KR100442094B1 - Realtime Interactive communication System and Method using Electronic Mail - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a real-time two-way communication system and method using e-mail, in particular the present invention performs the overall function for sending or receiving e-mail, generating authentication information of the e-mail to be sent, connecting the e-mail sender and the e-mail recipient A mail management server configured to transmit a mail communication client code for sending the email to the email to be sent; Connected to the mail management server, the email is divided into packet data using an email program that sends and receives emails, and then the email is sent to the recipient's mail server. A mail server for storing the data in a database and transmitting the email to the email recipient by a mail confirmation request of the email recipient; And MUA / Webmail, which is connected to a mail server and supports email recipients to compose email messages or view received emails. Therefore, according to the present invention, the sender and the receiver can be communicated in real time through an email, thereby enabling two-way messaging (e.g., text, voice, and image data), file transmission, and real-time user behavior analysis between the email sender and the email receiver. There is an effect that can be performed.

Description

Real-time interactive communication system and method using e-mail

The present invention relates to a real-time interactive communication system and method using e-mail, and more particularly, provides a direct communication means of the sender and the receiver via e-mail, the sender and the receiver in real time messaging, file transfer, user behavior analysis (tracking) The present invention relates to a real-time interactive communication system and method using e-mail capable of performing the same.

The Internet is now becoming an integral part of our lives. Started by the needs of the US Department of Defense in the late 1960s, the Internet has now evolved into a system used by more than 100 million people around the world. The increase in Internet users is being accelerated by the development of the World Wide Web (WWW), which provides a convenient user interface. This Internet makes many parts of our lives needing information retrieval convenient and affects all parts of politics, economy and culture. In particular, as a tool of information and communication, the Internet enables the form of business that we did not think of in the past and changes the form of corporate management very rapidly. In addition to the WWW, there are numerous services such as e-mail, ftp, telnet, mailing lists, and newsgroups. One of the most widely used Internet services is the e-mail service. Thus, e-mail services were first commercially available on the World Wide Web and play a very important role as business and marketing tools for specific websites.

In general, an e-mail must specify a recipient when communicating a message, and due to the nature of the e-mail, there are a number of restrictions: the time constraints of sending and receiving e-mails, the limitation of the amount of e-mail messages, the amount of file attachments, and the distrust of the recipient of the attachment. It contains them. In other words, e-mails can be communicated only when the e-mail is written, the recipient's confirmation is sent, and the reply is sent again. As a result, email is time-constrained due to the difficulty of real-time interaction, users can deliver personal messages, but the volume of messages is quite limited, and attachments cannot be attached beyond the allotted amount of the email account manager. Moreover, the recipient has limitations such as not opening the attachment unless the sender is certain. In addition, e-mail companies are focusing on unconditional membership acquisition rather than solving these problems, and thus, user-oriented services are not properly performed. The result is an increase in the number of unvalidated members, leading to increased administrative costs for unmanaged members and a drop in customer trust.

Recently, a system that enables voice calls between e-mail recipients and marketers has been introduced, but this is simply an extension of the chat window, which is a service that links CTI to user e-mail. Therefore, such a system has problems such as an increase in call costs, system installation, maintenance, and expensive equipment, securing additional marketers, and inefficiency due to impossibility of confirming recipients.

Therefore, there is a need for a technique and a method capable of directly sending and receiving a message, a file, and the like by directly communicating in real time to a receiver and a sender who feel the time constraints, message size, and limitations of a conventional unidirectional email.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the object of the present invention is to include the code to insert the email communication client in the email sent by the sender of the recipient to view the email At the same time, there is provided a one-to-one communication between a sender and a receiver to provide a real-time two-way communication system and method using e-mail that enables two-way messaging (eg, text, voice, image data), file transfer, and real-time user behavior analysis.

Another object of the present invention is to install a sender program including a mail management module and a mail communication module in the sender's computer for administrator authentication and convenience of use, or by an administrator authentication method through a server that can be used externally using a browser. To provide a real-time interactive communication system and method using the implemented email.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a real-time two-way communication system according to the present invention,

2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of creating and sending an email.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a communication process between a mail communication client and a mail communication module.

♣ Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing ♣

100: real-time interactive communication system 120: mail management server

122: mail management module 124: first database

126: mail communication module 130: mail server

140: MUA / Webmail 148: Mail Communication Client

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a communication system for real-time two-way communication between a sender and a receiver using an e-mail, and performs various functions for transmitting or receiving an e-mail, and generates authentication information of an e-mail to be sent. And a mail management server for sending a mail communication client code for connecting the email sender and the email recipient to the email to be sent; Connected to the mail management server, the email is divided into packet data using an email program that sends and receives emails, and then the email is sent to the recipient's mail server. A mail server for storing the data in a database and transmitting the email to the email recipient by a mail confirmation request of the email recipient; And a MUA / webmail that is connected to a mail server and supports an email recipient to create an email message or view a received email.

