JP2005184552A - Facsimile terminal and transmission method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile terminal with a convenient and inexpensive Internet facsimile function packaged therein. <P>SOLUTION: The facsimile terminal (1) is connected with a mail server (2) and a facsimile gateway (3) via a LAN (4) and when destining transmission, either facsimile communication or Internet facsimile communication is selected as a destination class. If facsimile communication is selected, a telephone number which is inputted when facsimile communication is selected, can be transmitted via the mail server (2) and is translated into a mail address recognizable for the facsimile gateway (3), and the translated mail address is transmitted to the mail server (2) as a transmission destination. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus and a transmission method in the facsimile apparatus, and more particularly to a facsimile apparatus capable of transmitting mail via the Internet and a transmission method in the facsimile apparatus.

In recent years, facsimile apparatuses capable of sending and receiving e-mails using SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and POP (Post Office Protocol) have appeared. However, it is extremely difficult for a plurality of users to use this facsimile apparatus. This is because the above-described facsimile apparatus is normally assumed to be used by a single user, so that only one SMTP server / POP server can be registered. Moreover, even if a large number of SMTP / POP servers can be set, each user must select a server to be used. For this reason, in general, many users who send and receive e-mails using the above-described facsimile apparatus have little knowledge of the e-mail sending and receiving mechanism, setting items necessary for sending and receiving, etc. It cannot be used to send and receive e-mails. Therefore, as a technical document filed prior to the present invention, a facsimile apparatus that enables a plurality of users to send and receive e-mails by switching a server used for sending and receiving e-mails for each user to be used. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-67315 A

  In recent years, since LANs have become widespread, in environments connected by LANs (such as within a company), high-speed Internet fax communication is used instead of conventional facsimile communication, so that a facsimile machine equipped with an Internet facsimile function is used. It is popular. However, since a conventional facsimile function is required for a communication device that cannot be connected via a LAN, the conventional facsimile function is installed in the facsimile apparatus even though the amount of conventional facsimile communication is reduced. It is necessary, and since both the Internet facsimile function and the conventional facsimile function are installed, the facsimile apparatus itself becomes expensive.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus and a transmission method equipped with an easy-to-use and inexpensive Internet facsimile function.

  In order to achieve this object, the present invention has the following features.

  The facsimile apparatus according to the present invention is a facsimile apparatus equipped with an Internet facsimile function, and at the time of transmission destination, selection means for selecting facsimile communication or Internet facsimile communication as a destination type, and facsimile communication is selected by the selection means. A telephone number inputted at the time, and means for converting the telephone number into a mail address format that can be transmitted via the mail server and recognized by the facsimile gateway, and transmitting the converted mail address to the mail server as a transmission destination. It is characterized by having.

  In addition, the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that it has means for transmitting to the mail server the mail address of the Internet fax inputted when the Internet facsimile communication is selected by the selecting means as the transmission destination. .

  The facsimile apparatus according to the present invention converts a telephone number input when facsimile communication is selected by the selecting means into a mail address format that can be recognized by the facsimile gateway, and uses the converted mail address as a transmission destination. It has a means to transmit to a facsimile gateway, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  In addition, the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention requests delivery confirmation of information, obtains a delivery result of the requested information, and determines whether the delivery confirmation request by the delivery confirmation unit is valid or invalid. And determining means for performing delivery by the delivery confirmation means when the selection means selects Internet facsimile communication as the transmission destination and when the selection means selects facsimile communication as the transmission destination. Whether the confirmation request is valid or invalid is determined independently.

  The transmission method according to the present invention is a transmission method in a facsimile apparatus equipped with an Internet facsimile function, and at the time of transmission destination, a step of selecting facsimile communication or Internet facsimile communication as a destination type, A step of converting a telephone number input when selected into a mail address format that can be transmitted via a mail server and recognized by a facsimile gateway, and transmitting the converted mail address to a mail server as a transmission destination Is performed by a facsimile apparatus.

  Also, the transmission method according to the present invention is characterized in that the facsimile apparatus performs the step of transmitting to the mail server the mail address of the Internet fax input when the Internet facsimile communication is selected by the selection as the transmission destination. It is.

  Also, the transmission method according to the present invention converts a telephone number input when facsimile communication is selected by selection into a mail address format that can be recognized by the facsimile gateway, and uses the converted mail address as a transmission destination. The facsimile apparatus performs the process of transmitting to the gateway.

  In the transmission method according to the present invention, the facsimile apparatus has a delivery confirmation means for requesting confirmation of information delivery and obtaining a delivery result of the requested information, and Internet facsimile communication is selected as a transmission destination by selection. The facsimile apparatus performs a step of independently determining whether the delivery confirmation request by the delivery confirmation means is valid or invalid when the selection is made and the facsimile communication is selected as the transmission destination by the selection means. It is a feature.

  The facsimile apparatus and the transmission method according to the present invention are input when a facsimile apparatus equipped with an Internet facsimile function selects facsimile communication or Internet facsimile communication as a destination type at the time of transmission destination and facsimile communication is selected. By converting the telephone number into a mail address format that can be transmitted via the mail server and recognized by the facsimile gateway, and sending the converted mail address to the mail server as a transmission destination, the facsimile function is not installed. In both cases, since facsimile communication is possible, it is possible to provide a user with a facsimile apparatus equipped with an easy-to-use and inexpensive Internet facsimile function.

  First, the features of the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. A facsimile apparatus (1) according to the present invention is connected to a mail server (2) and a facsimile gateway (3) via a LAN (4), and determines whether the destination type is facsimile communication or Internet facsimile communication at the time of transmission destination. When the facsimile communication is selected, the telephone number input when the facsimile communication is selected can be transmitted via the mail server (2), and the facsimile gateway (3) can recognize the mail. The data is converted into an address format, and the converted mail address is transmitted to the mail server (2) as a transmission destination. When the Internet facsimile communication is selected, the Internet fax mail address input when the Internet facsimile communication is selected is transmitted to the mail server (2) as a transmission destination.

A facsimile apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, a system configuration using a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  The facsimile apparatus (1) according to the present invention is used in the network environment shown in FIG. 1 and includes a general mail server (2), a facsimile gateway (3), and a facsimile apparatus (1). It is configured to be connected by a LAN (4). The connections between the devices do not need to be in the same subnet, and can be connected via a router (5) as shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile apparatus (1) according to the present invention can construct a network environment in which a plurality of facsimile apparatuses (devices 1 to 4) are connected.

  Next, the internal configuration of the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  The facsimile apparatus according to the present invention includes an operation unit (10), a LAN communication control unit (11), a system control unit (12), and a storage unit (13).

  The operation unit (10) performs settings and transmission operations necessary for operating the facsimile apparatus.

  The LAN communication control unit (11) controls communication with the mail server (2) and the facsimile gateway (3) shown in FIG.

  The system control unit (12) is configured to control the operation unit (10) and make necessary settings during the transmission operation. The system control unit (12) stores the contents set from the operation unit (10) in the storage unit (13). The system control unit (12) stores the image data received from the external communication device in the storage unit (13).

  The storage unit (13) temporarily stores image data received from an external communication device. Further, information necessary for operation of the facsimile apparatus set from the operation unit (10) is stored.

  Next, the processing operation in the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the following processing operations are the ITU-T recommendation T.30 according to the present invention. 37 is a processing operation performed in a facsimile machine having an internet facsimile function according to 37 and not equipped with a facsimile function.

  First, before performing the transmission operation, the address of the mail server (2) shown in FIG. 1 is set in advance by the IP address or the host name from the operation unit (10) and registered in the storage unit (13). There is a need. In addition, it is necessary to previously set items necessary for the transmission operation from the operation unit (10) and register them in the storage unit (13).

  First, a transmission operation is set from the operation unit (10), and the system control unit (12) starts a transmission operation of the facsimile apparatus (step S1). Next, the system control unit (12) displays a selection screen on the operation unit (10) to select the type of transmission destination. When the transmission destination type is selected from the operation unit (10), the system control unit (12) determines whether or not the facsimile is selected as the destination type (step S2).

  When the system control unit (12) determines that the facsimile is selected as the destination type (step S2 / YES), the system control unit (12) displays on the operation unit (10) to input the telephone number of the transmission destination. When the telephone number (for example, 0312345678) of the destination facsimile is input from the operation unit (10) (step S3), the system control unit (12) starts transmission (step S4). The control unit (12) converts the telephone number input from the operation unit (10) into a mail address format that can be transmitted via the mail server (2) and recognized by the facsimile gateway (3). (For example, FAX=012312456678@faxgw.abc) (step S5). In this embodiment, a case where a facsimile gateway equipped with an off-ramp gateway function defined in RFC2304 is used as an example of the facsimile gateway (3) will be described. However, the facsimile gateway (3) is dedicated to the facsimile apparatus (1) according to the present invention. When combined with the facsimile gateway apparatus, it is also possible to convert in a unique communication format.

  Next, the system control unit (12) transmits the mail address via the mail server (2) and is converted into a mail address format that can be recognized by the facsimile gateway (3) (for example, FAX = 00312345678 @ faxgw. abc) is designated as the transmission destination and transmitted to the mail server (2) (step S6).

  In step S2, when the system control unit (12) determines that Internet fax is selected as the destination type (step S2 / NO), the operation unit (12) inputs the mail address of the destination Internet fax. 10) Display above. When a destination mail address (for example, fax1@area1.abc) is input from the operation unit (10) (Step S7), the system control unit (12) starts transmission (Step S7). In S8, the system control unit (12) designates the mail address input from the operation unit (10) as it is as a transmission destination and transmits it to the mail server (2) (step S9).

  As described above, the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention displays on the operation unit (10) so as to select a facsimile or an Internet factory as a transmission destination type when specifying a transmission destination, When the facsimile is selected, a message is displayed on the operation unit (10) so that the telephone number of the transmission destination is input. When the telephone number of the facsimile of the transmission destination is input from the operation unit (10), the input The received telephone number can be transmitted via the mail server (2), converted into a mail address format that can be recognized by the facsimile gateway (3), and sent to the mail server (2) to be received from the Internet facsimile. Via a facsimile gateway (3) equipped with a function for forwarding to a facsimile device with a specified telephone number It is possible to transmit information to the facsimile device Shin destination telephone number. For this reason, since the facsimile communication function can be omitted from the facsimile system equipped with the Internet facsimile function, it is possible to provide a cheaper facsimile apparatus. In addition, since a line for facsimile communication can be shared by a plurality of facsimile apparatuses, the maintenance cost of the communication line can be made lower than before. In addition, it is possible to provide the user with the same communication function and usability as a facsimile apparatus equipped with an Internet facsimile communication function and a facsimile communication function. In the processing operation, the destination type selected in step S2 can be described in a communication result report or communication history list.

Next, a second embodiment will be described.
In the first embodiment, when a facsimile is designated as the transmission destination type, communication is performed with the facsimile gateway (3) via the mail server (2). When a facsimile is designated as the destination type, communication is performed directly with the facsimile gateway (3) without going through the mail server (2). Hereinafter, the processing operation in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in the second embodiment, before performing the transmission operation, the address of the mail server (2) and the address of the facsimile gateway (3) are set in advance from the operation unit (10) as the IP address or host name. And is registered in the storage unit (13). Further, other items necessary for the transmission operation are set in advance from the operation unit (10) and registered in the storage unit (13).

  First, a transmission operation is performed from the operation unit (10) to cause the system control unit (12) to start a transmission operation of the facsimile apparatus (step S10). Next, the system control unit (12) displays a selection screen on the operation unit (10) to select the type of transmission destination. When the transmission destination type is selected from the operation unit (10), the system control unit (12) determines whether or not the facsimile is selected as the destination type (step S11).

