JPH0318150A - Mail integration system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To offer the mail service under the environment of plural mail centers by means of an integrated interface by managing the mail storage state of each mail center in the lump. CONSTITUTION:Mail centers (100-1)-(100-n) receive a mail signal from terminal equipments (300-1)-(300-n) at every medium, store the signal and send a signal representing the mail storage state to a mail state management section 400. Thus, the management section 400 manages the storage state of the mail signal of each mail center in the lump and applies incoming communication of the mail signal surely to the users of all the mail centers.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Regarding a mail integration system that performs integrated management of mail centers that are connected to an exchange and that support various media, the present invention provides a multi-mail center environment by collectively managing the mail holding status of various mail centers. The purpose of this system is to provide an integrated mail system that provides mail services under a unified interface, receives and stores mail signals from terminal devices for each medium, and sends signals indicating the mail holding status to the mail status management section. A mail center for sending and receiving mail signals for each medium, a terminal device for transmitting and receiving mail signals for each medium, and an exchange machine for establishing a communication path between the mail center, the terminal device, and the mail status management section;
It is connected to an exchange, receives and stores signals indicating the status of mail signals from the mail center, instructs the exchange to notify the arrival of mail signals according to the media type of the terminal device, and receives and stores mail signals from the terminal device. It consists of a mail status management section that has a function of responding to inquiries about the holding status.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a mail integration system that performs integrated management of mail centers connected to exchanges and compatible with various media.

At this time, there is a need for a mechanism to uniformly manage the mail holding status of various mail centers.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional mail management system.

In recent years, with the demand for more sophisticated communication network services, in addition to voice mail services and facsimile mail (hereinafter referred to as FAX mail) services that entrust messages when the other party is absent or busy, there are also services that can send messages when the other party is absent or busy. Processing for each type of media, such as text mail services that entrust messages regardless of the situation, and even multimedia processing are required. For this reason, mail centers that support various media have been developed and are being connected to exchanges. FIG. 3 shows a conventional mail management system.

In the figure, 1-1 to 1-4 are various mail centers, which handle mail for each type of media. Reference numeral 2 denotes an exchange that provides a communication path between the mail center and the terminal devices 3-1 to 3-n. 3 uses the mail center's mail service on a terminal device.

In FIG. 3, for example, when a user makes a call to a desired party and the other party is absent, a call is made to a mail center 1 via an exchange 2.
- Entrust the message to ■ (voice mail center). Then, mail center 1-1 stores this message on the DISK.
(not shown), etc., and temporarily save it. Further, the exchange notifies the multifunction telephone of the incoming mail (lights up the lamp).

When the person on the other end returns, an inquiry is made to the mail center 1-1 to learn the contents of the message.

Also, fax/mail)=)L/-f! 7th evening 1-2 (F
When the mail center (AX mail center) receives a call from a destination and stores it, the mail center l-2 calls the telephone of the other party via the exchange, and when the other party answers the telephone, an incoming call is automatically notified by voice.

In addition, in the case of text (document) mail from a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as PC) or multimedia mail from a multimedia workstation (hereinafter referred to as Multimedia HS), the email is sent at the time of logon (starting use) on the terminal device side. Users were made aware of the presence of mail addressed to them by displaying information on the display of the terminal device from the center side.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above email management system, 1
When a single terminal device communicates with multiple centers, the multifunction telephone may run out of lamps, or the terminal device may not know which center to access. Therefore, there is a problem in that unrealistic methods such as modifying the multi-function telephone or blindly accessing the center on the terminal device side have to be taken.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an integrated mail system that provides mail services in a plurality of mail center environments using a unified interface by collectively managing the mail holding status of various mail centers.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above problem is solved by the system configuration shown in FIG.

That is, in FIG. 1, 100-1 to 100-n receive and store mail signals from terminal devices 300-1 to 300-n for each medium, and send a signal indicating the mail holding status to the mail status management unit 400. This is the sending mail center.

300-1 to 300-n are terminal devices that transmit and receive mail signals for each medium.

Reference numeral 200 denotes an exchange that establishes a communication path between the mail center and the terminal device and mail status management section 400.

400 is connected to the exchange, receives and stores a signal indicating the holding status of the mail signal from the mail center, instructs the exchange to notify the arrival of the mail signal according to the media type of the terminal device, and receives the mail from the terminal device. This is a mail status management unit that has the function of responding to inquiries about signal possession status.

[For production]

In FIG. 1, various mail centers 100-1 to 100
- The mail status management unit 400 determines the possession status of the mail signal of n.
It is centrally managed by

Therefore, the mail status management unit 400 can reliably notify the users of all related mail centers 100-1 = 100-n of the arrival of the mail signal.

〔Example〕

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the figures.

In FIG. 2, (1) A user accesses various mail centers 10 and sends mail. ■Various mail centers 1
0 receives the email via the email transmission/reception control unit 11,
Store in mailbox (DISK) 12.

■Then, access the mail status management control unit 40 via the mail status notification protocol unit 13 and the exchange 20,
Notification of incoming mail is sent via the mail status notification protocol section 4l. The information notified at this time includes the mail center name, originating/destination user address, media type, and number of messages.

(2) When the mail status management control section 40 is notified of the mail holding status from various mail centers 10 via the mail status notification protocol section 41, it notifies the mail status management section 42 of this.

- The mail status management unit 42 updates the mail sending/receiving status for each user and stores it in a DISK (not shown).

If the recipient of the mail has installed a multi-function telephone, the mail status management unit 42 reads the relevant data from the DISK, accesses the exchange 20 via the terminal control protocol unit 43, and notifies the mail status. . The information notified at this time includes sending and receiving user addresses, mail center name, media type, and number of messages.

- When the exchange 20 is notified of the mail status via the terminal control protocol section 21, it lights up the mail incoming lamp of the multifunction telephone of the corresponding user via the terminal control section 22,
The mail center name, media type, and number of messages are displayed on the display.

■Users of multi-function telephones identify the name of the mail center to be accessed based on the incoming mail lamp and the contents of the display. ■This allows users of multi-function telephones to access the corresponding mail center and read messages. ■If the user does not have a multi-function phone installed, but only a PC or Multimedia S, the user can check the email holding status by accessing the email status management control unit 40 at any time. You can know.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, mail service users can know the status of their mail holdings simply by accessing the mail status management control unit, so they can access the mail center in a blind manner. This greatly contributes to the advancement of man-machine interfaces when using multiple mail centers.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the horizontal rules of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional mail management system. In the figure, 100-1 to 100-n are mail centers, 200 is an exchange, 300-1 to 300-n are terminal devices, and 400 is a mail status management unit. Figure 1 of the original building of Honzemei

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An email that receives and stores email signals from terminal devices (300-1 to 300-n) for each medium, and sends a signal indicating the email holding status to the email status management unit (400). The center (100-1 to 100-n) and terminal devices (300-1 to 300-n) that send and receive mail signals for each media.
-n), the mail center, the terminal device, and the mail status management unit (4);
an exchange (200) that is connected to the exchange, receives and stores a signal indicating the possession status of the mail signal from the mail center, and sends the terminal to the exchange The mail status management unit (400) has a function of instructing an incoming notification of the mail signal according to the media type of the mail signal, and responding to an inquiry from the terminal device regarding the possession status of the mail signal. Email integration system.