JP3394679B2 - Facsimile server - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile server connected to the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional facsimile machine, facsimile communication system, etc., a telephone line or ISDN line is directly used for a destination facsimile machine, and a telephone fee for facsimile transmission to a remote place is very high. .

[0003]

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and in the case of performing facsimile communication between computer devices arranged at a remote place connected by the Internet, a destination facsimile is provided. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile server capable of performing low-cost facsimile transmission by performing routing control on the apparatus to the cheapest destination connected via the Internet.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile server according to a first aspect of the present invention, wherein the facsimile server stores one or a plurality of routing data having a server name, a host name, a telephone number, a rejection flag, and a suppression flag. A routing control unit having a first transmission request processing unit that operates when the received facsimile transmission request is not through the Internet, and a second transmission request processing unit that operates when the received facsimile transmission request is through the Internet. The first transmission request processing means determines whether or not routing data having the same area code as the area code of the destination facsimile number included in the received facsimile transmission request exists in the routing table. Examine, applicable routing data exists and applicable routing data If the deterrence flag is off, create a data content that conforms to a predetermined protocol, and send the created data content to the server indicated by the relevant routing data via the Internet. The second transmission request processing means is configured to search the routing table for routing data having the same host name as its own host name, and the rejection flag of the searched routing data is OFF and the received facsimile transmission. When the telephone number that matches the destination facsimile number included in the request does not exist in the routing table, the facsimile transmission process is performed using the telephone line.

A facsimile server according to a second aspect is the facsimile server according to the first aspect, wherein the first transmission request processing means has the same area code as the area code of the destination facsimile number included in the received facsimile transmission request. If there is no routing data having "." In the routing table, a facsimile transmission process is performed using a telephone line.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile server according to the first or second aspect, the first transmission request processing means has the area code of the destination facsimile number included in the received facsimile transmission request. Routing data with the same area code is routed
When it exists in the table and the inhibition flag of the routing data is turned on, the facsimile transmission processing is performed using the telephone line.

The facsimile server according to claim 4 is the facsimile server according to claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the second transmission request processing means has routing data having the same host name as its own host name. When the refusal flag of 1 is turned on, the error notification is made to the facsimile transmission request source.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile server according to the first, second, third or fourth aspect, the second transmission request processing means uses the same host name as its own host name. When the refusal flag of the routing data that it has is off and there is a telephone number that matches the destination facsimile number included in the acceptance facsimile transmission request in the routing table, it is configured to perform reception processing. To do.

By using the facsimile server of the present invention, the facsimile transmission data can be transmitted to the facsimile apparatus using the Internet, so that the communication cost can be reduced. Further, by using the facsimile server of the present invention, the facsimile data can be communicated only by designating the destination facsimile number.

[0010]

1 is a diagram showing an example of a facsimile communication system according to the present invention. In the figure, 11
0 is a facsimile server, 111 is a library for HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol widely used on the Internet), 112 is a routing control unit, 113 is a facsimile control unit, 114 is a routing table, 115 is a WWW server, 120 and 13
Reference numeral 0 is a facsimile server, 210 to 230 are facsimile machines, and 310 to 330 are clanters.

The facsimile server 110 uses HTTP.
Library 111, routing control unit 112, facsimile control unit 113, routing table 11
4, having a WWW server 115. The HTTP library 111 is an access library for performing communication of the hyper text transfer protocol widely used on the Internet.

The routing control unit 112 routes the facsimile server, which has the lowest telephone charge, to the routing server.
It is a program that performs a process such as searching using the table 114 and sending a facsimile transmission request to the facsimile server using the HTTP library 111.
Details will be described later. The routing table 114 stores routing information. Facsimile controller 113
Is a control processing unit that controls input / output with the facsimile apparatus.

The facsimile server 110 uses the HTT in order to realize a low-cost FAX via the Internet.
The P protocol is used, and in this case, a server (WWW server) that accepts the HTTP protocol is required. The WWW server 115 is the facsimile server 110
The routing control unit 112 communicates with the WWW server 115 by the HTTP protocol. F
When performing AX transmission, the CGI program is activated using the HTTP protocol, and the CGI program makes a FAX transmission request to the facsimile server of the other party. CGI is Common Gateway I.
abbreviation of Internet.