In addition, the present invention is a communication method for performing a real-time two-way communication between the sender and the receiver by using the email, using the mail management module of the mail management server to create an email, generating the authentication information of the created email authentication information Storing in a first database, inserting authentication information and mail communication client code into the created email, and sending the email to a mail server; Storing the sent email in a second database and sending the email to the email recipient's MUA / webmail by the email recipient's mail confirmation request; When the email recipient checks the email, automatically executing the mail communication client to connect with the mail communication module of the mail management server; Transmitting authentication information to a connected mail communication module; Comparing the authentication information transmitted from the mail communication client with the authentication information stored in the first database, and transmitting an authentication result message for determining real time communication with the mail communication client; And if the authentication is not successful, ending the connection with the mail communication client, and if the authentication is successful, performing communication with the mail communication client.

According to the present invention, the email sender includes a code for inserting a mail communication client into the created email, thereby transmitting a communication path between the sender and the receiver by simply checking the email. Therefore, the e-mail recipient can directly communicate with the sender in real time without installing a separate program for communicating with the e-mail sender, thereby enabling interactive online / offline status checking, interactive real-time message exchange, and file transfer. Since the email sent to the email recipient includes a mail communication client code, the email recipients can communicate with each other by connecting to the mail communication module of the email sender through the mail communication client. Therefore, the email sender can communicate with the email recipient through the mail communication module, and can directly communicate with the receiver in real time without uploading any type of information (e.g., images, documents, forms, etc.) to the web server. have. Thus, an email sender can respond promptly to the needs of the email recipient and provide active services and information. Here, the mail communication client is a program that operates in the received mail of the email receiver, and can be produced in Java, shockwave, active-x, or the like. In addition, according to the present invention, the sender program including the mail management module and the mail communication module is in the form of an independent program installed on the sender computer for administrator authentication and convenience of use, or by using a browser without installing the independent program. It can be serviced by the administrator authentication method through a web server that can be used at any place.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a real-time interactive communication system and method using e-mail according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a real-time interactive communication system 100 according to the present invention. The real-time interactive communication system 100 includes a mail management server 120, a mail server 130, and a mail user agent (MUA). / Webmail 140 is configured.

The mail management server 120 includes a mail management module 122, a first database 124, and a mail communication module 126. The mail management server 120 performs various functions for sending or receiving an email, and authenticates information of an email to be sent. And generates a mail communication client code for connecting the email sender 110 and the email receiver 150 in the email to be sent and transmits the email. Here, the authentication information includes an IP or DNS address where the sender's mail communication module 126 is located, a recipient email address, and an authentication code for the corresponding email. The mail management server 120 is a sender program executed in the sender computer or downloaded and executed from a specific website, and is started by the execution operation of the email sender 110. The mail management module 122 provides the sender 110 with various functions for creating an email, generates authentication information for an email to be sent, and transmits the created email to the mail server 130. The first database 124 stores authentication information (ie, recipient email address, authentication code) of the corresponding email generated by the mail management module 122. The mail communication module 126 retrieves authentication information of the email recipient 150 transmitted from the email recipient 150 through the first database 124 and performs real time communication with the email recipient 150. As mentioned above, the mail management server 120 may be implemented in the form of a stand-alone program that is installed and operated directly on the sender's computer for caller authentication and ease of use. It can be installed and operated in a web server on the Internet for use in other places.

The mail server 130 is connected to the mail management module 122 of the mail management server 120 and sends an email packet using an email program (eg, send mail) that performs an operation of sending and receiving email. The data is divided into data and controlled to be sent to the recipient's mail server. In addition, by providing the sender 110 with the necessary information (ie, headers and body parts) to send the e-mail over the Internet, instructs the sender 110 to require input of the corresponding item, and encodes the input content. Perform. The mail server 130 includes a second database (not shown) that stores emails sent from the email sender 110. Tens of thousands of e-mails are sent to the mail server 130 a day, and it is necessary to organize them by database to organize when and where e-mails are sent and who sent them. That is, the second database performs a function of storing, deleting, and extracting an email according to a request of the mail server 130. When there is a request for receiving an email from the email receiver 150, the mail server 130 transmits the corresponding email stored in the second database to the email recipient 150. The protocol used for e-mail includes the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), an e-mail sending protocol that defines the control procedures between two computers that send and receive messages, verify connectivity between two computers, verify recipients, and verify message body delivery. And Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3), which is an email receiving protocol that delivers all emails from the system to the user's computer.

