registered information, which is a set of various information, is registered. The registration information is registered as different registration information even if the same communication device has a different communication path or communication procedure. Therefore, a plurality of registration information may be registered for one communication device.

Although the internal configuration is shown only for the communication device 1 here, the other communication devices 2 to 6 have the same configuration, and the registration information of the management table is acquired from the management server 7 and the registration information is acquired. Is selectively used to communicate with another communication device.

The management server 7 includes a control unit 21 and a communication unit 2
2, the storage unit 23 and the like are included. Control unit 2
The control unit 1 controls each unit of the management server 7 and performs transmission / reception with the communication devices 1 to 6 via the communication unit 22 to manage them. In particular, the storage unit 23 holds registration information including a communication path and a communication method that can be used in the communication apparatuses 1 to 6 and identification information used to identify the communication apparatus in the communication path and the communication method as the management table 24. Manage. Then, in response to a request from the communication devices 1 to 6, all or part of the contents of the management table 24 is returned to the requesting communication device via the communication unit 22. When returning a part of the management table 24, for example, only the part that has changed since the last inquiry may be returned. If the registration information has been deleted, a deletion instruction will be given. If there is no change, only the information indicating that there is no change may be returned.

In addition to replying to a request from the communication devices 1 to 6, all or part of the contents of the management table 24 can be distributed to each of the communication devices 1 to 6 at a predetermined timing. The predetermined timing can be set, for example, periodically, or when the management table 24 is changed. Also in this case, when a part of the contents of the management table 24 is to be distributed, only the changed part from the previous distribution (the deletion instruction of the registration information when the deletion is performed) may be distributed. In the case of periodic distribution, it is possible that there is no change. In that case, information without change may be distributed. Even in the case of performing such distribution, a communication device which does not have the management table 24, such as a communication device newly incorporated in the system or a communication device whose memory is erased, is managed according to a request. You may reply to the table 24. Further, when the registration information is changed, only the notification is delivered to each of the communication devices 1 to 6, and all or part of the management table 24 is returned in response to the request from each of the communication devices 1 to 6. You may.

The whole or a part of the management table 24 can be transmitted from the communication unit 22 to a communication device which cannot directly communicate with the communication device via the relayable communication device. That is, a communication device that is communicable from the management server 7 and that is capable of communicating with a reply destination or delivery destination communication device is set as a relayable communication device. All or part of the management table 24 may be transmitted by requesting relaying to the communication device of the reply destination or the delivery destination. The relayable communication device can be selected by referring to the held management table 24, and may be selected based on the same priority order as the above-mentioned communication device.

Updates such as additions, changes, and deletions to the registration information in the management table 24 are performed by an operator, for example, from an operation means (not shown) of the management server 7, or a registration information update request is accepted via the communication unit 22. , Can be configured to perform. For example, when a communication device is replaced or newly installed, or when a communication path or a communication procedure in an existing communication device is added, changed, or deleted, the management server 7 or an administrator of the management server 7 need only be notified. And the management table of the communication device in the system can be updated, so that smooth communication can be maintained.
Further, the user of the other communication device can perform communication without detecting any changes in the other communication device and performing no special operation.

The communication unit 22 is capable of communication using at least one communication path, and in this example, can communicate with a communication device via the Internet 36 using the LAN 35. It should be noted that it is sufficient to have one or more communication procedures for communication.

The storage unit 23 stores various kinds of information. In particular, a communication path and a communication procedure available in each communication device, identification information used in the communication path and the communication procedure, and other information are used as registration information, and a management table 24 configured by a plurality of registration information is stored. There is. As mentioned above,
The management table 24 is read by the control unit 21 and transferred to each communication device. Further, the control unit 21 updates the management table 24.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the management table. The management table is managed by the management server 7 as described above, and a copy thereof is stored in each communication device 1.
Held and utilized in ~ 6. In the example shown in FIG. 2, an example of the management table 14 held in the communication devices 1 to 6 is shown.