The facsimile servers 120 and 130 are also
Like the facsimile server 110, it has an HTTP library, a routing controller, a facsimile controller, a routing table, a WWW server, and the like.
The contents of the routing table of each facsimile server are the same.

The clients 310 to 330 are connected to the facsimile server 110 via the LAN. Clanant is a personal computer or workstation. The facsimile device 230 is also connected to the facsimile server 110 via a telephone line. On the Internet, there are facsimile servers 110, 120,
130 etc. are connected. Facsimile server 13
0 to the facsimile machines 210, 2 via a telephone line.
20 are connected.

In the illustrated example, the facsimile server 11
0 exists in Kanazawa, the facsimile server 120 exists in Osaka, and the facsimile server 130 exists in Tokyo. The telephone number of the facsimile device 210 is 045-11
1-2222, the telephone number of the facsimile device 220 is 03-3333-4444, and the telephone number of the facsimile device 230 is 0762-55-6666.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the routing table. In the figure, server name: server name of the facsimile server (abbreviation) Host name: host name of the facsimile server (including domain name) Phone number: telephone number connected to the server or routing destination information (city code) + "-" Or area code + fictitious telephone number) Suppression: Definition of whether to suppress transfer on the Internet line. Servers with this flag turned on do not use the Internet line to send faxes. Reject : Definition of whether or not to reject the request received on the Internet line The server on which this flag is turned on rejects the request on the Internet line. Is.

The routing information is composed of one or a plurality of routing data (row data). Each routing data consists of server name, host name,
It has a phone number, a suppression flag, and a rejection flag. In the illustrated example, the server name in the first row of the routing table is Kanazawa, and the host name is kanawa. abc.
co. jp and the telephone number is 0762-66-112
It is supposed to be 2. The server name in the second line is Tokyo and the host name is tokyo. abc. co. jp and the telephone number is 03-3333-1111. Hereinafter, it is as illustrated.

The telephone number in the routing table is
The telephone number of the line connected to the server and the telephone number as information of the routing destination. For this reason,
045 in Tokyo means transmitting a request for a telephone number with an area code of 045 to a server in Tokyo via the Internet line. Also, the-part can be a number that does not actually exist.

A server that uses the two flags, the suppression flag and the rejection flag, and does not want to use the low-cost FAX via the Internet, turns on the suppression flag and does not want to accept the low-cost FAX via the Internet. By turning on the refusal flag, it becomes possible to construct a system tailored to user operation. Note that these flags are prepared for LAN / WAN (Internet) traffic reduction, security, and to manage the FAX billing in each server respectively.

Routing information is defined in advance in the routing table by environment setting, and the routing table is centrally managed by the management server. facsimile·
The server reads the routing information when the facsimile control unit is activated. The routing table of each facsimile server is basically the same, but at the present time, there is only a method of fetching the routing information file by oneself, and thus the case may be different.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow of the routing control unit. In step S1, the received FAX
Acquire the destination FAX number of the transmission request. In addition, the FAX transmission request is a collection of information necessary for transmission (information necessary for creating a letter of reference such as a telephone number and destination name, sender URL name, and other information set in the user view). And image data (TIFF file format) actually transmitted. In step S2, it is checked whether the received FAX transmission request is via the Internet line. If yes, then continue with step S9; if no, continue with step S3.

In step S3, the area code of the destination FAX number and the area code in the routing information are checked. In step S4, the most recent server name and host name are acquired. In step S5, it is checked whether there is a corresponding server. If yes, the process proceeds to step S6, and if no, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S6, it is checked whether the inhibition flag of the corresponding server indicates inhibition. If YES, the process proceeds to step S14, and if NO, the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S7, HTTP data contents are created. The HTTP data content is composed of a header part and a body part. Information passed to the CGI program is set in the bedder section. In the embodiment of the present invention, the CGI program that receives the FAX transmission request is activated, and on the extension thereof, the transmission request is made to the destination facsimile server. The recent server name and host name obtained in step S4 are used when making a FAX transmission request by the HTTP protocol. HTTP
URL name (host name) in the header of data content
By setting, the FAX transmission request goes to the facsimile server (actually, the WWW server) corresponding to the host name.

