Call transfer system and electronic mail transfer system

• US 5,790,649 A
• Filed: 08/13/1997
• Issued: 08/04/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Hiroshige, Norimichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Hunter, Daniel S.
• Application Number:
  US08/874,207
• Time in Patent Office: 356 Days
• Field of Search: 340/825.44, 340/825.49, 395/200.36, 379/93.01, 379/93.24, 379/201, 379/211, 455/412
• US Class Current: 379/93.24
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2272 Subscriber line supervision circuits, e.g. call detection circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4228 in networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5307 for recording messages comprising any combination of audio and non-audio components
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/54 Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; to voice mail H04M3/53308
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/12 for working between exchanges having different types of switching equipment, e.g. power-driven and step by step or decimal and non-decimal

Abstract

An electronic mail transfer system including an information processing station and a telephone exchange system. The information processing system accommodates a plurality of terminals and has an electronic mail transmitting function. The telephone exchanging system accommodates a plurality of telephones interrelated to the respective terminals and each having an input element. The telephone exchanging system operates to monitor an input operation performed by the input elements of each telephone, and transmits information indicative of the input operation to the information processing system. The information processing system operates to control an electronic mail transfer operation based on the information indicative of the input operation transmitted from the telephone exchanging system, to transfer electronic mail destined for a terminal to a predetermined transfer destination if no input operation is performed at a telephone corresponding to the terminal and to not transfer the electronic mail if an input operation is performed at the telephone.

Claims

1. An electronic mail transfer system comprising:

an information processing system accommodating a plurality of terminals and having an electronic mail transmitting function; and

a telephone exchanging system accommodating a plurality of telephones preliminarily interrelated to the respective terminals and each having input means;

the telephone exchanging system monitoring an input operation performed by the input means of each of the telephones, and transmitting information indicative of the input operation to the information processing system;

the information processing system controlling an electronic mail transfer operation, based on the information indicative of the input operation transmitted from the telephone exchanging system, to transfer an electronic mail destined for a terminal to a predetermined transfer destination if no input operation is performed at a telephone corresponding to the terminal, and not to transfer the electronic mail if an input operation is performed at the telephone.

2. An electronic mail transfer system as set forth in claim 1,

wherein, when an input operation is performed at a telephone in a state where an absent subscriber electronic mail transfer function of a terminal corresponding to the telephone is turned on in the information processing system, the telephone exchanging system transmits to the information processing system information indicating that the input operation is performed at the telephone and, upon receiving the information, the information processing system controls the terminal not to transfer the electronic mail destined for the terminal.

3. An electronic mail transfer system as set forth in claim 1,

wherein the telephone exchanging system comprises a first subscriber presence/absence managing section for performing subscriber presence/absence management in the telephone exchanging system;

wherein the information processing system comprises;

a second subscriber presence/absence managing section for performing subscriber presence/absence management in the information processing system;

an electronic mail processing section for controlling a transfer operation of an electronic mail to be transferred between the terminals;

a status managing section for managing the statuses of the telephones and the terminals based on subscriber presence/absence information obtained from the first and second subscriber presence/absence managing sections; and

an information storage section for storing therein the subscriber presence/absence information and transfer conditions.

4. An electronic mail transfer system as set forth in claim 3,

wherein the information storage section preliminarily stores therein information on a telephone and data pairs of reasons of subscriber absence at the telephone and addresses of electronic mail transfer destinations,

and, when a subscriber absent status is registered from the telephone along with a reason of the subscriber absence, the first subscriber presence/absence managing section transmits to the status managing section information on the subscriber absence registration including the reason of the subscriber absence, then the status managing section retrieves an address of an electronic mail transfer destination corresponding to the reason of the subscriber absence from the information storage section, and the second subscriber presence/absence managing section transmits information on the address of the transfer destination and the subscriber absence registration to a terminal corresponding to the telephone.