Communication method and apparatus that employs facsimile to electronic mail conversion through a computer network by way of the internet
First Claim
1. A communication method comprising:
- a step of a transmitting side transmitting an electronic mail to a computer network;
a step of the transmitting side notifying a receiving side via a reception request signal containing data for identifying the electronic mail of the transmission of electronic mail by a circuit switching method; and
a step of the receiving side retrieving the electronic mail from the computer network in response to the reception request signal received from a telephone network, wherein the reception request signal is an NSS signal which comprises an e-mail address of said transmitting side, wherein said steps of transmitting an electronic mail and reception request signal are carried out in parallel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A communication terminal device of the present invention is provided with both facsimile communication function and electronic mail transmission/reception function. At the transmission side, scanned image data is coded by MH, MR method and the like, converted to text data, then edited according to electronic mail format for transmitting it as an electronic mail to computer network like internet. The transmission side also transmits by facsimile (by a circuit switching method) a transmission notification indicating transmission of the electronic mail and a signal indicating reception of the electronic mail. After receiving the signal requesting reception of the electronic mail, the receiving side receives the electronic mail from the computer network, converts it into image data and prints the image data out by facsimile.
115 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A communication method comprising:
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a step of a transmitting side transmitting an electronic mail to a computer network;
a step of the transmitting side notifying a receiving side via a reception request signal containing data for identifying the electronic mail of the transmission of electronic mail by a circuit switching method; and
a step of the receiving side retrieving the electronic mail from the computer network in response to the reception request signal received from a telephone network, wherein the reception request signal is an NSS signal which comprises an e-mail address of said transmitting side, wherein said steps of transmitting an electronic mail and reception request signal are carried out in parallel.
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2. A communication method comprising:
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a step of a transmitting side transmitting an electronic mail to a computer network;
a step of the transmitting side transmitting a reception request signal containing data for identifying the electronic mail to a receiving side by a circuit switching method which signal indicating a request for reception of the electronic mail; and
a step of the receiving side retrieving the electronic mail from the computer network in response to the reception of the reception request signal by the circuit switching method via a telephone network, wherein the reception request signal is an NSS signal which comprises an e-mail address of said transmitting side, wherein said steps of transmitting an electronic mail and reception request signal are carried out in parallel.
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3. A communication terminal device comprising:
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electronic mail transmission means for transmitting an electronic mail to a computer network; and
transmission notification transmission means for transmitting by a circuit switching method a transmission notification that notifies a receiving side via a reception request signal containing data for identifying the electronic mail of electronic mail transmission, wherein the receiving side retrieves the electronic mail from the computer network in response to the reception request signal received from a telephone network, wherein the reception request signal is an NSS signal which comprises an e-mail address of said transmitting side, wherein said transmission of an electronic mail and reception request signed are carried out in parallel. - View Dependent Claims (6, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
image scanning means for producing image data by scanning a document; and
first conversion means for converting the image data scanned by the image scanning means into electronic mail.
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10. The communication terminal device of claim 9, wherein the first conversion means includes means for converting binary data to text data.
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14. The communication terminal device of any of claims 3 to 8, wherein the communication by the circuit switching method is facsimile communication along a public subscriber telephone network.
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15. The communication terminal device of claim 9, wherein the communication by the circuit switching method is facsimile communication along a public subscriber telephone network.
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16. The communication terminal device of claim 10, wherein the communication by the circuit switching method is facsimile communication along a public subscriber telephone network.
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17. The communication terminal device of any of claims 3 to 8, wherein the computer communication network is the internet.
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18. The communication terminal device of claim 9 wherein the computer communication network is the Internet.
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19. The communication terminal device of claim 10 wherein the computer communication network is the internet.
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20. The communication terminal device of claim 14 wherein the computer communication network is the internet.
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21. The communication terminal device of claim 15 wherein the computer communication network is the internet.
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22. The communication terminal device of claim 16 wherein the computer communication network is the internet.
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4. A communication terminal device comprising:
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electronic mail transmission means for transmitting an electronic mail to a computer network; and
reception request signal transmission means for transmitting by a circuit switching method a reception request signal containing data for identifying the electronic mail to a receiving side and indicating a request for reception of the electronic mail, wherein the receiving side retrieves the electronic mail from the computer network in response to the reception request signal received from a telephone network, wherein the reception request signal is an NSS signal which comprises an e-mail address of said transmitting side, wherein said transmission of an electronic mail and reception request signed are carried out in parallel. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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5. A communication terminal device comprising:
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reception request signal reception means for receiving by a circuit switching method a reception request signal containing data for identifying an electronic mail indicating a request for reception of the electronic mail; and
electronic mail retrieving means for retrieving the electronic mail from a computer network in response to the reception of the reception request signal by the reception request signal reception means via a telephone network, wherein the reception request signal is an NSS signal which comprises an e-mail address of said transmitting side, wherein said retrieving of an electronic mail and reception request signed are carried out in parallel. - View Dependent Claims (8, 11, 12, 13)
second conversion means for converting the electronic mail received by the electronic mail reception means into image data; and
output means for visibly outputting the image data converted by the second conversion means.
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12. The communication terminal device of any of claims 5, or 8 wherein the electronic mail retrieving means makes another attempt to receive electronic mail after a predetermined time period has elapsed if the electronic mail could not be received the previous time.
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13. The communication terminal device of any of claims 5, or 8 further including reception notification transmission means for transmitting a reception notification to the transmitting side by a circuit switching method after reception of the electronic mail.
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23. A communication method comprising:
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a step of a transmitting side transmitting an electronic mail to a computer network simultaneous with its transmitting a reception request signal containing data for identifying the electronic mail to a receiving side by a circuit switching method, the reception request signal indicating a request for reception of the electronic mail; and
a step of the receiving side retrieving the electronic mail from the computer network a predetermined period after reception of the reception request signal by the circuit switching method via a telephone network, wherein the reception request signal is an NSS signal which comprises an e-mail address of said transmitting side, wherein said steps of transmitting an electronic mail and reception request signal are carried out in parallel.
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Specification