In the example of the management table shown in FIG. 2, terminal name and specific number, communication path, identification information, communication procedure, relay availability,
Information such as reception capability is paired, and each line is registration information. The terminal name and the specific number are specific information for specifying the communication device of the other party. Of these, the specific number is an identifier for uniquely identifying the communication device in the system, and the management server 7 manages each communication device by this specific number. For example, the specific number can be configured to be assigned by the management server 7. The terminal name can be used by the user to identify the other communication device, and may be different for each communication device. When the user specifies the destination, either the terminal name or the specific number can be specified.

The communication path is "PSTN" if the public line network 31 is available, and "P" if the extension network 32 is available.
If LANs such as BX "and LANs 33 and 34 are available, they are shown as" LAN. "When the LAN is available, it is assumed that the Internet or intranet can be used via the LAN. If another channel is available, the available channel is specified in this field.

Further, the communication procedure used in each communication path is shown in association with each other. There are cases where a plurality of communication procedures can be used even on the same communication channel. In that case, registration information is set for each pair of communication channel and communication procedure. For example, communication device 4
In this case, the LAN 34 can be used as a communication path, but the communication procedure is T.38. 38, and T. 37S and T.S. Three
7F is available. Of course, the communication procedure is not limited to that shown in FIG. Also, if the number of communication procedures that can be used on a certain communication path is limited to one,
Since the communication procedure can be specified from the type of communication path, it is not necessary to set it explicitly.

The identification information is information for specifying the communication device in each communication path or each communication procedure. For example,
If it is the public line network 31, it is a telephone number, if it is the extension network 32, it is an extension number, if it uses e-mail in the LANs 33 and 34, it is an e-mail address, if it uses HTTP, it is a URL, and in other protocols. IP for example
The address or the like serves as identification information.

The information on whether or not the relay is possible indicates whether or not the function of transferring to another communication device is provided. For example, when it is not possible to directly communicate with the communication device of the other party, a relay is requested to a communication device which is capable of communicating with the communication device of the other party and capable of communicating with the communication device of the other party, and the Communication can be performed between them. However, even if it is possible to communicate with its own device and also with the communication device of the other party, it is not possible to request the relay unless it has the relay function. Therefore, it is possible to request the relay after confirming that the relay function is provided by referring to the field of relay possibility before requesting the relay.

As the reception capability, here, information such as resolution, maximum recording paper size, encoding method, and color recording availability is included. For example, the public line network 31 is used as a communication path, and T. In the case of using 30, since the capabilities are mutually confirmed in the communication procedure, the capabilities of the other party can be confirmed at the time of communication, and communication can be performed with the maximum capability within the range. However, for example, LAN as a communication path
When using 33, 34 or the Internet 36 and using SMTP or the like as the communication procedure, the capability of the other party cannot be known at the time of communication. In such a case, it is possible to know the capability of the other party for each communication path and communication procedure by referring to the field of this receiving capability.
As a result, communication that maximizes the capabilities of the other party becomes possible, and the quality deterioration of information exchanged by communication can be eliminated or minimized. In addition,
What kind of information is retained as the reception capability is arbitrary. Further, although the reception capability is held for each registration information here, for example, in addition to the management table, a capability table that associates each communication device with the capabilities of the communication device is stored in the storage unit 13. It is also possible.

In this example, the management table also includes information such as the communication paths and communication procedures for the management server 7, but with this configuration, when communication with the management server 7 is performed. Also, the communication path and the communication procedure can be determined in the same manner as in the case of other communication devices. Of course, the same applies when a relay is requested to another communication device. Alternatively, the communication with the management server 7 may be configured so that the communication path and the communication procedure set internally are fixedly used, and the management table does not include the registration information regarding the management server.

The structure of the management table shown in FIG. 2 is an example, and various other information may be added or unnecessary fields may be deleted as appropriate. For example, in the case of a system configuration that does not request relay, the field of relay availability is unnecessary, and conversely, a communication device that relays may be explicitly indicated. Further, when all communication paths and communication procedures are used, if the capability can be exchanged during the communication, the field of the receiving capability is unnecessary.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the operation at the time of updating the management table in the communication system including the communication device and the management server of the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that the communication device 4 can communicate using the extension network 32. In such a case, conventionally, communication devices 1 to 3, 5 and 6 which communicate with the communication device 4 are notified of the fact that communication using the extension network 32 has become possible and an extension number. It was However, in the present invention, the communication device 4 may notify the management server 7 of the change in the registration information in the figure. The notification method can be performed, for example, by communicating with the management server 7 and transferring information regarding the change to the management server 7. In this case, the management server 7 automatically
Alternatively, the management table 24 is updated under the management of the administrator. Alternatively, the administrator who manages the management server 7 may be notified of the change of the registration information using some notification means, and the administrator may update the management table 24 in the management server 7 at.

