JP3442236B2 - Gateway system transfer method and system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and system for transferring data between gateway systems, and more particularly, to converting an electronic mail transmitted from a terminal such as a personal computer into facsimile information or voice, and a destination of the electronic mail.
The present invention relates to a gateway system transfer method and system for delivering facsimile information and voice to a telephone number of a facsimile terminal or a telephone number of a general telephone designated in a part of the electronic mail such as a text.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronic mail transmitted from a terminal such as a personal computer is converted into facsimile information and voice, and a telephone number or general information is sent to a facsimile terminal designated as a part of the electronic mail such as a destination or a text of the electronic mail. In a gateway system that delivers facsimile information and voice to a telephone number of a telephone, if the gateway system is composed of multiple systems, the user of this service shall use the telephone and facsimile station numbers that he / she wants to make. Either the gateway system with the shortest communication distance is selected and transmitted, or the optimal gateway system is selected from the gateway systems accommodating the users, and the e-mails from the users are directly transferred to the target gateway.

Further, an electronic mail transmitted from a terminal such as a personal computer is converted into facsimile information and voice, and the telephone number of a facsimile terminal designated as a part of the electronic mail, such as the destination and text of the electronic mail, and general information. When a gateway system that delivers facsimile information and voice to a telephone number of a telephone, provides this service to general e-mail users and collects a fee for the sender of a facsimile output request mail, The user sets the sender to false and sends an email,
As a measure to prevent the act of imposing a fee to an unrelated subscriber, whether or not to provide a service by giving a function of generating a password etc. to the subscriber terminal device side that can be used There is a way to decide.

[0004]

However, in the above gateway system, the user selects the gateway system closest to the telephone or facsimile station number that the user wants to make, or the gateway system in which the user is accommodated is the most suitable. To select the gateway system and transfer the e-mail to the target gateway system, refer to the information on the e-mail on the Internet.
Since it is possible to disguise the sender information, general e-mail users falsely set other gateway systems recognized by the gateway system providing the service to the sender information, By sending an electronic mail to the system, facsimile output and voice output can be illegally performed. The service provider side has to bear the call charges due to these unauthorized use, and will incur a charge loss.

Further, the electronic mail transmitted from a terminal such as the conventional personal computer is converted into facsimile information and voice, and the telephone of the facsimile terminal designated as a part of the electronic mail, such as the destination and body of the electronic mail. When using a gateway system that delivers fax information and voice to a number or general telephone number to provide the service to general e-mail users, the user who wishes to receive the service must be informed in advance. It is necessary to provide a device configuration or software for generating a password or the like and have it installed on the subscriber terminal side.
Such a method not only inconveniences the user who wants to receive the service such as setting work, but also supports various environments in which the user uses e-mail on the service provider side. It is necessary to prepare a device or software for generating the password and the like, and conversely, if the environment that the subscriber can use is limited, there is a problem that a wide range of subscribers cannot be acquired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the original gateway system that transfers a facsimile output and voice output request performs user authentication for providing facsimile output and voice output services. It is possible to prevent unauthorized use by setting up false callers by other Internet users to eliminate mail sent by pretending to be gateway-to-gateway transfer, and an inexpensive call charge system It is an object of the present invention to provide a gateway inter-system transfer method and system capable of constructing.

Further, according to the present invention, the malicious user sets false callers on the gateway system side without changing the e-mail use environment of the users who desire to receive the service. An object of the present invention is to provide a gateway system transfer method and system capable of preventing unauthorized use by sending an email, detecting an act of charging an unrelated subscriber, and separating and eliminating the email. .

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the first principle of the present invention. A first invention converts an electronic mail transmitted from a terminal including a personal computer into facsimile information and voice, and a destination of the electronic mail, a telephone number of a facsimile terminal designated as a part of the electronic mail including a text, and In the inter-gateway system transfer method that transfers facsimile information and voice to a telephone number of a general telephone between gateways on the Internet , when the gateway system is composed of multiple systems, the gateway system that accepts an e-mail ( Step 1), analyzing the telephone number of the delivery destination facsimile terminal or ordinary telephone, and determining whether to output to the own gateway system or to transfer to another gateway system (step 2), and the result of the determination , Transfer to other gateway system Expediently, based on the analyzed directory number, to determine the email address of the most economical gateway system (Step 3), the e-mail which is received to determined the e-mail address and forwards (Step 4) If the result of the determination is that it is to be output by the own gateway system, it is output to the terminal of the delivery destination specified based on the electronic mail request (step 5).

