KR200178923Y1 - Service system for integrating an electronic mail and a facsimile - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is easy to adapt to the Internet business (e-Business) environment by the development of the Internet technology, and can activate the use of e-mail (Email) in small and medium enterprises with insufficient network infrastructure construction, and furthermore, in the case of a company without a network In addition, the present invention provides an integrated e-mail / fax service system that enables the receipt of an e-mail through a fax in real time.

The e-mail / fax integrated service system is configured to temporarily store e-mail received by the DNS server and the mail server 21 on the Internet network 10, and transmit the e-mail to the user PCs 31 and 32 according to the user's request. An e-mail service system comprising: copying and storing an e-mail received for an e-mail service and a fax service in the mail server 21, and transmitting the e-mail to the fax server 22 for a fax service; Receives the transmitted e-mail, converts the e-mail data into facsimile image data, retrieves a fax number from the user database 25, and automatically converts the converted facsimile image data through a public telephone network (PSTN) and a modem. And a user server 25 for storing a fax number in association with an e-mail ID for carrying out the fax service transmitted to the faxes (41, 42). It is done.

Description

Email / Fax Integrated Service System {SERVICE SYSTEM FOR INTEGRATING AN ELECTRONIC MAIL AND A FACSIMILE}

The present invention relates to an integrated e-mail / fax service system, and more particularly, to an e-business environment that is easily adapted to the e-business environment by the development of internet technology, and to an e-mail in a small and medium-sized business that lacks a network infrastructure. The present invention relates to an integrated e-mail / fax service system that enables the use of a network, and, in the case of a non-networked enterprise, to receive e-mail in real time through a fax.

In a conventional Internet network, an e-mail is transmitted and received by a domain name management server (DNS) and a mail server through an IP address (or URL) or an e-mail address, and received by a user checking or releasing the e-mail service provider system. E-mail can be checked.

Various methods have been developed to confirm the reception of such e-mails.

For example, a communication method and a communication terminal device capable of promptly informing a receiving party to send and receive e-mails transmitted and received from an internet computer communication network, and automatically and immediately receiving e-mails from a computer communication network are disclosed. As disclosed in No. 1998-012937, this method includes information indicating that the sender sends an e-mail to the Internet, and then requests the receiving party to receive the e-mail by G3 or G4 fax communication. The request information) is stored in the NSS signal, and if the request information is received in the NSS signal, it is configured to automatically dial up the provider and receive an e-mail after facsimile communication.

In addition, a facsimile function device, a facsimile device and a computer device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1997-068469 are connected via a communication path between a facsimile device (fax) connected to a line and a computer device connected to the Internet. In a facsimile apparatus comprising a computer, when the input information indicating the other side shows an Internet address, the image data is transmitted to the computer device, and the electronic device receives the e-mail data obtained by file-converting the image data by the computer device. And transmit this e-mail data via the Internet.

In addition, the facsimile function device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1997-060844 is configured so that one device can automatically select any one of the Internet and other public lines to transmit and receive the originals. A counterpart determining means (switching control section, a file converting section for converting facsimile image data into e-mail data) and a counterpart determining means for determining whether the input counterpart is an Internet address or a facsimile number; And control means (switching control unit and switching unit) for converting the facsimile image data into electronic mail data and transmitting it via the Internet, and when the other party determines that the facsimile number is a facsimile image data.

However, these proposals only send and receive faxes directly and automatically by sending and receiving faxes and e-mails by sending and receiving faxes or informing faxes by connecting the Internet. There is a problem that can not immediately check the contents of the e-mail, and can not be used in small and medium enterprises with insufficient network infrastructure.

In other words, the ability to check mail in a small and medium-sized business without network installation was only available through a modem (Information Service Provider) through a modem.

Therefore, the present invention is to solve this problem, and it is easy to adapt to the Internet business (e-business) environment by the development of the Internet technology, and to enable the use of e-mail (Email) in the small and medium-sized enterprises with insufficient network infrastructure construction. In addition, in the case of a non-network company, an object of the present invention is to provide an integrated e-mail / fax service system capable of confirming reception of an e-mail in real time through a fax.