When the management table 24 is updated,
In the above, the updated management table 24 is used for each communication device 1
~ 6 will be delivered. Alternatively, the management table 24 after the update is returned after waiting for a request for taking out the management table 24 from each of the communication devices 1 to 6. In this case, for example, when the management table 24 is updated, the communication devices 1 to 6 may be notified that the management table has been updated. The information to be delivered may be the entire management table 24, or the entire registration information of the communication device 4 or only the registration information using the extension network 32 as a communication path in the added communication device 4.

It is desirable that the management server 7 can directly communicate with all the communication devices in the system, and for that purpose, it is desirable that all communication paths and all communication procedures be available. However, the configuration is not limited to this, and may be a configuration in which only some communication paths and some communication procedures can be used. For example, when the management table 24 shown in FIG. 3 is entirely or partially distributed, the communication device 2 does not have a communication path capable of directly communicating with the management server 7. In such a case, the management server 7 can directly communicate with the communication apparatus 2 by requesting a relay to a communication apparatus that can also directly communicate with the communication apparatus 2. Deliver. For example, the communication devices 1, 3, 5, 6 can directly communicate with the management server 7, and also can directly communicate with the communication device 2. However, referring to the field of relay possibility in the management table shown in FIG. 2, the communication device 6 does not have a relay function, so the communication devices 1, 3, 5
Any one of them is selected as a relay destination, a relay is requested to the communication device 2, and the entire or part of the management table 24 is distributed.

In this way, the notification of the change of the registration information notified from the communication device 4 is distributed to all the communication devices 1 to 6 in the system. Therefore, the communication devices 1 to 3,
The 5 and 6 can select the extension network 32 as a selection candidate when communicating with the communication device 4 without receiving the notification from the communication device 4 or changing the setting. It should be noted that, in each communication device, which communication path and communication procedure to select is automatically performed. Therefore, the fact that the number of communication paths has increased in the communication device 4 is automatically selected when communicating with the communication device 4. It's just that you have more options to do. The users of the communication devices 1 to 3, 5 and 6 use the communication device 4
Is connected to the extension network 32, or even if the extension network 32 is selected and is communicating, it is possible to communicate without knowing such a thing at all. Communication device 4
In this case, the range of direct communication and the number of relay request destinations have increased when communicating with other communication devices, but the user of the communication device 4 only specifies the communication device and performs communication as before. Therefore, communication can be performed without newly setting or operating.

In the above example, the management server 7 only returns or distributes the entire management table 24 or a part thereof, but various other information can be provided. As an example, it is also possible to provide information regarding the priority order and information regarding the selection condition when selecting the registration information in the management table 14 in the communication devices 1 to 6. By distributing such information from the management server 7, it is possible to eliminate the need for these settings by the user in each of the communication devices 1 to 6. Also,
For example, the registration information may be selected according to a uniform priority order in the system, or the management server 7 may cause the communication devices 1 to 6 to be selected according to the loads on the communication devices 1 to 6.
Can be configured to adjust the priority of registration information in.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a communication system including the second embodiment of the communication device and the management server of the present invention. The reference numerals in the figure are the same as those in FIG. 1, and duplicate explanations are omitted. In this example, the communication devices 1 to 6 do not hold the management table 14, and the management server 7
Is inquired about registration information of the other party's communication device.
The management server 7 searches the management table 24 in response to the inquiry about the registration information from the communication devices 1 to 6, and returns the corresponding registration information. When there are a plurality of pieces of registration information obtained as a result of the search, the management server 7 returns all of them to the communication device of the inquiry source, and also selects them according to a predetermined priority order or returns some of the higher ranks. You may comprise. The communication between each of the communication devices 1 to 6 and the management server 7 is set in advance.

In such a configuration, the communication tables 1 to 6 in the system can always use the same management table 24 and perform communication based on the latest registration information only by keeping the management table 24 up to date. You can Therefore, the management burden of the management table 14 in the communication devices 1 to 6 is eliminated, and management is facilitated because only the management table 24 in the management server 7 needs to be managed.

If there is a communication device in the system that cannot directly communicate with the management server 7, such as the communication device 2 shown in FIG. It will be relayed by that communication device. Therefore, the amount of traffic in the system may increase, and the communication device that relays may be overloaded. In order to avoid this, it is desirable that the management server 7 is configured to be able to perform communication using many communication paths and many communication procedures.

Also in each of the communication devices 1 to 6, in order to reduce the amount of communication with the management server 7, for example, only the default registration information for communicating with each communication device is stored in the management server 7.
Configured to query the management server 7 only when considering the use of another communication path or another communication procedure, such as when an error occurs or application communication is instructed. May be.

Further, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the management server is 1
Although only one unit is shown, the configuration may be such that a plurality of management servers mutually complement the communication paths and communication procedures.
In this case, each management server needs to manage the management table 24 managed by each management server so that it is always the same.

[0046]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, since a dedicated management server for managing the communication paths, communication procedures and the like available to each communication device is provided, each communication device is It is always possible to automatically select an appropriate communication path and communication procedure based on the latest registration information for communication. Therefore, even if the communication device is replaced or removed, or if the available communication path and communication procedure are changed, it is sufficient to notify the management server or the administrator of the management server, and the time and effort of the communication device side at the time of the change. Can be reduced. In addition, other communication devices can communicate by using the latest registration information only by receiving the changed registration information from the management server, and the user does not have to take troublesome setting changes. Absent. Further, the user of each communication device automatically selects the communication path and the communication procedure by only designating the communication device of the other party, and the communication is performed. As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the convenience of the communication device can be significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a communication system including a first embodiment of a communication device and a management server of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a management table.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of an operation at the time of updating the management table in the communication system including the communication device and the management server according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a communication system including the second embodiment of the communication device and the management server of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 to 6 ... Communication device, 7 ... Management server, 11, 21 ... Control unit, 12, 22 ... Communication unit, 13, 23 ... Storage unit, 14,
24 ... Management table, 31 ... Public line network, 32 ... Extension network, 33-35 ... LAN, 36 ... Internet.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5B089 GA11 JA33 JA36 KA13 KB03                       KB04 KB10 KC15                 5C062 AA13 AA23 AA29 AA30 AB42                       AC38 AE14                 5K030 HA11 JA10 KA05 LB06                 5K101 KK01 MM07 QQ07 QQ11

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A communication means capable of communicating through a plurality of communication paths and communication procedures, a plurality of registration information including communication paths and communication procedures available in each communication device, and identification information used in the communication paths and communication procedures. And a control unit that acquires the management table from the outside in advance and selects one of the registration information corresponding to the communication device of the other party to cause the communication unit to perform communication. Communication device. 2. A communication means capable of communicating through a plurality of communication paths and a communication procedure, a communication path and a communication procedure that can be used in a communication device of a partner, and 1 to 1 including identification information used in the communication path and the communication procedure. A communication apparatus comprising: a control unit that acquires a plurality of registration information from the outside, selects one of the registration information, and causes the communication unit to perform communication. 3. A management server which manages a communication device capable of communicating by a plurality of communication paths and communication procedures, and a communication means capable of directly or indirectly communicating with each communication device,
A management table composed of a plurality of registration information including a communication path and a communication procedure available in each communication device and identification information used in the communication path and the communication procedure, and all or a part of the management table in response to a request from the communication device. A management server having a control means for transmitting a part of the communication means to a communication device as a request source. 4. A management means for managing a communication device capable of communicating by a plurality of communication paths and communication procedures, and a communication means capable of directly or indirectly communicating with each communication device,
A management table composed of a plurality of registration information including communication paths and communication procedures available in each communication device and identification information used in the communication paths and communication procedures, and all or part of the management table at a predetermined timing for each communication. A management server having a control unit that causes a communication unit to deliver the device.