Message switching apparatus for processing message according to message processing procedure
First Claim
1. A flexible and customizable message switching apparatus, comprising:
- motive-procedure set storing means for storing a plurality of motive-procedure sets, each motive-procedure set comprising a motive and a message processing procedure with a condition, wherein the motive is adapted to detect;
an event occurring in association with the message switching, an occurrence of the event firing the motive, wherein the message processing procedure with a condition comprises both a message processing procedure to be performed on a message and the condition that allows the message processing procedure to be performed if the message satisfies the condition, and wherein contents of the motive, the condition, and the message processing procedure are set independently from each other so as to arbitrarily distribute their contents among the motive, the condition, and the message processing procedure;
message receiving means for receiving, from a sender'"'"'s communication terminal or information terminal, a particular message and a destination address of a receiver receiving the particular message;
motive firing judging means for;
identifying the receiver being addressed in the particular message, retrieving a plurality of specific sub set of motive-procedure sets corresponding to the identified receiver from the plurality of motive-procedure sets, identifying a plurality of specific motives corresponding to the specific sub set of motive-procedure sets, detecting the occurrence of a particular event expressing a particular motive from among the specific motives, and selecting a particular motive-procedure set corresponding to the particular motive from the sub set plurality of specific motive-procedure sets, and determining whether the particular motive has been fired or not; and
message processing procedure performing means for performing a particular message processing procedure with a particular condition of the particular motive-procedure set in cases where the motive firing judging means judges that the particular motive has been fired and the particular condition has been satisfied by the particular message.
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Abstract
A plurality of motive-procedure sets respectively composed of a motive, a condition and a procedure of a message processing edited according to user'"'"'s intention are stored in advance for each user. When a message sent for a receiver is received in a message switching apparatus, it is judged whether or not one of the motives corresponding to a plurality of motive-procedure sets for the receiver is fired. When a particular motive is fired, a particular message processing of a particular motive-procedure set corresponding to the particular motive is performed in cases where a particular condition of the particular motive-procedure set is satisfied, so that an incoming call of the message is notified to the receiver or the message is transmitted or forwarded to the receiver according to the particular message processing. Accordingly, even though a user does not have a knowledge of a computer or a message processing apparatus, any message sent for the user can be automatically processed in the message processing apparatus according to user'"'"'s intention.
163 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A flexible and customizable message switching apparatus, comprising:
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motive-procedure set storing means for storing a plurality of motive-procedure sets, each motive-procedure set comprising a motive and a message processing procedure with a condition, wherein the motive is adapted to detect;
an event occurring in association with the message switching, an occurrence of the event firing the motive, wherein the message processing procedure with a condition comprises both a message processing procedure to be performed on a message and the condition that allows the message processing procedure to be performed if the message satisfies the condition, and wherein contents of the motive, the condition, and the message processing procedure are set independently from each other so as to arbitrarily distribute their contents among the motive, the condition, and the message processing procedure;
message receiving means for receiving, from a sender'"'"'s communication terminal or information terminal, a particular message and a destination address of a receiver receiving the particular message;
motive firing judging means for;
identifying the receiver being addressed in the particular message, retrieving a plurality of specific sub set of motive-procedure sets corresponding to the identified receiver from the plurality of motive-procedure sets, identifying a plurality of specific motives corresponding to the specific sub set of motive-procedure sets, detecting the occurrence of a particular event expressing a particular motive from among the specific motives, and selecting a particular motive-procedure set corresponding to the particular motive from the sub set plurality of specific motive-procedure sets, and determining whether the particular motive has been fired or not; and
message processing procedure performing means for performing a particular message processing procedure with a particular condition of the particular motive-procedure set in cases where the motive firing judging means judges that the particular motive has been fired and the particular condition has been satisfied by the particular message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
message transmitting means for transmitting a particular message to a receiver'"'"'s communication terminal or information terminal indicated by the destination address of the receiver in cases where the particular message processing performed by the message processing procedure performing means indicates transmission of the particular message to the receiver.