In step S8, the created HTTP data content is transferred to the corresponding server. The IP address of the corresponding server can be obtained from the host name written in the header part of the HTTP data content. That is, if the host name (URL name) is known, then the DNS
(Domain Name System)
I know the P address. This process is automatically performed inside HTTP. In step S9, the own host name is acquired.
In step S10, information on the host name (routing data) is searched from the routing information.

In step S11, it is checked whether or not the refusal flag of the retrieved routing data indicates refusal. If YES, proceed to step S15, N
In the case of O, the process proceeds to step S12. For example, when "tokyo.abc/co.jp" is acquired as the own host name, the line data of the second line and the line data of the third line of FIG. 2 are obtained, but the line data of the second line is rejected. Flag value and third
Although the value of the rejection flag of the row data of the row is not different, if it is different, ON is enabled.

In step S12, the destination FAX number and the telephone number in the routing information are checked. In step S13, it is checked whether they match. If YES, the process proceeds to step S16, and if NO, the process proceeds to step S14.

In step S14, a FAX transmission process is performed for the destination FAX number using the telephone line. In step S15, the request source is notified of the error. Step S
At 16, reception processing is performed.

In FIG. 1, when the client 310 sends a facsimile transmission request having a destination facsimile number of 045-111-2222, the facsimile transmission request is transmitted via the facsimile server 110 → Internet → facsimile server 130 → telephone line. Facsimile device 21 with telephone number 045-111-2222
Sent to 0. When the client 330 transmits a facsimile transmission request having a destination facsimile number of 0762-55-6666, the facsimile transmission request is transmitted from the facsimile server 110 to the telephone line and the facsimile device 21 having a telephone number of 0762-55-6666.
Sent to 0.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in a multi-facsimile server environment connected to the Internet, facsimile transmission to a facsimile device at a remote place can be performed at a low charge. Also,
According to the present invention, even if the transfer destination IP address, user name, password, storage destination directory name, etc. are not known,
If you only know the fax number, you can easily transfer the image data.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a facsimile communication system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a routing table.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of a routing control unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

110 fax server 111 HTTP library 112 Routing control unit 113 Facsimile controller 114 routing table 120 fax server 130 Facsimile server 210 fax machine 220 facsimile machine 230 fax machines 310 clients 320 Clan Ant 330 Clan Ant

Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/00 107 G06F 13/00 354 H04L 12/28 H04M 11/00 303 H04N 1/32

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A routing table for storing one or a plurality of routing data having a server name, a host name, a telephone number, a refusal flag, and a suppression flag, and operates when a received facsimile transmission request is not through the Internet. The routing control unit includes a first transmission request processing unit and a second transmission request processing unit that operates when the received facsimile transmission request is via the Internet. Check whether or not the routing data having the same area code as the area code of the destination facsimile number included in the facsimile transmission request exists in the routing table, and the applicable routing data exists and the applicable routing・ If the data suppression flag is off, The second transmission request processing means is configured to perform a process of creating data content conforming to the protocol and transmitting the created data content to the server indicated by the corresponding routing data via the Internet. A routing data having the same host name as the host name is searched from the routing table. If the rejection flag of the searched routing data is off and the telephone number that matches the destination facsimile number included in the received facsimile transmission request is found. A facsimile server characterized by being configured to perform facsimile transmission processing using a telephone line when it is not present in the routing table. 2. The first transmission request processing means, when routing data having the same area code as the area code of the destination facsimile number included in the received facsimile transmission request does not exist in the routing table. 2. The facsimile server according to claim 1, wherein the facsimile server is configured to perform facsimile transmission processing using a telephone line. 3. The first transmission request processing means has routing data having the same area code as the area code of the destination facsimile number included in the received facsimile transmission request in the routing table, and The facsimile server according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the facsimile server is configured to perform a facsimile transmission process using a telephone line when the inhibition flag of the routing data is turned on. 4. The second transmission request processing means is configured to notify the facsimile transmission request source of an error when the rejection flag of the routing data having the same host name as its own host name is on. The facsimile server according to claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3. 5. The second transmission request processing means uses a routing number having a rejection flag of routing data having the same host name as its own host name turned off and a telephone number matching the destination facsimile number included in the acceptance facsimile transmission request. The reception processing is performed when the table exists in the table.
The facsimile server according to claim 2, claim 3 or claim 4.