The MUA / webmail 140 is connected to the mail server 130 and serves to support the recipient 150 to directly compose an email message or view the received email 142. Here, MUA refers to a user's email client program such as Netscape's email client or Microsoft's Outlook Express, etc., which cannot be controlled by the recipient browser. Webmail refers to an email client program (eg, Daum, Freechal, Hanmail, etc.) that can directly send and receive mail on the web, and is a program that can be controlled by a recipient browser. However, of course, the recipient browser control function can be added to the MUA. The email recipient 150 may check the received mail 142 sent from the mail server 130 using the MUA / webmail 140, and the received mail 142 may check the header 144 and the content 146. Include. The content 146 includes a mail communication client capable of communicating with the sender 110, and the mail communication client 148 operates at the same time the recipient 150 checks the email. The mail communication client 148 is connected to the mail communication module 126 so that the receiver and the sender can communicate. The mail communication client 148 is executed at the same time as the recipient 150 browses the email and is executed in the received mail confirmed by the email receiver 150. The mail communication client 148 may dynamically configure the interface of the web page, or create an interactive document that allows the user and the document to interact with a click. The mail communication client 148 may be implemented as a Java applet or ActiveX. For example, a Java applet is an interpreter that executes an applet file through an inserted applet tag while simultaneously interpreting and generating a process, and active-x is an exe.dll file through an inserted object (OBJECT) tag. The CAB file including the file is transmitted to the user's computer (of course, when the user agrees in the consent request window) and stored on the receiver's hard disk and executed as an independent program. In addition, the mail communication client 148 transmits to the mail communication module 126 authentication information including an email address and an authentication code of a receiver inserted into the received email. At this time, the connection to the mail communication module 126 is made through the sender's IP or DNS address included in the authentication information. The mail communication module 126 compares the authentication information for the corresponding email stored in the first database 124 based on the received authentication information, and if the received authentication information and the authentication information stored in the first database 124 match, The communication is maintained, and if the authentication information does not match, the connection with the mail communication client 148 is terminated.

After the communication between the mail communication module 126 and the mail communication client 148, the real-time two-way communication method (for example, when browser control is possible) is disclosed in 2001-12194 filed by the present applicant (name of the user: Browser real-time control system and method), which will not be described here.

Hereinafter, an operation relationship of a real-time interactive communication system and method using an e-mail according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of creating and sending an e-mail. It is assumed that an e-mail sender executes a mail management server stored in his computer or accesses a specific web server on the Internet to execute a mail management server.

First, the email sender creates an email using the mail management module in the mail management server (S210). The mail management module performs the same operation as a general mail transmission program, and the content portion of the mail may be input in the form of TEXT or HTML, and may be converted to the HTML form even when input in TEXT for the mail link service. When all the e-mails are created, the mail management module generates an authentication code of the corresponding e-mail (S220), and stores authentication information including the recipient e-mail address of the e-mail and the generated authentication code in the first database (S230). By generating an authentication code for each created email and storing it in the first database, communication can be performed for a plurality of email recipients or communication for each recipient by checking the created email.

Next, the mail management module stores the authentication information (ie, sender's IP address, recipient's email address, authentication code) for encrypting the email in the sender's email, and the mail communication client for communication between the email receiver and the email sender. After inserting the code to be executed in the MUA / webmail (S240), and sends the corresponding email to the mail server (S250). Here, sending an email to a mail server includes sending the email to an external SMTP server when the sender does not have SMTP and internally delivering it to a message queue of SMTP if the sender has an SMTP server. The sent e-mail is stored in a second database existing in the mail server, and the mail is transmitted to the recipient's MUA / webmail by the receiver's mail request signal. In other words, the e-mail created by the e-mail sender is divided into a plurality of packet data and transmitted to the mail server to be transmitted along the fastest path, and the packet data is divided by numbering each packet data. The mail server to which the e-mail is sent is determined by reading the e-mail address of the 'TO:' portion of the e-mail header. That is, the fragmented packet data is sent to the address recorded in the 'TO:' portion of the header via at least a few and as many as hundreds of different computers.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a communication process between a mail communication client and a mail communication module.

First, the email recipient checks the email received through MUA or webmail using POP3 (S305). At this time, when there is a mail confirmation request from the email recipient, the mail server transmits the corresponding email stored in the second database to the email recipient's MUA or webmail. The mail receiver checks the mail and at the same time the mail communication client is operated by the code of the mail communication client included in the content (S310), and the mail communication is performed through the sender IP or DNS address of the authentication information included in the received mail. The client accesses the mail communication module of the email sender (S315). When the mail communication client is connected to the mail communication module, the mail communication client transmits authentication information (i.e., recipient mail address and authentication code) included in the received email to the mail communication module in order to confirm whether or not the email recipient is authenticated. S320).

