JP3908605B2 - E-mail transfer / delivery method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial application fields]
The present invention relates to a technique for changing an electronic mail delivery destination according to a situation.
[0002]
[Prior art]
At present, electronic mail is widely used due to the development of computer and communication technology. In the current e-mail delivery system, the provider provides an e-mail transfer service, and the user can transfer e-mail to the desired destination by setting the transfer source and transfer destination in advance. It has become.
[0003]
On the other hand, the environment surrounding the Internet is also changing dramatically. By changing from the conventional IPv4 to IPv6, the number of IP addresses that can be assigned to the terminal is dramatically increased, and IP addresses can be set not only for computer terminals but also for all devices including home appliances. It becomes like this.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When an IP address can be set for any device, an electronic mail can be received by a plurality of electronic devices owned by each individual. However, when a user wants to view an e-mail with a familiar electronic device, the conventional e-mail distribution service sends an e-mail having the same contents to all the terminals set each time. For this reason, information that is not useful in the environment where the user is present is also received, and there is a problem that the load of erasing and organizing work increases. In addition, the current provider's e-mail transfer system does not have a function of delivering e-mail to different terminals according to time zones in addition to a function of transferring e-mail.
[0005]
In view of the above points, the present invention provides an e-mail transfer / distribution method that allows a user to view an e-mail at any time and minimizes operations such as e-mail deletion by the user. Another object is to provide a device.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problem, in the first aspect of the present invention, in order to transfer the received e-mail to a predetermined destination, the destination address of the received e-mail is used as a receiving address, and the user is set at the receiving address. Refer to the reception address management database in which the user ID for specifying and the reception address that is the reception mail address are recorded in association with each other, acquire the user ID, and obtain the user ID and the current time for each terminal. The terminal-specific address management database in which the mail address is recorded is referred to, the terminal-specific mail address is acquired, and the received e-mail is transmitted to the terminal specified by the acquired terminal-specific mail address. It is characterized by.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, an address of a terminal to be transferred is set for each time zone, and when an e-mail is received, an address of the terminal to be transferred in that time zone is acquired to send an e-mail. Since the transfer is made, the user can view the e-mail at any time, and the work such as deleting the e-mail can be minimized.
[0007]
In the second aspect of the present invention, in order to deliver an e-mail having a predetermined content to a predetermined destination, the content to be distributed is specified, and the specified content is transmitted to a plurality of users by e-mail. Extracting from the content management database in which the common contents are recorded, creating a corresponding user ID from the distribution destination management database in which the users to whom each content is to be registered is created, and creating the acquired user ID and Refer to the terminal address management database in which the mail address for each terminal is recorded at the current time, acquire the mail address for each terminal, and send the received e-mail to the terminal specified by the acquired mail address for each terminal. It is characterized by being transmitted.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the address of the terminal to be transferred for each time zone is set, and what kind of content is sent to whom, and an e-mail is sent in accordance with a certain purpose. When delivering all at once, the users who should be sent are identified, and for each identified user, the e-mail is forwarded by acquiring the address of the terminal that should be forwarded during that time period. In addition to being able to receive electronic mail distribution, the trader can also efficiently distribute electronic mail to users.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an e-mail transfer apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is an address setting input means, 2 is an address management database for each terminal, 3 is a received address management database, 4 is a transmission / reception control means, 5 is a timer, 6 is a network, 7a is a PC terminal, 7b is a portable terminal, 7c is a TV receiver and 8 is a terminal.
[0009]
The address setting input unit 1 has a function of setting a transmission destination for each user's time zone in the terminal address management database 2 and a function of setting a receiving mail address in the reception address management database 3. It is realized by an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard or a recording medium reader. The terminal-specific address management database 2 is a database in which destination e-mail addresses for each user are recorded. FIG. 2 shows an example of the terminal address management information recorded in the terminal address management database 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the address management information for each terminal is composed of four items: a user ID, a mail address for each terminal, a reception permission start time, and a reception permission end time. The user ID is user specifying information for specifying a user who is provided with an electronic mail service in the system. The terminal-specific e-mail address is an e-mail address assigned to each terminal. For example, in the example of FIG. 2, the user “taro” indicates that three terminals are set as e-mail recipients. The reception permission time and the reception end time respectively indicate a start time and an end time at which reception is permitted at the mail address for each terminal. For example, an e-mail address “yamada_taro@domain1.○Δ.co.jp” means that e-mail reception is accepted from 9:00 to 12:00.