The present invention also accepts electronic mail,
As a result of analyzing the delivery destination facsimile terminal and ordinary telephone number, when transferring to another gateway system on the Internet , in the gatewayed e-mail,
Information identifying the hardware included in the transfer source gateway system, information for uniquely identifying the electronic mail, the mail Ales information of the originator of the e-mail, and the rolling <br/> Okumoto gateway system, the Encrypt with an encryption method known only to the transfer destination gateway system, and send the encrypted encrypted information to the transfer destination gateway system,
The transfer-destination gateway system decrypts the transferred encrypted information by the decryption method of the encryption method registered in advance, and accepts the e-mail only when the decrypted information can be decrypted.

In addition to the encrypted information, the present invention transfers the electronic mail from the transfer source gateway system to the transfer destination gateway system on the Internet .
The content of the email is also encrypted and sent as an encrypted email.

Further, the present invention provides that the electronic mail transferred from the transfer source gateway system on the Internet to the transfer destination gateway system, the encrypted electronic mail, or the encrypted information is transferred to the transfer source gateway system in advance. The data is compressed and transferred using the data compression method set in the transfer destination gateway system.

[0012] In addition, the present invention is, of judgment result, Internet
If the e-mail has been transferred from another gateway system on the Internet and is output at the gateway itself, it is checked whether the gateway system to which the e-mail is transferred is valid. In addition, the present invention provides, inter
In the gateway system of the transfer source of the electronic mail on the net, the information for identifying the hardware of the transfer source gateway system of the inter-gateway electronic mail to be transferred, the information for uniquely identifying the electronic mail, the information of the electronic mail The sender's mail address information is encrypted by an encryption method known only to the transfer source gateway system and the transfer destination gateway system, an inter-gateway e-mail is generated and transferred to the transfer destination gateway system, and the transfer destination gateway system is generated. Then, the encrypted inter-gateway e-mail is decrypted using the information for identifying the hardware of the transfer source gateway system registered in advance, and the transmission of the e-mail included in the transferred inter-gateway e-mail. Email address information and e-mail To check whether to match the information in order to uniquely identify.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the second principle of the present invention. A second invention is to convert an electronic mail transmitted from a terminal including a personal computer into facsimile information and voice, and to specify a destination of the electronic mail and a telephone number of a facsimile terminal designated as a part of the electronic mail including a text, gateway facsimile information and audio to the telephone number of the general telephone, between the gateway system transfer method for transferring between gateways on the Internet, if the gateway system is configured with a plurality of systems on the Internet, which has received the e-mail In the system (step 10), the legitimacy of the source terminal of the e-mail is checked (step 11). If the result of the check is that the source terminal is legitimate, the delivery destination facsimile terminal or ordinary telephone call Analyze the number and output it in your gateway system Whether or not to transfer to another gateway system (step 12). As a result of the judgment, when transferring to another gateway system, the most economical gateway system based on the analyzed telephone number. Of the received email address is determined (step 13), the accepted email is transferred to the determined email address (step 14), and as a result of the determination, if the gateway system outputs the email, the email request is issued. The data is output to the designated delivery destination terminal (step 15).

Further, according to the present invention, when checking the legitimacy of the terminal of the originator of the electronic mail, the address information of the terminal which is permitted to originate the call is registered in advance, and the terminal of the originator sends the electronic information. When the mail is transmitted, the address information of the transmission-permitted terminal is referred to, and the electronic mail from the unregistered transmission source terminal is discarded.

Further, according to the present invention, when checking the legitimacy of the terminal of the sender of the electronic mail, in the gateway system of the transfer source, the address of the terminal of the sender of the electronic mail is received every time the electronic mail is received. Information is retained as history information, and history information is searched based on the address information of the source terminal included in the received electronic mail, and there is information that matches the address information of the source terminal. Also, the electronic mail is accepted only when the address information is output in advance.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the first principle of the present invention. A third invention is a conversion means for converting an electronic mail transmitted from a terminal including a personal computer into facsimile information or voice, and a telephone of a facsimile terminal designated as a part of the electronic mail including the destination and body of the electronic mail. number and the facsimile information or voice to the telephone number of the general telephone, a gateway system between transfer system having a plurality of gate way system having a delivery means for delivering between gateway system on the Internet, Lee
It accepts electronic mail via the Internet, analyzes the telephone numbers of delivery destination facsimile terminals and ordinary telephones, and outputs the information contained in the electronic mail from the gateway system, or other means on the Internet . The number analysis means 1 for determining whether or not to transfer the e-mail to the gateway system, and as a result of being analyzed by the number analysis means, when transferring to another gateway system, the electronic mail of the most economical gateway system based on the telephone number. Address determining means 41 for determining an email address,
The gateway system has a transfer unit 42 that transfers the received electronic mail to the determined electronic mail address via the Internet .

Further, when the transfer means 42 of the gateway system transfers the telephone number to another gateway system as a result of analyzing the telephone number in the number analyzing means 1,
Information for identifying the hardware of the transfer source gateway system of the inter-gateway electronic mail to be transferred, information for uniquely identifying the electronic mail, and mail address information of the sender of the electronic mail are referred to as the transfer source gateway system. The transfer destination gateway system further includes an encryption unit that performs encryption by an encryption method known only to the transfer destination gateway system, and the transfer destination gateway system uses a pre-registered decryption method of the encryption method to transfer between the encrypted gateways. It has a decryption means for decrypting the information of the electronic mail and accepting the electronic mail only when the information can be decrypted.

The above-mentioned encryption means includes electronic mail encryption means for encrypting the content of the electronic mail in addition to the encrypted information and transmitting the encrypted electronic mail. Further, the transfer means in advance, data compression hand set
Has a step, by using the data compressing means, the e-mail to be transferred to the transfer destination gateway system, the encrypted e-mail, or the compression means for compressing the encrypted information using the data compression method Have more.

Further, the address determining means has a transfer destination table in which address information for selecting a transfer destination gateway system is preset, and by referring to the transfer destination table, the e-mail transferred is transferred. Includes means for determining the most economical gateway system email address based on the forwarding telephone number.

Further, according to the present invention, the confirmation table having the information for identifying the hardware of the transfer source gateway system registered in advance and the number analysis means output the information corresponding to the electronic mail request in the own gateway system. When it is determined, the transfer source gateway confirmation means for decoding the encrypted information using the information for identifying the hardware of the transfer source gateway system in the confirmation table and confirming the validity of the transfer source gateway system Further has.

FIG. 4 is a second principle configurational diagram of the present invention. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conversion means for converting an electronic mail transmitted from a terminal including a personal computer into facsimile information or voice information, and a facsimile terminal designated as a part of the electronic mail including the destination and body of the electronic mail. A gateway system transfer system having a plurality of gateway systems having delivery means for delivering facsimile information or voice to a telephone number or a telephone number of a general telephone between gateway systems on the Internet , accepting an electronic mail, Terminal confirmation means 11 for checking the legitimacy of the terminal of the sender of the electronic mail, and if the terminal confirmation means 11 can confirm the legitimacy of the terminal of the sender, the facsimile terminal of the delivery destination, the telephone number of the ordinary telephone Analyze and output the information contained in the email by the gateway system. Or intended to be, or, Inter
The number analysis means 1 for determining whether to transfer the e-mail to another gateway system on the net, and as a result of being analyzed by the number analysis means, when transferring to another gateway system, it is most economical based on the telephone number. The gateway system has an address determining means 41 for determining an electronic mail address of the gateway system and a transfer means 42 for transferring the received electronic mail to the determined electronic mail address via the Internet .

Further, the above-mentioned terminal confirmation means 11 is beforehand
When an e-mail is sent from the sender's terminal and the permission address management means that holds the address information of the terminals that are permitted to output, the permission address management means is referred to Check means for discarding the e-mail.

Further, the terminal confirmation means 11 has a history information management means for holding the address information of the terminal of the sender of the e-mail as history information every time the e-mail is received, and the output is permitted in advance. The address information of the transfer source terminal included in the electronic mail when the electronic mail is received from the terminal of the sender of the electronic mail, The permission address management means is searched to check whether the terminal of the sender of the received electronic mail is valid, and if the validity is not recognized, a check means for discarding the electronic mail is further provided.

As described above, according to the present invention, in the gateway system accommodating the terminal of the sender of the electronic mail, when the electronic mail is received, the FAX / telephone number of the transfer destination described in the electronic mail is used. Based on this, select the most economical transfer destination gateway system and transfer the received e-mail to the e-mail address of the gateway system, so that inexpensive internet communication can be used in the inter-gateway system transfer. It becomes possible to economically transmit the FAX to the transfer destination terminal.