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3. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2 in which the sender'"'"'s communication terminal is selected from the group consisting of a telephone, a pager and a facsimile.
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4. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2 in which the sender'"'"'s information terminal is a computer.
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5. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2 in which one message processing procedure corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means denotes the transmission of a message to the destination address of the receiver.
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6. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2 in which one motive corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means is expressed by an event relating to an operation of a message.
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7. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2 in which one condition corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means is a general function.
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8. A message switching apparatus according to claim 7 in which one condition corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means is a function for judging agreement.
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9. A message switching apparatus according to claim 7 in which one condition corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means is a function for judging an inclusion.
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10. A message switching apparatus according to claim 7 in which one condition corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means is a function for judging a greater or lesser relationship.
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11. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2 in which one condition corresponding to each motive procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means is expressed by a predicate logical equation.
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12. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2 further comprising:
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motive table storing means for storing a plurality of motives;
condition table storing means for storing a plurality of conditions;
message processing procedure table storing means for storing a plurality of message processing procedures; and
motive-procedure set editing means for controlling an information terminal operated by a user to graphically display the motives stored in the motive table storing means on an image screen of the information terminal, wherein said editing means is adapted to;
instruct the user to select a desired motive from among the motives according to an intention of the user, control the information terminal to graphically display the conditions stored in the condition table storing means on the image screen of the information terminal, instruct the user to select a desired condition from among the conditions according to the intention of the user, control the information terminal to graphically display the message processing procedure stored in the message processing procedure table storing means on the image screen of the information terminal, instruct the user to select a desired message processing procedure from among the message processing procedures according to the intention of the user, create a user desired motive procedure set by combining the motive, the condition and the message processing procedure selected by the user, store the user created motive procedure set in the motive-procedure set storing means in cases where the user desires to process any message sent for the user according to that motive-procedure set, and delete the user created motive-procedure set from the motive-procedure set storing means in cases where the user desires to delete that motive-procedure set.
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13. A message switching apparatus according to claim 12 in which each motive stored in the motive table storing means comprises a name of the motive and a substance of the motive, and the substance of the desired motive is stored as an element of the desired motive-procedure set in the motive-procedure set storing means under the control of the graphical user interface editing means when the user selects the name of the desired motive.
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14. A message switching apparatus according to claim 12 in which each message processing procedure stored in the message processing procedure table storing means comprises a name of the message processing procedure, a language expression of the message processing procedure including a space for an argument, a type of the argument and a substance of the message processing procedure,
wherein a language expression of the desired message processing procedure is displayed on the image screen when the user selects the name of the desired message processing procedure, and the substance of the desired message processing procedure is stored as an element of the desired motive-procedure set in the motive-procedure set storing means under the control of the graphical user interface editing means when the user inputs a particular argument in the space of the language expression displayed on the image screen by referring the type of the particular argument. -
15. A message switching apparatus according to claim 12 in which each condition stored in the condition table storing means comprises a name of the condition, a language expression of the condition including a space for an argument, a type of the argument and a substance of the condition,
wherein a language expression of the desired condition is displayed on the image screen when the user selects the name of the desired condition, and the substance of the desired condition is stored as an element of the desired motive-procedure set in the motive procedure set storing means under the control of the graphical user interface editing means when the user inputs a particular argument in the space of the language expression displayed on the image screen by referring the type of the particular argument. -
16. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2 in which the judgement whether or not the particular condition is satisfied is performed by the message processing procedure performing means according to contents of the particular message.