1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of an integrated e-mail / fax service system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an operation according to the configuration of the e-mail / fax integrated service system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mail server and the fax server in FIG.

<Description of Signs for Main Parts of Drawings>

10: Internet network 11, 21: mail server

20: service supply system 22: fax server

25: user database 31, 32: user PC

41,42: user fax

In order to achieve the above object, the integrated e-mail / fax service system according to an embodiment of the present invention temporarily stores an e-mail received by a DNS server and a mail server on an Internet network, and transmits the e-mail to a user PC according to a user's request. An e-mail service system, comprising: copying and storing an e-mail received for an e-mail service and a fax service from the mail server, and transmitting the e-mail to a fax server for a fax service; Receives the transmitted e-mail, converts the e-mail data into facsimile image data, retrieves the fax number from the user database, and automatically transfers the converted facsimile image data to a user fax via a public telephone network and a modem. And a database for storing the fax number in association with the e-mail ID for performing the fax service and the fax service.

When the fax number is registered and subscribed to the fax service by querying the user database by the mail server and checking whether the fax number is registered or subscribed to the fax service, selectively copy the e-mail and transmit it to the fax server. For example, if a file is attached to an e-mail, it is preferable to check the existence of the file and to indicate whether the file exists, and to perform a fax service. By providing an e-mail service supply system and a mail server or a fax server to access the server to register the fax service and register the fax number, the fax service can be more conveniently provided.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of an email / fax integrated service system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 illustrates an operation according to the configuration of the email / fax integrated service system of FIG. A block diagram is shown and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mail server 21 and the fax server 22 in FIG.

1 and 2, when an e-mail is transmitted from a DNS server and a mail server 11 to a specific IP address of an e-mail service provider on the Internet network 10, together with a specific client account, a mail server corresponding to the IP address ( 21) you will receive an e-mail. When the e-mail is received in this way, the e-mail received from the mail server 21 of the e-mail service provider system is stored in the client account as it is, according to a normal mail service. By transferring from the client account to the user PCs 31 and 32 of the client, the contents of the e-mail can be confirmed on the client side.

Further, according to the present invention, the service supply system 20 further includes a fax server 22 and a user database 25 to copy the e-mail received from the mail server 21 in addition to the above-described normal mail service. To transmit it to the fax server 22.

The fax server 22 encodes the e-mail data of the e-mail transmitted as fax image data for fax transmission, reads the fax number from the user database 25, and stores the encoded fax image data with the fax number. By automatically transmitting to user faxes 41 and 42 via a public telephone network (PSTN) and a modem, it is possible to provide a fax service together with a normal e-mail service. To this end, the user database 25 stores fax numbers corresponding to client accounts.

The operation of the e-mail / fax integrated service system according to an embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

In FIG. 3, when the mail server 21 receives the mail (step S11), it first reads from the user database 25 in step S12 and checks whether the client is a fax service subscriber in step S13. To do this, in the step S1 or step S2, the service provider directly subscribes to the user database 25 of the service supply system 20 at the user PCs 31 and 32 using the homepage, or applies for a subscription in writing. By entering manually, the user database 25 is constructed. On the other hand, this process would be unnecessary if the fax service is provided to all clients.

Then, if not a subscriber of a fax service, a normal mail service (SMTP: send mail transfer protocol) is performed in step S14, and if a subscriber of a fax service, an e-mail is copied in step S15 and the fax server 22 in step 17. And the received e-mail performs normal mail service (SMTP) in step S16.

In this way, when the e-mail is transmitted to the fax server 22, the e-mail data is encoded and converted into facsimile image data in step S21, and after reading the fax number from the user database 25 in step S22, step S23 Transmits to user fax (41, 42) using fax modem. To do this, the user faxes 41 and 42 are dialed through the public telephone network (PSTN) in step S24, redialing if there is a call in step S25, and faxing e-mail data in step S26 if the call is connected. .

On the other hand, if a file is attached to the e-mail, the illustration is omitted to display it, but in step S21 the file is confirmed by creating the facsimile image data by indicating the presence or absence of the attached file without encoding the attached file. The client can be notified whether or not the attachment of.