Further, according to the present invention, when the electronic mail is transmitted between the gateway systems, the content of the electronic mail is encrypted and transferred so that the received gateway system shares it with the transfer source gateway system. Information can be kept confidential by decrypting with an encryption system.

Further, according to the present invention, when transmitting an electronic mail between gateway systems, the amount of communication in the network is reduced by compressing and transferring the content of the electronic mail. Further, according to the present invention, the information for identifying the hardware included in the transfer source gateway system is set in advance, and the transfer source gateway system included in the transferred electronic mail has the hardware included in the transfer source gateway system. It is possible to confirm the legitimacy of the gateway system of the transfer source by determining whether or not the information corresponds to the information identifying the. It can be output to the terminal. Information that identifies the hardware of the transfer source gateway system (for example, host name)
Uses the decryption key when decrypting the encrypted electronic mail information, so that the information encrypted by the malicious user cannot be decrypted.

Further, according to the present invention, by checking the legitimacy of the terminal which is the source of the electronic mail, it becomes possible to reject the electronic mail sent from the terminal which is not valid.

[0028]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 5 is a first block diagram of a gateway system transfer system according to the present invention. The inter-gateway system transfer system shown in the figure includes an e-mail receiving section 1, an e-mail-facsimile (hereinafter referred to as FAX) / speech conversion section 2, a FAX / speech output section 3, an inter-gateway transmission / transfer section 4, a transfer destination number. The expansion table 5, the host management table 6, and the inter-gateway transfer receiving unit 7 are included.

The e-mail receiving unit 1 receives a fax from the user.
The voice output request e-mail and the inter-gateway transfer e-mail transferred from another gateway system are input. As a result, the e-mail receiving unit 1 extracts the information of the output content and the information of the FAX / telephone number to be output from the input e-mail. Note that the extraction method uses an existing method of extracting internal information from a normal electronic mail, and the present invention does not particularly define the method.
Further, the electronic mail receiving section 1 has a function of checking whether the source terminal is valid, which will be described in detail later.

The e-mail-fax / speech conversion unit 2 outputs the information of the output content extracted by the e-mail receiving unit 1 as F
Convert to image and audio information that can be output to AX and audio. The conversion method used here is to convert normal data to FAX.
And an existing method of converting the audio information into audio information is used, and the method is not specified in the present invention.

The FAX / voice output section 3 sends an e-mail message to the FAX number extracted by the e-mail receiving section 1.
The FAX image and voice information input from the FAX / voice converter 2 is output. Note that the FAX / voice output method here uses an existing method of outputting by using a modem device compatible with the FAX procedure and a method of synthesizing voice and outputting through a telephone, which will not be particularly described here.

The inter-gateway transfer / transmission unit 4 converts the content of the e-mail determined to be inter-gateway transfer by the e-mail receiving unit 1 into the inter-gateway transfer format, and adds information for inter-gateway transfer. , Transfer to the target gateway via Internet email. The inter-gateway transfer / transmission unit 4 is
It is assumed that the transfer information is encrypted and compressed when transferred to the target gateway. Note that the encryption and compression methods use existing methods and will not be described here.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of the transfer destination number expansion table of the present invention. The transfer destination expansion table 5 shown in FIG.
Corresponding to the area codes of FAX / telephone numbers nationwide, the optimum gateway system addresses for outputting them to the FAX and the telephone are stored and referred to by the inter-gateway transmission / transfer section 4.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of the host management table of the present invention. The host management table 6 shown in the figure stores the host ID of the device in correspondence with the address of the gateway system shown in FIG. 6, and is referred to by the inter-gateway transfer receiving unit 7.

The inter-gateway transfer receiving section 7 extracts the sender from the received e-mail and transfers between them when the e-mail receiving section 1 determines that the e-mail has been transferred between the gateways. The information added for the above is collated with the host management table 6 to determine whether or not it is really transferred from another gateway system. If there is no match in the matching process, it is determined to be abnormal, and if there is an email that is determined to be abnormal, the email is discarded and the output contents of only compatible email are registered in advance. Extracted by performing decoding and expansion according to the specified method,
The FAX number of the output destination is extracted and input to the electronic mail-FAX / voice converter 2. Note that the extraction method also uses an existing method of extracting internal information from a normal electronic mail, and is not particularly described here. The decryption and decompression method also uses the existing method corresponding to the encryption and compression method used by the transfer source gateway, and is not particularly specified in the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sequence chart for explaining the transfer method of the gateway system according to the present invention. Step 101) The receiving gateway 200 receives the electronic mail from the transfer source terminal 100 which is the user.
At this time, in the method described later, it is determined whether the transfer source terminal is a valid terminal, and if the validity is not recognized, the subsequent processing is not performed.