  When the system control unit (12) determines that the facsimile is selected as the destination type (step S11 / YES), the system control unit (12) displays on the operation unit (10) to input the telephone number of the transmission destination. When the telephone number (for example, 0312345678) of the destination facsimile is input from the operation unit (10) (step S12), the system control unit (12) starts transmission (step S13), and the system The control unit (12) converts the telephone number input from the operation unit (10) into a mail address format that can be recognized by the facsimile gateway (for example, FAX = 0123345678@faxgw.abc) (step S14). ). Next, the system control unit (12) designates the mail address converted in the mail address format that can be recognized by the facsimile gateway as a transmission destination and transmits the mail address to the facsimile gateway (3) (step S15).

  If the system control unit (12) determines that Internet fax is selected as the destination type (step S11 / NO), the system control unit (12) displays the mail address of the destination Internet fax on the operation unit (10). indicate. When an e-mail address (for example, fax1@area1.abc) is input from the operation unit (10) (step S16), the system control unit (12) starts transmission (step). In S17, the system control unit (12) designates the mail address input from the operation unit (10) as it is as a transmission destination and transmits it to the mail server (2) (step S18).

  As described above, in the second embodiment, when the factory destination is specified as the destination type, the mail server setting is performed by performing control so as to directly communicate with the factory gateway without going through the mail server. Since the network side setting is not required, communication processing can be performed only by setting the Internet fax and the facsimile gateway when using the facsimile gateway, and communication between the mail server and the facsimile gateway is required. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the load on the network.

Next, a third embodiment will be described.
Since the conventional Internet fax only knows the result of transmission to the mail server, there is a facsimile machine equipped with a function of knowing the result of mail transmission using MDN or DSN. However, whether or not there is a response depends on the communication device of the transmission destination and the mail server of the delivery route, and compatibility and useless processing occur. Therefore, mail transmission using MDN or DSN is performed. In the present situation, the above-mentioned function that can know the result is not used. Therefore, in the third embodiment, in order to construct a transmission result equivalent to the conventional one in the facsimile communication using the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, the ON / OFF of the delivery confirmation function is set to the transmission to the Internet fax and the facsimile. It is characterized in that it is constructed so that it is set independently for transmission to. In particular, since the facsimile apparatus of the second embodiment directly communicates with the facsimile gateway apparatus, it can know the transmission result equivalent to the conventional facsimile apparatus by combining with the facsimile gateway apparatus equipped with a response function for delivery confirmation. It becomes possible to be able to. The processing operation of the third embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG.

  First, when a transmission operation is performed from the operation unit (10) and the system control unit (12) starts a transmission operation of the facsimile apparatus, the system control unit (12) transmits using the LAN communication control unit (11). This is done (step S20). Next, the system control unit (12) displays a selection screen on the operation unit (10) to select the type of transmission destination. When the type of transmission destination is selected from the operation unit (10), the system control unit (12) determines the type of transmission destination, and determines whether or not the facsimile is selected as the destination type. (Step S21).

  When it is determined that the facsimile is selected as the destination type (step S21 / YES), the system control unit (12) determines ON / OFF of the delivery confirmation function to the facsimile (step S22). In step S22, when the system control unit (12) determines that the delivery confirmation function is ON (step S22 / YES), the system control unit (12) requests delivery confirmation and transmits to the facsimile. This is done (step S23). When the system control unit (12) determines that the delivery confirmation function is OFF (step S22 / NO), the system control unit (12) does not request delivery confirmation and performs transmission to the facsimile. (Step S24).

  In step S21, when the system control unit (12) determines that the transmission is to the Internet fax (step S21 / NO), the system control unit (12) turns ON / OFF the delivery confirmation function to the Internet fax. Is determined (step S25). When the system control unit (12) determines that the delivery confirmation function to the Internet fax is ON (step S25 / YES), the system control unit (12) requests delivery confirmation and transmits to the Internet fax. This is done (step S26). If the system control unit (12) determines that the function for confirming delivery to the Internet fax is OFF (step S25 / NO), the system control unit (12) sends the request to the Internet fax without requesting delivery confirmation. Transmission is performed (step S27).