The mail communication module receives the authentication information transmitted from the mail communication client, compares the received authentication information with the authentication information stored in the first database, and authenticates whether the two authentication information matches (S325). Next, the mail communication module transmits the authentication result message according to the comparison result to the mail communication client so that the email receiver can check whether the mail is authenticated (S330). If the authentication is not successful (i.e., the received authentication information and the stored authentication information do not match) (S335), the mail communication module terminates the connection with the mail communication client and then ends all processing. On the other hand, if the authentication is successful (that is, when the received authentication information and stored authentication information match) (S335), the authentication code for the mail is extracted from the first database and discarded (S345) and at the same time with the mail communication client Start communication (S350). The reason for destroying the verification code is to prevent duplication and reuse of the mail. However, the destruction of the authentication code is optional and can be excluded or modified at the option of the system designer.

Next, the mail communication module determines whether the communication is completed (S355), and if the communication is not completed, proceeds to step S350 to continue the communication with the mail communication client, and when the communication is completed, access the mail communication client. After finishing, all processing ends. Here, communication completion is accomplished by the email recipient terminating the MUA / webmail or the email sender terminating the mail communication module.

As such, according to the present invention, since the two-way real-time communication is possible through e-mail, the present invention can be applied to various fields. For example, it can be used for a marketing system based on one-to-one communication with a customer, and can also be used for a data exchange system between individuals applying peer-to-peer (P2P).

The above description is only for explaining one embodiment, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and can be variously changed within the scope of the appended claims. For example, the shape and structure of each component specifically shown in the embodiments of the present invention may be modified.

As described above, according to the real-time interactive communication system and method using email according to the present invention, the sender and the receiver can be implemented in real time via email, thereby enabling two-way messaging between the email sender and the email receiver (eg, text, Voice, image data), file transfer, and real-time user behavior analysis.

In addition, by using the present invention, in the case of an enterprise, it is possible to focus on each individual customer to establish a long-term and personalized relationship, and to meet customer-specific needs.

Claims (10)

In a communication system for performing a real-time two-way communication between the sender and the receiver by using an email, A mail management server which performs various functions for sending or receiving an email, generates authentication information of an email to be sent, and includes a mail communication client code for linking an email sender and an email receiver in the email to be sent; The e-mail is divided into packet data by using an e-mail program connected to the mail management server and performs an operation of sending and receiving e-mail, and then the e-mail is transmitted to the recipient's mail server. A mail server storing in the second database and transmitting the email to the email recipient by a mail confirmation request of the email recipient; And Is connected to the mail server and includes a MUA / webmail that allows the email recipient to compose an email message or view a received email; The mail management server A mail management module for providing an email sender with various functions for creating an email, generating authentication information for an email to be sent, and including the authentication information and a mail communication client code in the created email and transmitting the same to the mail server; A first database interconnected with the mail management module and storing authentication information of the corresponding email generated by the mail management module; And A mail communication module interconnected with the first database, the mail communication module configured to compare the authentication information of the corresponding email transmitted from the MUA / webmail with the authentication information stored in the first database to determine real time communication with the email recipient. and, The received email of the MUA / webmail includes a header and content, and within the content includes a mail communication client that operates simultaneously with the confirmation of the received email and that can communicate with the mail communication module. Real-time interactive communication system using. delete The system according to claim 1, wherein the authentication information includes an IP sender's IP or DNS address, a recipient's email address, and an authentication code for the corresponding email. The system of claim 1, wherein the mail management server is implemented as a stand-alone program installed in a sender computer and operated in a web server on the Internet. delete The mail communication client of claim 1, wherein the mail communication client transmits a recipient mail address inserted in the received email and an authentication code of the email to the mail communication module, and according to the authentication result message transmitted from the mail communication module. Real-time two-way communication system using an email, characterized in that for determining whether to connect with the module. In the communication method for performing a real-time two-way communication between the sender and the receiver by using an email, (a) creating an email using a mail management module of a mail management server, generating authentication information of the created email, storing the authentication information in a first database, and storing the authentication information and the mail communication client code in the created email; Inserting and sending the email to a mail server; (b) storing the sent email in a second database, and sending the email to the MUA / webmail of the email recipient by a mail confirmation request of the email recipient; (c) when the email recipient confirms the email, automatically executing a mail communication client that communicates with the sender to access the mail communication module of the mail management server; (d) transmitting the authentication information to the connected mail communication module; (e) comparing the authentication information transmitted from the mail communication client with the authentication information stored in the first database and transmitting an authentication result message for determining real time communication with the mail communication client; (f) terminating the connection with the mail communication client if the authentication is not successful, and performing communication with the mail communication client if the authentication is successful; And and (g) destroying the authentication code of the corresponding mail stored in the first database if the authentication is successful. The method of claim 7, wherein the authentication information includes an IP sender's IP or DNS address, a recipient's email address, and an authentication code for the corresponding email. delete The method of claim 7, wherein the mail management server is implemented in the form of an independent program installed and operated on the sender's computer, or installed and operated in a web server on the Internet.