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17. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2 further comprising:
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voice recognition means for recognizing a user'"'"'s voice and converting the user'"'"'s voice into a natural language character string; and
motive-procedure set editing means, for giving voiced guidance to a user operating a communications terminal or an information terminal, wherein said editing means is adapted to;
receive a voiced instruction of the user produced in reply to the voiced guidance, transmit the voiced instruction of the user to the voice recognition means to obtain a particular natural language character string corresponding to the voiced instructions of the user from the voice recognition means, edit a user'"'"'s motive-procedure set corresponding to the user according to the particular natural language character string, store the motive-procedure set corresponding to the user in the motive-procedure set storing means in cases where the editing of the user'"'"'s motive-procedure set denotes a new preparation, and delete the motive-procedure corresponding to the user from the motive-procedure set storing means in cases where the editing of the user'"'"'s motive-procedure set denoted a deletion.
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18. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:
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motive table storing means adapted to store a plurality of motives;
condition table storing means adapted to store a plurality of conditions;
message processing procedure table storing means adapted to store a plurality of message processing procedures;
voice recognizing means for recognizing a user'"'"'s voice and converting the user'"'"'s voice to a natural language character string; and
motive procedure set editing means adapted to;
give voiced guidance to a user operating a communication terminal or an information terminal, receive voiced instruction from the user produced in reply to the voiced guidance, transmit the voiced instructions of the user to the voice recognition means to obtain a particular natural language character string corresponding to the voiced instructions of the user from the voice recognizing means, select a desired motive from the motives stored in the motive table storing means according to the natural language character string, select a desired condition from the conditions stored in the condition table storing means according to the particular natural language character string, select a desired message processing procedure from the message processing procedures stored in the message processing procedure table storing means according to the particular natural language character string, prepare a desired motive procedure set corresponding to user according to the desired motive, the desired condition and the desired message processing procedure, and store the desired motive-procedure set corresponding to the user in the motive-procedure set storing means.
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19. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:
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motive table storing means for storing a plurality of motives;
condition table storing means for storing a plurality of conditions;
message processing procedure table storing means for storing a plurality of message processing procedures;
voice recognition means for recognizing a user'"'"'s voice and converting the user'"'"'s voice into a natural language character string; and
motive-procedure set editing means adapted to;
give a first voiced guidance indicating the motives stored in the motive table storing means as candidates for a desired motive to a user operating a communication terminal or an information terminal, receive the desired motive uttered by voice of the user in reply to the first voiced guidance, transmit the voiced desired motive to the voice recognition means to obtain a first natural language character string corresponding to the voice of the desired motive, from the voice recognition means, give a second voiced guidance indicating the conditions stored in the condition table storing means as candidates for a desired condition to the user, receive the voiced desired condition uttered by the user in reply to the second voiced guidance, transmit the voiced desired condition to the voice recognition means to obtain a second natural language character string, corresponding to the voiced desired condition, from the voice recognition means, give a third voiced guidance, indicating the message processing procedures stored in the message processing procedure table storing means as candidates for a desired message processing procedure, to the user, receive the voiced desired message processing procedure uttered by the user in reply to the third voiced guidance, transmit the voiced desired message processing procedure to the voice recognition means to obtain a third natural language character string corresponding to the voiced desired message processing procedure from the voice recognition means, prepare a desired motive-procedure set, corresponding to the user according to the first natural language character string and the third natural language character string, and store the desired motive-procedure set corresponding to the user in the motive-procedure set storing means.
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20. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2 further comprising:
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message managing means for controlling an information terminal operated by a user to graphically display a plurality of messages received in the message receiving means and a plurality of condition candidates for a desired condition on an image screen of the information terminal, wherein said apparatus is adapted to;
receive the desired condition selected by the user from the condition candidates, select a specific message from the messages according to the desired condition, control the information terminal to graphically display a plurality of procedure candidates for a desired message processing procedure on the image screen of the information terminal, process the specific message according to a message processing procedure selected by the user from the procedure candidates, control the information terminal to graphically display a plurality of motive candidates for a desired motive on the image screen of the information terminal, prepare a motive-procedure set from the condition, the message processing procedure and the motive selected by the user, and store the desired motive-procedure set in the motive-procedure set storing means.
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21. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:
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management recording means for recording a management performed for a message; and
message managing means adapted to control an information terminal operated by a user to graphically display a plurality of messages received in the message receiving means and a plurality of condition candidates for a desired condition on an image screen of the information terminal, wherein said apparatus is further adapted to;
receive the desired condition selected by the user from the condition candidates, select a specific message from the messages according to the desired condition in the management recording means, control the information terminal to graphically display a plurality of procedure candidates for a desired message processing procedure on the image screen of the information terminal, process the specific message according to the desired message processing procedure selected by the user from the procedure candidates, store the desired message processing procedure in the management recording means, control the information terminal to graphically display a plurality of motive candidates for a desired motive on the image screen of the information terminal, read out the desired conditions and the desired message processing procedure from the management recording means, receiving the desired motive selected by the user, prepare a desired motive-procedure set from the desired condition, the desired message processing procedure and the desired motive, and store the desired motive-procedure set in the motive procedure set storing means.
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22. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising
motive table storing means adapted to store a plurality of motives; -
condition table storing means adapted to store a plurality of conditions;
message processing procedure table storing means adapted to store a plurality of message processing procedures; and
message managing means adapted to;
control an information terminal operated by a user to graphically display a plurality of messages received in the message receiving means on an image screen of the information terminal, control the information terminal to graphically display the conditions stored in the condition table storing means as candidates on the image screen of the information terminal, receive a desired condition selected by the user from the conditions, select a specific message from the messages according to the desired condition, control the information terminal to graphically display the message processing procedures stored in the message processing procedure table storing means as candidates on the image screen of the information terminal, receive a desired message processing procedure selected by the user from the message processing procedures, process the specific message according to the desired message processing procedure, control the information terminal to graphically display the motives stored in the motive table storing means as candidates on the image screen of the information terminal, receive a desired motive selected by the user from the motives, prepare a desired motive-procedure set from the desired condition, the desired message processing procedure and the desired motive, and store the desired motive-procedure set in the motive-procedure set storing means.
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23. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:
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message managing means adapted to repeatedly perform a managing operation whereby enabling a user of said information terminal to control said information terminal to graphically display a plurality of messages received in the message receiving means and a plurality of condition candidates for a desired condition on an image screen of the information terminal, wherein said message managing means is further adapted to;
receive the desired condition selected by the user from the condition candidates, select a specific message from the messages according to the selected condition, control the information terminal to graphically display a plurality of procedure candidates for a desired message processing procedure on the image screen of the information terminal, process the specific message according to the message processing procedure selected by the user from the procedure candidates and a desired message processing procedure with condition prepared from the desired condition and the desired message processing procedure, control the information terminal to graphically display a plurality of motive candidates for a desired motive on the image screen of the information terminal in cases where the frequency of the managing operations performed to prepare the desired message processing procedure with condition exceeds a frequency threshold value, prepare a desired motive-procedure set from the desired condition, the desired message processing procedure and the desired motive selected by the user, and store the desired motive-procedure set in the motive-procedure set storing means.
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24. A message switching apparatus according to claim 23, further comprising:
frequency counting means for counting the frequency of the managing operations performed by the message managing means to prepare the same desired message processing procedure with condition, the frequency counting means informing the message managing means of the frequency of the managing operations.
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25. A message switching apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:
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motive table storing means adapted to store a plurality of motives;
condition table storing means adapted to store a plurality of conditions;
message processing procedure table storing means adapted to store a plurality of message processing procedures; and
message managing means adapted to repeatedly perform a managing operation including;
means for controlling an information terminal operated by a user to graphically display a plurality of messages received in the message receiving means and the conditions stored in the condition table storing means as candidates for a desired condition on an image screen of the information terminal, means for receiving a desired condition selected by the user from the conditions, means for selecting a specific message from the messages according to the desired condition, means for controlling the information terminal to graphically display the message processing procedures stored in the message processing procedure table storing means as candidates for a desired message processing procedure on the image screen of the information terminal, means for processing the specific message according to the desired message processing procedure selected by the user from the message processing procedures and means for selecting a desired message processing procedure with condition from the desired condition and the desired message processing procedure, means for controlling the information terminal to graphically display the motives stored in the motive table storing means as candidates for a desired motive on the image screen of the information terminal in cases where the frequency of the managing operations performed to prepare the desired message processing procedure with condition exceeds a frequency threshold value, means for preparing a desired motive-procedure set from the desired condition, the desired message processing procedure and the desired motive selected by the user, and means for storing the desired motive-procedure set in the motive-procedure set storing means.