Step 102) Receiving gateway 20
0: Phone / Fax of the destination included in the e-mail
Based on the number, it is determined whether the information corresponding to the request for the e-mail is output from the gateway system itself or transferred to another gateway system connected to the Internet.

Step 103) Transfer source gateway 2
When outputting in the gateway system 200, the inter-gateway transfer receiving unit 7 of 00 generates information for the e-mail by the e-mail-fax / speech conversion unit 2, and the e-mail is sent from the fax / speech output unit 3. Output to the specified terminal.

Step 104) Further, when transferring at the transfer source gateway 200, the inter-gateway transmission transfer unit 4 refers to the transfer destination number expansion table 5 and transfers to the transfer destination gateway 300. At this time, encryption and compression processing is performed as necessary.

Step 105) The e-mail receiving unit 1 of the transfer destination gateway system 300 determines whether the e-mail is transferred to another transfer destination gateway or FAX / voice information is output in the own gateway 300, and the other When forwarding to another gateway, the email is forwarded to the other gateway.

Step 106) Own gateway 300
In the case of the output, the inter-gateway transfer reception unit 7 refers to the host management table 6 to check whether the transfer source gateway 300 is valid, and whether there is a host ID corresponding to the gateway address in advance. Is confirmed, and the legitimacy of the gateway 200 of the transfer source is confirmed.

Step 107) If the validity cannot be confirmed, the electronic mail is discarded. Step 108) When the validity can be confirmed, the electronic mail-FAX / voice conversion processing unit 2 converts the information corresponding to the request of the electronic mail into FAX information or voice information.

Step 109) Transfer destination gateway 3
The FAX / voice output unit 3 of 00 outputs the converted FAX information to the transfer destination terminal 400 designated as the transfer destination of the electronic mail. Next, a system for confirming the validity of electronic mail will be described.

FIG. 9 is a second block diagram of the gateway system transfer system of the present invention. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 5 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The configuration shown in FIG. 9 is a detailed configuration of the electronic mail receiving unit 1 having the configuration shown in FIG. 5, and includes a history acquisition unit 8, a history storage unit 9, a transmission permission table 10, a transmission source check unit 11, and a transfer. This is a configuration in which the distribution unit 12 is provided. Among these functions, the function of transfer distribution in the electronic mail receiving section 1 has been described above.

The history acquisition unit 8 acquires the address information of the transfer source of the electronic mail received by the electronic mail reception unit 1 and transfers the address information to the history storage unit 9. As a result, the history storage unit 9 accumulates the transfer source address information and is referred to by the transmission source check unit 11. In the call permission table 10, address information of a terminal that may provide a service to a user who is a sender of an electronic mail is set in advance. The transmission source check unit 11 collates both the history storage unit 9 and the address information stored in the transmission permission table 10, and if the collation is successful, the control is transferred to the transfer distribution unit 12. That is, only when the address of the transfer source terminal exists in the history storage unit 9 and the address of the terminal exists in the transmission permission table 10, the transfer corresponding to the request of the received e-mail is designated. It is transferred to the gateway accommodating the destination terminal or to the e-mail-FAX / speech conversion unit 2 of its own gateway.

Other processing is the same as the operation shown in FIG.

[0047]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 10 is an example of an e-mail-FAX output service using the gateway according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The system configuration shown in the figure comprises a user terminal 20 in Tokyo, destination FAX terminals 30, 40, gateway systems 50, 60, 70, commercial Internet 80 and telephone network 90. (1) In the same figure, the user terminal 20 in Tokyo sends an e-mail requesting a fax output to the gateway system 70 in Tokyo with which the user terminal 20 is registered. The content of the e-mail includes the sender address of the mail, the FAX number of the output destination,
It includes request information such as output contents.

(2) The gateway system 70 in Tokyo, which has received the request e-mail, extracts the address of the mail sender and determines in advance to its own gateway system 70 in order to judge whether the service can be provided to the user. It is checked by searching the address information registered in the transmission permission table 10.

(3) For the output request mail determined to be serviceable by the above (2), the inter-gateway transmission transfer unit 4 refers to the transfer destination number expansion table 5 based on the output destination FAX number, Determine the gateway of the transfer destination. In the case of the figure, the telephone number "06-xxx"
The gateway system 50 in Osaka corresponding to "x-xxxx" serves as the service destination. Here, if there is no setting in the transfer destination number expansion table 5, it is output to the destination FAX by directly making a call from the own gateway. To do.

(4) When the transfer destination is set in the transfer destination number expansion table 5 in (3) above, the transfer control information (if necessary) is sent to the corresponding gateway system 50 in the output request e-mail. The encrypted e-mail, which has been encrypted and compressed, is sent accordingly.

(5) In the gateway system 50 in Osaka, which is the receiving side, by referring to the transfer control information in the electronic mail, it is judged whether the mail is transferred from another gateway, and the other gateway. If it is determined that the transfer control information is valid, the inter-gateway transfer receiving unit 7 refers to the host management table 6 to check whether the transfer control information is valid. If it is an encrypted electronic mail, it is decrypted using the contents of the host management table 6 and the validity of the transfer control information is checked.

(6) If it is determined by the above (5) that the mail is a legitimate transfer mail, the contents of the electronic mail are output to the designated FAX number. Next, the outline of the transfer operation between gateway systems will be described. Figure 11
FIG. 3 shows a gateway-to-gateway transfer sequence according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the output request e-mail a is transferred from the user terminal 100 to the transfer source gateway system A (step 201). Thereby, in the transfer source gateway system A, the history acquisition unit 8 stores the address information of the sender in the history storage unit 9 based on the sender name of the output request mail a. Further, the transmission source check unit 11 refers to the transmission permission table 10 to check the validity of the caller. Here, when the validity of the sender of the output request mail a is confirmed and the mail a is a mail to be transferred to another gateway system B, the inter-gateway transmission transfer unit 4 determines the transfer destination number. With reference to the expansion table 5, the most recent (most economical) transfer destination gateway assigned to the telephone number is determined, the own gateway name (A), the sender name, and the message ID are used as keywords, and Output request email a
Generates an inter-gateway transfer e-mail b containing the contents of the above and transfers it to the transfer destination gateway B (step 20)
2).

The transfer destination gateway B refers to the host management table 6 for the transferred inter-gateway transfer e-mail b, and is the host name (A) of the transfer source gateway A stored in the table 6? Is checked, and whether the keyword attached to the received e-mail and the sender name and the message ID in the output request e-mail included in the inter-gateway transfer e-mail b match are checked. Only, the electronic mail b is output to the transfer destination terminal designated as the destination (step 203).

Next, an example for determining whether the gateway system of the transfer source in the present invention is a legitimate gateway system will be described. Two gateway systems in the Internet (gateway systems A and B)
Are connected and each has the following address. These have the following host IDs.

[0057]

[Equation 1]

It is assumed that the above-mentioned telephone number (FAX number) is designated from the user terminal having the user sender name shown above. The information shown in FIG. 6 is registered in the transfer destination number expansion table 5 of the gateway system A, while the information shown in FIG. 7 is registered in the host management table 6 of the gateway system B. And

When the e-mail reception processing unit 1 of the gateway system A receives the e-mail, the e-mail reception processing unit 1 determines the contents of the fax output / voice output and the output fax / telephone number.
Since the e-mail has the area code starting with "06", "fax" from the transfer destination number expansion table 5 shown in FIG.
eq2. domain. co. It is determined to be the inter-gateway transfer to the gateway system B having the address "jp" and is transferred to the inter-gateway transfer transmitting unit 4.

The inter-gateway transfer / transmission unit 4 receives the FAX / voice output contents and the output FAX /
Telephone number and user caller name

[0061]

[Equation 2]

A mail for inter-gateway transfer is created from the request message ID "AAAAA". The e-mail transferred between the gateways includes the fax output / sound output content and the output destination F designated by the user.
User caller name in addition to AX / telephone number

[0063]

[Equation 3]

And request message ID "AAAAAA"
Is added with a keyword character string encrypted using the host ID of the gateway A itself as a key. As a place to add the information, a keyword starting from "X-", which is permitted to be expanded in the procedure of electronic mail, is used and set.

If the keyword character string is added to the received inter-gateway transfer mail, the e-mail reception processing section 1 of the gateway system B on the receiving side judges that the mail is the reception mail between the gateways, and the inter-gateway transfer processing section 7 Enter the information received in.

