Method and apparatus to output electronic mail according to degree of importance

• US 20040133649A1
• Filed: 12/04/2003
• Published: 07/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Young-Hoon
• Application Number:
  US10/726,520
• Publication Number:
  US 20040133649A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/226 Delivery according to priorities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00209 Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00923 Variably assigning priority H04N1/0092 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32128 attached to the image data, e.g. file header, transmitted message header, information on the same page or in the same computer file as the image for information embedded in the image H04N1/32144
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3225 of data relating to an image, a page or a document
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3278 Transmission

Abstract

A method and an apparatus to output electronic mail (e-mail) according to degree of importance is provided. The method includes determining the degrees of importance of the e-mails; sending the e-mails whose degrees of importance are determined to another party; separating the degrees of importance of the e-mails that are sent to the other party; and printing the e-mails whose degrees of importance are separated into groups in accordance with the degrees of importance.

Claims

1. A method of outputting e-mails according to the degrees of importance of the e-mails in an e-mail facsimile machine that sends and/or receives e-mails, comprising:

determining the degrees of importance of the e-mails;

receiving the e-mails whose degrees of importance are determined;

separating the received e-mails based upon the degrees of importance; and

printing the e-mails whose degrees of importance are separated into groups in accordance with the degrees of importance.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein printing the e-mails further comprises:

displaying information of the e-mails whose degrees of importance are separated into groups in accordance with the degrees of importance of the e-mails.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the degrees of importance of the e-mails are predetermined.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1, printing the e-mails comprises:

saving the received e-mails.

7. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the printing of the e-mails in accordance with the degrees of importance comprises printing the e-mails to separate bins according to the degrees of importance.

10. The method as set forth in claim 2, wherein the displaying of the information regarding the e-mails comprises:

sequentially arranging the information regarding the e-mails according to the degrees of importance of the e-mails.

3. An apparatus to output e-mails according to degrees of importance of the e-mails in an e-mail facsimile machine that sends and/or receives e-mails, comprising:

a degree of importance determination unit to determine degrees of importance of e-mails, and to output the e-mails whose degrees of importance are determined;

an e-mail sending and receiving unit to send and to receive the e-mails whose degrees of importance are determined;

a degree of importance separation and process unit to separate the e-mails received from the e-mail sending and receiving unit into groups of varying degrees of importance, and to output the e-mails whose degrees of importance are separated into groups; and

a degree of importance separation and print unit to print the e-mails whose degrees of importance are separated into groups in accordance with the degrees of importance.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 3, further comprising:

a degree of importance separation and display unit to display information regarding the e-mails whose degrees of importance are separated in accordance with the degrees of importance.

11. The method as set forth in claim 3, wherein the degree of importance separation and print unit outputs printing signals of the e-mails corresponding to the degrees of importance.

8. A method of sorting and outputting e-mails in an e-mail facsimile machine that sends and/or receives emails according to assigned degrees of importance, comprising:

determining the degrees of importance of each e-mail based on the assigned degrees of importance of the e-mails;

receiving the e-mails with determined degrees of importance;

separating the degrees of importance of the e-mails; and

outputting the e-mails in accordance with the degrees of importance.

9. The method as set forth in claim 8, wherein the outputting of the e-mails comprises:

generating alarms corresponding to the degrees of importance of the respective e-mails when outputting the e-mails.

12. An apparatus to sort and output e-mails in an e-mail facsimile machine, comprising:

a degree of importance determination unit to determine degrees of importance of the e-mails, and to output the e-mails;

an e-mail sending and receiving unit to send and to receive the e-mails whose degrees of importance are determined;

a degree of importance separation and process unit to sort the e-mails into groups of varying degrees of importance, and to output the e-mails; and

a degree of importance separation and print unit to output the e-mails in accordance with the degrees of importance.

13. The apparatus us set forth in claim 12, wherein the degree of importance separation and print unit outputs the e-mails in accordance with the degrees of importance by displaying information regarding the e-mails in accordance with the degrees of importance.