[0010]
The received address management database 3 is a database in which addresses for receiving e-mails from others are recorded. FIG. 3 shows an example of the received address management information recorded in the received address management database 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the reception address management information is composed of two items, a user ID and a reception mail address. The user ID is user specifying information for specifying a user who is provided with an electronic mail service in the system as described above. The receiving e-mail address is an e-mail address for notifying others. For example, in the example of FIG. 3, this means that a person who sends an e-mail to the user “taro” sends an e-mail address “taro@tenso.○Δ.co.jp”.
[0011]
The transmission / reception control means 4 is for performing transmission / reception control of electronic mail with the outside. Specifically, the function of acquiring the user ID by referring to the received address management database 3 with the mail address of the received e-mail, and the terminal-specific address management database 2 with reference to the acquired user ID and the current time It has a function of acquiring a mail address and a function of transmitting a received electronic mail to the acquired mail address for each terminal. The timer 5 has a function of managing the current time and is realized by an internal clock of a computer. The address setting input means 1, the terminal address management database 2, the received address management database 3, and the transmission / reception control means 4 are specifically realized by installing dedicated software on the computer and its peripheral devices. .
[0012]
The network 6 is a communication line capable of transmitting and receiving data, such as the Internet, and may be wired or wireless. The PC terminal 7 a, the mobile terminal 7 b, the TV receiver 7 c, and the terminal 8 are terminal devices that can send and receive e-mails to and from the send / receive control means 4 via the network 6.
[0013]
Next, the processing operation of the electronic mail delivery apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, a case where an electronic mail is transmitted from the terminal 8 and received by any of the PC terminal 7a, the portable terminal 7b, and the TV receiver 7c will be described as an example. First, as advance preparations, necessary information is registered in the address management database 2 and the received address management database 3 from the address setting input means 1. For example, the user identified by the user ID “taro” has a PC terminal 7a, a portable terminal 7b, and a TV receiver 7c. The user is assigned to the PC terminal 7a from 9:00 to 12:00, and from 12:00 to 18:00. If you want the mobile terminal 7b to transfer to the TV receiver 7c from 18:00 to 24:00, the email address “yamada_taro@domain1.○△.co.jp” of the PC terminal 7a, 7b's mail address “yamada_taro@domain2.○△.keitai.jp” and TV receiver 7c's email address “yamada_taro@domain3.○△.jp” Settings are made as shown in FIG. Further, the receiving mail address is set as shown in FIG. 3, and when receiving the mail address to others, the receiving mail address is taught.
[0014]
When the advance preparation is completed, an e-mail transfer service to the user “taro” is enabled by the system shown in FIG. In such a state, an electronic mail is transmitted from the terminal 8 to the mail address “taro@tenso.○Δ.co.jp” (step S1). Then, it is transmitted to the transmission / reception control means 4 via the network 6. This is realized by setting the IP address of the computer for realizing the transmission / reception control means 4 corresponding to the domain name of the receiving mail address.
[0015]
Subsequently, a user ID corresponding to the received electronic mail is acquired (step S2). Specifically, the corresponding user ID is acquired by referring to the reception address management database 3 with the reception mail address of the electronic mail received by the transmission / reception control means 4. For example, when the receiving mail address is “taro@tenso.○Δ.co.jp”, the user ID “taro” is acquired. Next, a terminal-specific mail address corresponding to the acquired user ID and the current time is acquired (step S3). Specifically, after the transmission / reception control unit 4 acquires the current time from the timer 8, the terminal ID management database 2 is referred to by the user ID and the current time acquired in step S2, and the terminal is to be transmitted at the current time. Get an email address. For example, if the current time managed by the timer is “10:00”, the mail address “for each terminal” that is included between the reception permission start time and the reception permission end time with the user ID “taro”. yamada_taro@domain1.○△.co.jp ”is acquired.
[0016]
Next, an e-mail is transmitted to the acquired e-mail address for each terminal (step S4). Specifically, the e-mail received from the terminal 8 is transmitted to the acquired e-mail address for each terminal “yamada_taro@domain1.○Δ.co.jp”. As a result, it is transmitted to the PC terminal 7a corresponding to the terminal-specific mail address “yamada_taro@domain1.○Δ.co.jp”.
