Method for administrating reply mail in electronic mail system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. In an electronic mail system having a host computer, a plurality of terminal units between which mail is exchanged via said host computer, and a table for indicating mail messages requesting answers, a mail administration method comprising the steps of:
- registering mail which requires an answer on said table with a terminal unit in response to sending of the mail which requires an answer to an associated solicited destination terminal unit;
writing answer presence information for indicating a reception of an answer into a location of said table corresponding to said sent mail which requires an answer when answer mail is received corresponding to the registered mail which requires an answer;
searching said table at a predetermined time for presence/absence of said answer presence information; and
,sending a notice, to send back an answer responsive to said sent mail requiring an answer to the associated solicited destination terminal unit in the absence of the answer presence information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a mail message service system for delivering mail having mailboxes installed for respective users, an answer asking table is provided for storing information representative of whether an answer to a previously sent message is requested. Also stored in the answer asking table is the date and hour at which the query mail soliciting an answer to the previously sent message should be sent. The query mail soliciting an answer is sent on the basis of the stored information.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. In an electronic mail system having a host computer, a plurality of terminal units between which mail is exchanged via said host computer, and a table for indicating mail messages requesting answers, a mail administration method comprising the steps of:
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registering mail which requires an answer on said table with a terminal unit in response to sending of the mail which requires an answer to an associated solicited destination terminal unit; writing answer presence information for indicating a reception of an answer into a location of said table corresponding to said sent mail which requires an answer when answer mail is received corresponding to the registered mail which requires an answer; searching said table at a predetermined time for presence/absence of said answer presence information; and
,sending a notice, to send back an answer responsive to said sent mail requiring an answer to the associated solicited destination terminal unit in the absence of the answer presence information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An electronic mail system comprising a host computer connected to a plurality of terminal units between which mail messages are exchanged via said host computer;
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a table means for indicating mail messages requesting answers; writing means for writing answer presence information indicating a reception of an answer into a location of the table means corresponding to a mail message of said table in response to reception of an answer for said mail message;
detecting means for detecting an absence of an answer message for said mail message at a predefined fixed time; and
,sending means for sending a notice to said back an answer to associated destinations where said mail messages requesting answers were sent upon detecting the absence of the answer message for each of said mail messages requesting answers.
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6. In an electronic mail system having a host computer and a plurality of terminal units, with mail being exchanged between said terminal units via said host computer, a mail administration method comprising the steps of:
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a first step of determining, at least one of the plurality of terminal units, at fixed time intervals whether a mail requesting an answer has received an answer by examining a registration of answer presence/absence information for the mail requesting an answer; and
,a second step of sending a notice to send back an answer to a destination terminal where said mail requesting an answer has been sent.
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7. In an electronic mail system for exchanging mail messages between a plurality of terminal units via a host computer, an improved mail administration method performed by the plurality of terminal units, the improvement comprising the steps of:
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storing status information into a status information location of an answer asking table upon sending each mail message, the status information representing the mail message sent and a response requirement condition, and the status information location being unique to the mail message sent; writing answer presence information into the answer asking table upon receipt of answer mail, the answer mail containing an answer message responsive to an associated mail message responsive sent for which a response is expected, and the answer presence information being written into a predefined answer asking table location corresponding to the associated mail message; searching the answer asking table for the answer presence information and the status information at predefined intervals of time; and
,sending demand mail soliciting a responsive answer mail to a destination mailbox when the answer presence information is not found. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An improved electronic mail system for exchanging mail messages between terminal devices via a host computer common to and interposed between the terminal devices, the system comprising:
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an answer asking table means for storing answer requested information indicative of a response required from the mail system for a mail message sent for which a return response is expected; a writing means for writing answer presence information into the answer asking table, the answer presence information being representative of a receipt of a return response; a detecting means for detecting, at selected intervals of time, the answer requested information stored in the answer asking table and the answer presence information stored in the answer asking table; and
,mail sending means for sending mail from a first terminal device to a second terminal device via the host computer upon detecting an absence of the answer presence information and a presence of the answer requested information, the mail having a preselected message requesting a return response. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification