JPH1188644A - Method and device for transferring fax - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable viewing fax information on a personal computer as the additional file of user's own electronic mail by temporarily storing FAX in a reception server when the FAX is received, and transferring it to a previously registered electronic mail address as the additional file. SOLUTION: The fax transmitted from a caller 1 is received by a reception fax server 2, stored and transmitted later to a electronic mail address registered previously as the additional file. At the fax server 2, the header part of electronic mail is automatically generated, and afterwards a fax image part is transformed into a GIF file, added to the header as an additional document, and sent through an internet 21 to an electronic mail server 3. A callee fetches the electronic mail from his own computer 4, transforms the GIF file added to the electronic mail to the fax image and can read it as a fax.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for transferring a fax to an electronic mail.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the spread of facsimile has been remarkable. In particular, it is said that 50% of line use in international calls is facsimile communication. However, since a fax cannot be received without a fax machine, it is impossible to confirm if the user is away on a business trip or the like, and even if the user is forwarded, there is no way to do without a fax at the destination.

[0003]

However, the recent spread of electronic mail has been remarkable, and the use of the Internet has
You can communicate with other countries in a paperless manner. The present invention makes it possible to receive a facsimile on a portable personal computer by utilizing this e-mail technology, thereby solving the conventional inconvenience.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to specify a user's own e-mail address as a fax transfer destination when a fax cannot be viewed due to absence, and to attach a user's own e-mail to a personal computer. The purpose of the present invention is to make it possible to view fax information as a file.

[0005]

That is, the gist of the present invention is that, when a fax is received, the fax is temporarily stored in a receiving server and transferred as an attached file to an e-mail address registered in advance. Is the way.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The basic structure and embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the basic configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The fax transmitted from the sender (1) is received by the receiving fax server (2), stored, and then transmitted as an attached file to a pre-registered e-mail address.

[0007] The fax server (2) automatically generates a header portion of the e-mail, converts the fax image portion into a GIF file, attaches it to the header as an attached document, and sends it to the e-mail server (3) via the Internet.
Send to The recipient takes in the e-mail from his computer (4), for example, using a browser such as Netscape, converts the GIF file attached to the e-mail into a fax image using a utility in the browser, and sends the fax. Can be read as
Of course, it can be output to the printer (5).

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the facsimile transfer apparatus of the present invention. A fax reception board (6), a storage unit (7) for storing received image data, an e-mail address storage unit (8) for storing an e-mail address to which a facsimile is transferred, and an Internet connection. It comprises an Internet connection unit (9) and a central processing unit (10) for controlling them.
The fax data transmitted via the telephone line (11) is received by the fax receiving board (6), and its contents are stored in the image data storage section (7) as image data. The destination e-mail address is
The information is previously input from the keyboard (12) and stored in the e-mail address storage unit (8).

The connection section (9) is a connection section for sending an electronic mail via the Internet, and has several forms as shown in FIGS. In the case of FIG. 3, the modem (15) is connected to the analog telephone line (14) and dial-up connected to the Internet. FIG. 4 shows an Ethernet LAN board (16) and a router (1).
7) via ISDN, OCN or other digital line (1
This is the case of the form connected to 9).

In the above configuration, the central processing unit (1
Everything is processed under the control of 0). Specifically, the central processing unit (10), the storage units (7) and (8), the keyboard (12), and the like use a personal computer board, and a fax reception board (6) and a modem board (1)
5) The device can be configured by inserting an Ethernet board (16) or the like.

[0011] Recently, the use of telephone secretary centers has been increasing. It would be convenient if such a telephone secretary center could provide a service for forwarding faxes addressed to them to their mobile personal computers. In this case, the cost can be reduced by tie-up with the fax transfer center as shown in FIG. 1 and installing a simple center transfer device at the secretary center.

That is, FIG. 5 shows an example of such an apparatus.
A fax modem board (6), a storage unit (7) for storing received image data, and a numeric code storage unit (8 ') for storing a numeric code corresponding to an e-mail address to which a fax is transferred. And a central processing unit (10) for controlling them, and transmits the received fax image data together with the numeric code to a transfer center by fax. Such a device can be configured at low cost using a personal computer. On the other hand, at the center receiving the data, the data is transferred to the e-mail address corresponding to the numeric code by the method described in FIG. It goes without saying that the e-mail address corresponding to the numeric code is registered in the transfer center in advance.

FIG. 6 shows an apparatus based on the same concept as FIG.
An adapter that sends image data directly to the transfer center without importing it. That is, FIG. 6 shows an adapter (24) connected between a fax telephone line (22) and a fax (25), which has the following means.

Means for connecting to a transfer telephone line (23) separately from the fax line, and setting and storing at least a caller ID code, a telephone number, and a transfer destination code in advance. Upon receiving the call signal from the fax line, before going on-hook, connect the transfer telephone line (23) to the transfer center, send the ID code and the transfer destination code to the center, and then connect the fax line (22) to the transfer center. A means to connect to a transfer line.

[0015] This arrangement has the same effect as sending a fax directly to a transfer center with a transfer destination code attached from the beginning, thereby reducing the cost and efficiency of the secretary center.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a fax cannot be viewed due to absence, if one's own e-mail address is specified in advance as a fax transfer destination, one's own personal computer can be used on a personal computer. This has the remarkable effect that the fax information can be viewed as an attached file of the e-mail.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the fax transfer device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing one form of a connection unit for sending an electronic mail via the Internet in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of the fax transfer device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing one embodiment of the fax transfer adapter of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Fax of sender 2: Fax server 3: E-mail server 4: Recipient computer 6: Fax reception board 7: Image data storage 8: E-mail address storage 8 ': Numeric code storage 9: E-mail 10: Central processing unit 12: Keyboard 14: Analog telephone line 15: Modem 16: Ethernet LAN board 17: Router 19: Digital line 20: Telephone line 21: Internet 22: Fax telephone Line 23: Transfer phone line 24: Adapter 25: Fax

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A fax transfer method, comprising: receiving a fax, temporarily storing the fax in a receiving server, and transferring the fax as a file attached to an email to a previously registered email address. 2. A fax receiving section, an image data storing section for storing received image data, an electronic mail address storing section for storing an electronic mail address to which a fax is transferred, and an Internet connection for connecting to the Internet. And a central processing unit that controls them, and sends the received fax image data to the electronic mail address as an attached file of the electronic mail. 3. A facsimile transmission / reception unit, an image data storage unit for storing received image data, a numeric code storage unit for storing a numeric code corresponding to an electronic mail address to which a fax is transferred, and controls them. And a central processing unit for transmitting the received fax image data together with the numeric code to a transfer center by fax. 4. A fax transfer adapter which is connected to a fax telephone line and has the following means. Means for connecting to a transfer telephone line separately from the fax line, and setting and storing at least a caller ID code, a telephone number, and a transfer destination code in advance. When a call signal is received from the fax line, before on-hook (connection), the transfer telephone line is connected to the transfer center, the ID code and the transfer destination code are sent to the center, and then the fax line is connected to the transfer line. Means to connect.