  As described above, the third embodiment is equipped with a function for requesting delivery confirmation in the facsimile apparatus of the first and second embodiments described above, and ON / OFF of the delivery confirmation request is set as a transmission destination. By controlling so that Internet fax is specified separately from when fax is specified, transmission result reports and communication history lists can also be created without affecting communication between Internet faxes. It is possible to provide a user with the same function as an Internet facsimile machine equipped with a conventional facsimile communication function.

  As the above delivery confirmation function, it is conceivable to use MDN (specified in RFC 2298) or DSN (specified in RFC 1891, 1894), but the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention is a dedicated facsimile gateway apparatus. When combining, it is also possible to use a unique communication method.

  Further, similarly to the conventional Internet fax and facsimile apparatus, it is also possible to perform the following processes (1) to (3) by a response of delivery confirmation. (1) A transmission result report is output in response to the delivery confirmation. (2) The result of the delivery confirmation response is reflected in the transmission result of the communication history and a report is output. (3) When it is determined that the response result is an error in the response of the delivery confirmation, the document that could not be transmitted is kept as it is and is retransmitted.

  The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited only to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Implementation is possible.

  The facsimile apparatus and transmission method according to the present invention can be applied to a facsimile apparatus capable of sending and receiving mail via the Internet.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure which shows the network environment using the facsimile apparatus concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the facsimile apparatus concerning this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation in the facsimile apparatus of 1st Example concerning this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation in the facsimile apparatus of 2nd Example. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation in the facsimile apparatus of the 3rd Example.

Explanation of symbols

1 Facsimile machine 2 Mail server 3 Facsimile gateway 4 LAN
5 router 10 operation unit 11 LAN communication control unit 12 system control unit 13 storage unit

Claims (8)

A facsimile machine equipped with an Internet facsimile function,
A selection means for selecting facsimile communication or Internet facsimile communication as a destination type at the time of transmission destination;
A telephone number input when facsimile communication is selected by the selection means is converted into a mail address format that can be transmitted via a mail server and recognized by the facsimile gateway, and the converted mail address is sent to a destination. As a means to send to the mail server,
A facsimile apparatus comprising:   2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting, to a mail server, a mail address of an Internet fax inputted when Internet facsimile communication is selected by the selecting means.   A means for converting a telephone number input when facsimile communication is selected by the selecting means into a mail address format that can be recognized by the facsimile gateway, and transmitting the converted mail address to the facsimile gateway as a transmission destination; 3. A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: A delivery confirmation means for requesting confirmation of delivery of information and obtaining a delivery result of the requested information;
Determining means for determining whether the delivery confirmation request by the delivery confirmation means is valid or invalid, and
The determination means validates the delivery confirmation request by the delivery confirmation means when the selection means selects Internet facsimile communication as the transmission destination and when the selection means selects facsimile communication as the transmission destination. The facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein whether to make or disable is determined independently. A transmission method in a facsimile machine equipped with an Internet facsimile function,
A step of selecting facsimile communication or Internet facsimile communication as a destination type at the time of transmission destination;
The telephone number input when the facsimile communication is selected by the selection is converted into a mail address format that can be transmitted via the mail server and recognized by the facsimile gateway, and the converted mail address is used as the transmission destination. Sending to a mail server;
The facsimile apparatus performs the transmission.   6. The transmission method according to claim 5, wherein the facsimile apparatus performs the step of transmitting to the mail server the mail address of the Internet fax input when the Internet facsimile communication is selected by the selection as a transmission destination.   A step of converting a telephone number input when facsimile communication is selected by the selection into a mail address format recognizable by the facsimile gateway, and transmitting the converted mail address to the facsimile gateway as a transmission destination; The transmission method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein: The facsimile machine is
A delivery confirmation means for requesting delivery confirmation of information and obtaining a delivery result of the requested information;
Whether the delivery confirmation request by the delivery confirmation means is valid or invalid when Internet facsimile communication is selected as the transmission destination by the selection and when facsimile communication is selected as the transmission destination by the selection means The transmission method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the facsimile apparatus performs the step of independently determining the values.

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