[0017]
For example, when an e-mail is transmitted to the user “taro” by the above processing, from 9 o'clock to 12 o'clock according to the address management information for each terminal shown in FIG. Is transferred to the portable terminal 7b and from 18:00 to 24:00 to the TV receiver 7c. For example, for those who are in the office from 9:00 to 12:00, go around from 12:00 to 18:00, and go home at 18:00, for example, from 9:00 to 12:00 Until 18:00 to 18:00 on a mobile terminal, and after 18:00 you can watch e-mail on your home TV, and since it will not be sent to other terminals, extra deletion processing There is no need to do it. Further, the e-mail after 24:00 is deferred from being transferred, and is sent to the PC terminal at 9:00.
[0018]
(Second Embodiment)
Next, the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an electronic mail delivery apparatus according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 5, those having the same functions as those of the first embodiment shown in FIG. The difference from the first embodiment is that the content specifying unit 9, the mail creating unit 10, the distribution destination management database 11, and the content management database 12 are provided.
[0019]
The content designating unit 9 is for designating content that should be included in the e-mail, and is implemented by an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard or a reading device for a recording medium in the same manner as the address setting input unit 1. The The mail creating unit 10 has a function of acquiring the user ID of the user who should send the content specified by the content specifying unit 9 from the distribution destination management database 11 and acquiring the specified content itself from the content management database 12. ing. The distribution destination management database 11 is a database that records which content should be transmitted to which user. FIG. 6 shows an example of distribution destination management information recorded in the distribution destination management database 11. As shown in FIG. 6, the delivery destination management information is composed of two items, a user ID and a content ID. As described above, the user ID is user specifying information for specifying the user, and the content ID is content specifying information for specifying the content to be included in the e-mail, that is, the content of the e-mail. The content management database 12 is a database that records the contents to be included in the e-mail. FIG. 7 shows an example of content management information recorded in the content management database 12. As shown in FIG. 7, the content management information is composed of three items: a content ID, a subject, and a content body. The content ID is content specifying information for specifying the content as described above. A subject is a subject (subject) of electronic mail when content is transmitted as electronic mail. The content body is the content itself, and is a sentence here.
[0020]
Next, the processing operation of the electronic mail delivery apparatus shown in FIG. 5 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. In this case, an e-mail is transmitted as DM (direct mail) using this system and is received by any one of the PC terminal 7a, the portable terminal 7b, and the TV receiver 7c, or the PC terminal 13a and the portable terminal 13b. Will be described as an example. The advance preparation is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and it is assumed that necessary information is recorded in each database.
[0021]
In the state where the advance preparation is completed, the content is specified by the content specifying means 9 (step S11). For example, suppose that a certain store wants to send a DM for summer vacation. In this case, the content ID “0002”, which is content related to summer vacation, is designated. Subsequently, based on the designated content ID, the user ID of the user to be transmitted and the content are acquired and an e-mail is created (step S12). Specifically, the corresponding user ID is acquired by referring to the distribution destination management database 11 with the specified content ID, and the subject and the content body are acquired with reference to the content management database 12. For example, when the content ID “0002” is designated, the user IDs “taro” and “hanako” are acquired from the distribution destination management database 11, and the subject “summer vacation” and the content text “summer is fireworks” are acquired from the content management database 12. Tournament, Summer Night Sky ... "is acquired.
[0022]
Next, a terminal-specific mail address corresponding to the acquired user ID and the current time is acquired (step S13). The process in step S13 is substantially the same as the process in step S3 in the first embodiment, and after the transmission / reception control unit 4 acquires the current time from the timer 8, the terminal uses the user ID and current time acquired in step S12. With reference to the separate address management database 2, the terminal-specific mail address to be transmitted at the current time is acquired. For example, if the current time managed by the timer is “10:00”, the mail address “for each terminal” that is included between the reception permission start time and the reception permission end time with the user ID “taro”. yamada_taro@domain1.○△.co.jp ”is acquired, and by user ID“ hanako ”, the e-mail address for each terminal“ hana@domain1.○△ ”is included between the reception permission start time and the reception permission end time. .co.jp "is acquired.
[0023]
Next, an e-mail is transmitted to the acquired e-mail address for each terminal (step S14). Specifically, the e-mail composed of the subject and content body acquired in step S12 is sent to the acquired terminal-specific e-mail address “yamada_taro@domain1.○△.co.jp” and “hana@domain1.○△.co. to jp ". As a result, the PC terminal 7a corresponding to the terminal-specific mail address “yamada_taro@domain1.○△.co.jp” and the PC terminal 13a corresponding to the terminal-specific mail address “hana@domain1.○△.co.jp” are transmitted. Is done.
[0024]
For example, when a DM is transmitted as an e-mail to the user “taro” by the above processing, the PC terminal 7a is transmitted from 9 o'clock to 12 o'clock according to the address management information for each terminal shown in FIG. When it is transmitted to the mobile terminal 7b until 18:00, from 18:00 to 24:00 to the TV receiver 7c, and when DM is transmitted as an e-mail to the user "hanako", it is 9:00 according to the address management information for each terminal shown in FIG. From 18:00 to 18:00, it is transmitted to the PC terminal 13a, and from 18:00 to 24:00, it is transmitted to the portable terminal 13b.
[0025]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the destination address of the received e-mail is used as the receiving address, and the receiving address is the user ID for specifying the user and the receiving mail address with the receiving address. Referring to the reception address management database recorded in association with each other, the user ID is acquired, and the terminal-specific address management database in which the terminal-specific mail address is recorded with the acquired user ID and the current time is referred to as the terminal. Since another email address is acquired and the received email is transmitted to the terminal specified by the acquired device-specific email address, the user can view the email at any time, There is an effect that it is possible to minimize work such as deletion of mail.
[0026]
In addition, the content to be distributed is specified, and the specified content is extracted from the content management database in which common contents to be transmitted to a plurality of users by e-mail are recorded, and the user who is to distribute each content is registered Get the corresponding user ID from the destination management database, create an e-mail, refer to the terminal-specific address management database in which the terminal-specific mail address is recorded with the acquired user ID and current time, and send the terminal-specific mail Since the address is acquired and the received e-mail is transmitted to the terminal specified by the acquired e-mail address for each terminal, the user can receive e-mail delivery at any time, Has the effect of making it possible to efficiently deliver e-mail to users. That.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic mail transfer system according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of terminal address management information recorded in a terminal address management database 2 used in the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of received address management information recorded in a received address management database 3 used in the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of an e-mail transfer method according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic mail delivery system according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of distribution destination management information recorded in a distribution destination management database 11 used in the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of content management information recorded in a content management database 12 used in the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an outline of an e-mail delivery method according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Address setting input means 2 ... Terminal address management database 3 ... Received address management database 4 ... Transmission / reception control means 5 ... Timer 6 ... Network 7a ... PC terminal 7b ..Mobile terminal 7c ... TV receiver 8 ... Terminal 9 ... Content designation means 10 ... Mail creation means 11 ... Destination management database 12 ... Content management database 13a ... PC Terminal 13b ... portable terminal

Claims (2)

An e-mail delivery method for delivering an e-mail having a predetermined content to a predetermined destination,
Specify the content to deliver,
The specified content is extracted from a content management database in which common contents to be transmitted to a plurality of users by e-mail are recorded, and a corresponding user ID is registered from a distribution destination management database in which users to whom each content is to be distributed are registered. To get an email and create an email,
With reference to the terminal-specific address management database in which the terminal-specific mail address is recorded with the acquired user ID and the current time, acquiring the terminal-specific mail address;
Transmitting the received e-mail to a terminal specified by the acquired terminal-specific e-mail address;
An e-mail delivery method comprising: An address setting input means for setting an e-mail address for each terminal, which is an e-mail address of the destination for each time zone,
A terminal-specific address management database that records the terminal-specific mail addresses set by the address setting input means;
A content management database that records common content to be emailed to multiple users;
Distribution destination management database that registers users who should distribute each content,
Content specifying means for specifying the content to be distributed;
Mail creating means for extracting the designated content from the content management database and extracting a corresponding user ID to create an email;
A transmission / reception control means for acquiring a terminal-specific mail address by referring to the terminal-specific address management database based on the extracted user ID and current time, and transmitting the created electronic mail to the acquired terminal-specific mail address;
An e-mail delivery apparatus comprising:

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