FACSIMILE TO E-MAIL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A fax to E-mail system and related method are shown, whereby a hardcopy document is sent via a fax device to its recipient via electronic mail through a data network (such as the Internet), and is delivered in such a manner that it can be retrieved by the recipient at an E-mail device, in the ordinary course of retrieving the E-mail, and displayed on the screen of the E-mail device. The invention provides for and accomplishes the delivery of a document, which begins as a hardcopy, as an electronic file retrieved through E-mail recipient'"'"'s terminal and displayed on the computer screen of the E-mail recipient'"'"'s terminal. The system and method also provides for an interface device which connects to a conventional fax device for communicating E-mail addresses and routing hardcopy documents to the E-mail network. The invention provides a means for embedding the functions of the interface device into conventional fax devices. The system can also be used in cooperation with Internet Web service for reporting, accounting, information services, and user interaction
15 Citations
35 Claims
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1-15. -15. (canceled)
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16. A system, comprising:
a facsimile-to-e-mail server in communication with at least one communication network, wherein the facsimile-to-e-mail server is configured to receive facsimile information from a facsimile device in communication with the server; receive a destination e-mail address for the facsimile information; and send the facsimile information to the destination e-mail address via the communication network. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. An apparatus including a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:
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receiving facsimile information from a facsimile device; receiving a destination e-mail address to which the facsimile information is to be sent; converting the received facsimile information into a computer readable image file; composing an e-mail message with the computer readable image file as an attachment; and transmitting the e-mail message to an e-mail server associated with the received destination e-mail address. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A communication system, comprising:
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a server in communication with a first communications network and a second communications network different than the first communications network, wherein the server is configured to receive facsimile information in a first format from a remote facsimile device via the first communications network, and wherein the server is further configured to transmit the facsimile information in a second format different than the first format to a destination e-mail address via the second communications network. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A communication system for communicating, with a public communication network (“
- PN”
) and a global computer communications network, facsimile information, the system comprising;a server configured to communicate with the PN and the computer communications network; a facsimile device for generating facsimile information, wherein the facsimile device is configured to communicate with the PN; and an interface device configured to facilitate communications between the facsimile device and the server, and to facilitate delivery of facsimile information from the facsimile device to an e-mail address associated with the computer communications network.
- PN”
Specification