The inter-gateway transfer / reception processing unit 7 extracts the address of the mail transferor (gateway system A) included in the transfer mail, and registers the host ID “X” of the gateway system A registered in the host management table 6.
XXX "is obtained. The host I thus obtained
The request user name included in the FAX output content after decrypting the keyword character string with D

[0067]

[Equation 4]

Also, it is confirmed whether or not the request message ID "AAAAAA" matches. If they match, the FAX / sound contents and the destination FAX / telephone number are input to the e-mail-FAX / speech conversion processing unit 2, and the F of the designated delivery destination terminal is input.
Output image to AX or output voice to telephone. If the decrypted result is the request user name and request message ID
If does not match, the request is regarded as an invalid request and the request is discarded.

Next, a specific example of checking the legitimacy of the electronic mail sender terminal will be described. Here, it is assumed that the gateway (GW1) is connected to the Internet, and that the gateway GW1 now has an output request by the following e-mail from a user having the user sender name shown below.

[0070]

[Equation 5]

When the electronic mail reception processing section 1 receives the output request from the user sender, the history acquisition section 8 stores the transmission / reception information shown in FIG. Input to the check unit 11. The sender check unit 11 extracts the user sender name (A) in the e-mail transfer information from the information of FIG. 13 set in the history storage unit 9 and, from the contents of the e-mail acquired at the same time, the electronic mail concerned. The user sender name (B) of the mail is extracted. These (A) and (B) are collated,
If they match, the transmission permission table 10 shown in FIG.
Check if the sender name is registered in. If registered, the content of the electronic mail is transferred to the transfer destination distribution unit 12. Otherwise, the request email is discarded as an error. In this example,
Since (A) and (B) do not match, the request is discarded.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the procedure used for transfer between gateways on the Internet is based on the existing electronic mail transfer procedure. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications and applications are possible within the scope of the claims.

[0073]

As described above, according to the inter-gateway-system transfer method and system of the present invention, the gateway system is arranged in various places on the Internet, and the transfer table of each system is properly set, so that the delivery request can be made. A relatively high pay-as-you-go rate by transferring the existing emails via the Internet to the email address of the most economical (low cost) gateway system according to the area code of the specified telephone number The communication distance can be shortened, inexpensive Internet can be used for (a part of) communication, and FAX can be economically transmitted.

Further, according to the present invention, when transferring a fax output request e-mail received from a user between gateway systems, the host ID of the transfer source is used as a key to uniquely identify the sender information and mail. By adding the data encrypted with the message ID specified in 1) to the mail and transferring it, and decrypting it using the registered host ID, a malicious sender intercepts the transferred mail and uses the same keyword or sender name. Is intentionally added to mail sent directly from myself to fake transfer between gateways,
It is possible to prevent unauthorized output to the FAX and easily separate the FAX output request directly requested by the inter-gateway transfer mail in the transfer destination gateway system.

Further, according to the present invention, a gateway system capable of outputting the contents of an electronic mail transmitted from the terminal such as a personal computer via the Internet to a designated FAX terminal number and a telephone terminal can be used by general electronic mail users. When providing this service and performing a service to collect a fee for the sender of the fax / voice output request mail, collate the sender's address information acquired by the electronic mail transfer processing software and the electronic mail reception processing unit. This prevents malicious users from sending an email with a sender set to false and inflicting charges to unrelated subscribers, and without specifying the environment in which the subscriber can use,
By making it possible to provide services, a wide range of subscribers can be acquired, and it becomes easy to support service providers.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a first principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the second principle of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a first principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a second principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a first configuration diagram of the inter-gateway system transfer system of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration example of a transfer destination number expansion table of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration example of a host management table of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sequence chart for explaining a transfer method of the gateway system according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a second configuration diagram of the inter-gateway system transfer system of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an example of an e-mail-FAX output service using the gateway according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a gateway-to-gateway transfer sequence according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an example of a call origination permission table according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an example of contents set in a history storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Number analysis means, email receiver 2 E-mail-FAX / voice converter 3 FAX / voice output section 4 Gateway-to-gate transfer unit 5 Transfer destination number expansion table 6 Host management table 7 Inter-gateway transfer receiver 8 History acquisition section 9 History storage 10 Call permission table 11 Terminal confirmation means, sender check section 12 Transfer distribution unit 41 Address determination means 42 Transfer means 20 user terminal (source) 30,40 Destination FAX terminal 50,60,70 Gateway system 80 Commercial Internet 90 telephone network 100 user terminals