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26. A message switching apparatus according to claim 1 in which the receiver'"'"'s communication terminal is selected from the group consisting of a telephone, a pager and a facsimile.
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27. A message switching apparatus according to claim 1 in which one message processing procedure corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means denotes data conversion.
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28. A message switching apparatus according to claim 27 in which one message processing procedure corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means denotes the conversion of a text message to an image message.
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29. A message switching apparatus according to claim 27 in which one message processing procedure corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means denotes the compression of message contents.
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30. A message switching apparatus according to claim 1 in which the receiver'"'"'s information terminal is a computer.
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31. A message switching apparatus according to claim 1 in which one message processing procedure corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means denotes the forwarding of a message, a notification of a message, the deletion of a message.
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32. A message switching apparatus according to claim 1 in which one message processing procedure corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means denotes a notification of a message.
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33. A message switching apparatus according to claim 1 in which one message processing procedure corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means denotes the deletion of a message.
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34. A message switching apparatus according to claim 1 in which one message processing procedure corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means denotes the preparation of a duplicated message.
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35. A message switching apparatus according to claim 1 in which one message processing procedure corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means denotes editing of message contents.
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36. A message switching apparatus according to claim 35 in which one message processing procedure corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means denotes the preparation of an abstract of message contents.
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37. A message switching apparatus according to claim 1 in which one message processing procedure corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means denotes the translation of a message to another language.
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38. A message switching apparatus according to claim 1 in which one message processing procedure corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means denotes the conversion of a message type.
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39. A message switching apparatus according to claim 38 in which one message processing procedure corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means denotes the conversion of an internet electronic mail type to a different mail type.
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40. A message switching apparatus according to claim 1 in which one motive corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means is expressed by a change of circumstances of the message switching apparatus.
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41. A message switching apparatus according to claim 1 in which one motive corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means is expressed by a direct instruction to the message switching apparatus.
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42. A message switching apparatus according to claim 1 in which one condition corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means is a condition peculiar to the message switching apparatus.
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43. A message switching apparatus according to claim 42 in which one condition corresponding to each motive-procedure set stored in the motive-procedure set storing means is a test condition for the message switching apparatus.
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44. A flexible and customizable message switching apparatus, comprising:
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motive-procedure set storing means for storing a plurality of motive-procedure sets, each motive-procedure set being composed of a motive and a message processing procedure with a condition, wherein the motive is adapted to detect;
an event occurring in association with message switching, an occurrence of the event firing the motive, the message processing procedure with a condition comprising both a message processing procedure to be performed on a message and a condition allowing the message processing procedure to be performed if the message satisfies the condition, and wherein the contents of the motive, the condition, and the message processing procedure are set independently from each other so as to arbitrarily combine the contents among the motive, the condition, and the message processing procedure;
message receiving means for receiving a particular message and a destination address of the particular message from a sender'"'"'s communication terminal or information terminal;
motive firing judging means for judging whether a particular motive corresponding to the particular message has been fired or not using the plurality of sets of motives and procedures;
condition judging means for judging whether a condition of a particular message processing procedure included in the particular message has been satisfied or not by the particular message, in cases where the motive firing judging means judges that the particular motive has been fired; and
message processing procedure performing means for automatically performing the particular message processing procedure in cases where the condition judging means judges that the condition of the particular message processing procedure has been satisfied. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46)
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Specification