In this way, the e-mail service and the fax service can be performed at the same time. When the client has only the user PC 31 in Fig. 1, the user must confirm by computer and receive the e-mail. In the case of a client equipped with all the faxes 42, the contents of the e-mail other than the attached file can be checked in real time by the fax, so that the e-mail can be confirmed without confirmation by the computer. By using the user PC 32, the e-mail can be checked and delivered. In addition, even a client equipped with only the user's fax 42 can set up his or her own e-mail account and receive e-mail in real time by fax, so as to adapt to the e-business environment by the development of Internet technology. The use of e-mail can be facilitated, even in small and medium-sized enterprises with insufficient network infrastructure, or even in non-network companies.

In particular, the ability to check e-mail from small and medium businesses that do not have a network installed in the past, in addition to the method of checking through an e-mail service provider or an ISP (Information Service Provider) through a modem, it is possible to check the e-mail reception in real time .

In addition, according to the present invention, by using the POP3 Forwading method by combining the advantages of the existing Send Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service and the FAX service, it is possible to check mail reception through an e-mail program as well as a method of checking mail by fax. This eliminates the inconvenience of having to recode the fax if necessary.

Above all, the biggest advantage of the present invention is that it is already widely used as OA equipment, and it is possible to perform internal and external information management and communication management at low cost by real-time delivery and confirmation of mail as well as contents using cheap fax. This can double the productivity and competitiveness of the company.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to notify the sending of the e-mail via the telephone and to confirm the reception as in the conventional method, thereby avoiding the inefficient work form that should periodically check the receiving of the e-mail through the modem. It becomes possible.

In addition, it is not necessary to incur expenses due to the network installation only for real-time checking of e-mail, and can prevent the loss of work that may occur due to delay in receiving e-mail. There is a big advantage to being able to build the environment most reliably.

Furthermore, although the present invention is an integrated e-mail / fax service system for clients, whether or not a fax transmission of the transmitted e-mail is applicable to the sender of the e-mail. That is, after the transmission of the e-mail by fax, when the transmission is completed, the sender may be notified similarly to the above-mentioned by the e-mail or the fax by the completion of the transmission of the e-mail and the transmission of the fax. To this end, the sender's IP address and fax number should be stored in the user database 25 in advance or be included in the e-mail to be read.

According to the configuration and operation of the integrated e-mail / fax service system according to the embodiment of the present invention described above, the automatic mail service and the fax service can be performed at the same time, it is already widely used as an OA equipment and cheap fax It is easy to adapt to the e-business environment by the development of internet technology by delivering and confirming the mail reception and contents in real time by using it. In addition to being able to be activated, in particular, small and medium businesses that do not have network installations can check e-mails conveniently, and can manage internal and external information and communication in real time at low cost. Benefits such as being able to double the competitiveness A.

Claims (2)

In the e-mail service system for temporarily storing the e-mail received by the DNS server and the mail server 21 on the Internet network 10 for transmission to the user PC (31, 32) according to the user's request: Copy and store the received e-mail for the e-mail service fax service in the mail server 21, and transmit the e-mail to the fax server 22 for the fax service; Receives the transmitted e-mail, converts the e-mail data into facsimile image data, retrieves a fax number from the user database 25, and automatically converts the converted facsimile image data through a public telephone network (PSTN) and a modem. And a user server 25 for storing a fax number in association with an e-mail ID for carrying out the fax service transmitted to the faxes (41, 42). E-mail / fax integrated service system. The method of claim 1, wherein the mail server 21 inquires of the user database 25 to check whether a fax number is registered or subscribes to a fax service, copies an e-mail, and transmits it to the fax server 22. Check the presence or absence of the file attached to the e-mail to indicate the presence or absence of the file, and perform the fax service, the user database 25, the user directly from the user PC (31, 32) or the service provider to the mail server 21 to fax E-mail / fax integrated service, characterized in that connected to the e-mail service supply system and the mail server 21 to the fax server 22 to access the server 22 to register the fax service registration and fax number; system.