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page       (56) Reference JP-A-8-186598 (JP, A)                 JP-A-8-204701 (JP, A)                 JP-A-7-87248 (JP, A)                 JP-A-8-163269 (JP, A)                 Special table flat 6-503911 (JP, A)

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electronic mail transmitted from a terminal including a personal computer is converted into facsimile information and voice, and a facsimile terminal designated as a part of the electronic mail including the destination of the electronic mail and a telephone number of a general telephone. in between gateway system transfer method for transferring facsimile information and sound gateways, when the gateway system is configured with a plurality of systems, the gateway system accepts the electronic mail, destination facsimile terminal or a general telephone The telephone number is analyzed and it is determined whether to output it in its own gateway system or to transfer it to another gateway system. As a result of the determination, when it is output in its own gateway system, it is based on the request of the e-mail. Output to the specified destination terminal , When transferred to another gateway system, based on the analyzed directory number to determine the email address of the most economical transfer destination gateway system, the source gateway system and the rolling
Depending on the encryption method known only to the destination gateway system
The email address information of the sender of the email and
A code consisting of information for uniquely identifying the e-mail.
Generate encrypted information and send the encrypted information to the gateway electronic
Transmitted to the transfer destination gateway system is added to the mail, in the transfer destination gateway system, decodes the encryption of information transferred by the decoding method previously registered encryption method, only if can be decrypted said Accepts inter-gateway email and further decrypts the email
The sender's email address information and the email
A gateway system characterized by collating the information for intentionally identifying with the mail address information of the sender of the electronic mail included in the inter-gateway electronic mail and the information for uniquely identifying the electronic mail. Transfer method. 2. When transferring the electronic mail from the transfer source gateway system to the transfer destination gateway system, in addition to the encrypted information, the content of the electronic mail is also encrypted and transmitted as an encrypted electronic mail. The inter-gateway system transfer method according to claim 1. 3. The e-mail transferred from the transfer source gateway system to the transfer destination gateway system, the encrypted e-mail, or the encrypted information is set in advance in the transfer source gateway system and the transfer destination gateway system. 3. The inter-gateway system transfer method according to claim 1, wherein the transfer is performed by compressing using the compressed data compression method. 4. A conversion means for converting an electronic mail transmitted from a terminal including a personal computer into facsimile information and voice, and a facsimile terminal and a general telephone designated as a part of the electronic mail including the destination and body of the electronic mail. Is a gateway system inter-transfer system having a plurality of gateway systems having delivery means for delivering facsimile information and voice to the telephone number of the gateway system, wherein the gateway system accepting the e-mail is
Number analysis means that analyzes the telephone number of the destination facsimile terminal or ordinary telephone and determines whether it is output from its own gateway system or transferred to another gateway system, and the result analyzed by the number analysis means ,
When transferring to another gateway system, an address determining means that determines the e-mail address of the most economical destination gateway system based on the telephone number, and the transfer
Source gateway system and transfer destination gateway system
Sending the e-mail using an encryption method known only to
Person's email address information and the e-mail
Encryption that generates encrypted information consisting of information for differentiating
And the encrypted information to the gateway gateway e-mail
And a transfer means for transferring to the transfer destination gateway system and pressurized, the transfer destination gateway system decodes the encryption of information transferred by the decoding method previously registered encryption method, it can be decrypted Only if the decryption means accepts the inter-gateway e-mail and the decrypted e-mail
The sender's email address information and the email
It has information for uniquely identifying the transfer source gateway confirmation means for collating the information for uniquely identifying the e-mail originator's email address information and the electronic mail included in the gateway between electronic mail A transfer system between gateway systems characterized by the following. 5. The inter-gateway system according to claim 4, wherein the encryption means includes an email encryption means for encrypting the content of the email in addition to the encryption information and transmitting the encrypted email. Transfer system. 6. The transfer means has a data compression method set in advance, and is an electronic mail, the encrypted electronic mail, or the electronic mail transferred to the transfer destination gateway system by using the data compression method. 6. The inter-gateway system transfer system according to claim 4, further comprising a compression unit that compresses encrypted information using the data compression method. 7. The address determining means has a transfer destination table in which address information for selecting the transfer destination gateway system is preset, and the electronic data transferred by referring to the transfer destination table. 5. The inter-gateway system transfer system according to claim 4, further comprising means for determining an electronic mail address of the most economical gateway system based on a telephone number to which the mail is transferred.