Email to fax processing when no secondary storage is available

• US 6,600,750 B1
• Filed: 03/19/1999
• Issued: 07/29/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Umansky, Ilya, Joffe, Neil Raymond
• Primary Examiner(s): HSU, ALPUS
• Application Number:
  US09/272,811
• Time in Patent Office: 1,593 Days
• Field of Search: 370/352, 370/354, 370/356, 370/389, 370/400, 370/401, 370/428, 370/429, 370/465, 370/466, 370/467, 358/1.15, 358/402, 358/403, 358/407, 358/425, 358/440, 379/88.13, 379/88.14, 379/88.17, 379/88.25, 379/93.05, 379/93.06, 379/93.07, 379/93.14, 379/93.15, 379/93.24, 379/100.01, 379/100.12, 379/100.13, 379/100.17, 709/201, 709/203, 709/206, 709/207, 709/249, 709/250
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00209 Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00212 Attaching image data to computer messages, e.g. to e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00302 with a telephonic apparatus, e.g. telephone answering machine or videotex terminal H04N1/00307 takes precedence; telephonic communication H04M
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00403 Voice input means, e.g. voice commands
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32406 in connection with routing or relaying, e.g. using a fax-server or a store-and-forward facility stored and forward data switching systems H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32641 of transmission or transmitted data, e.g. interruption or wrong number of pages
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32662 remotely, e.g. to the transmitter from the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0018 via a non-image communication channel, e.g. via a computer network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0065 Converting image data to a format usable by the connected apparatus or vice versa
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0067 Converting to still picture data

Abstract

An email communication system employed in a packet switching network environment for transmission of an email message including at least one fax message for use by fax recipient(s), through the packet switching network environment, includes a network device for communication with one or more mail servers. The mail servers are responsive to an email message having at least one tax message received from an email user. The network device receives the email message, through a forward connection, from one of the mail servers and converts the received email message into the fax message for transmission thereof to at least one fax recipient. The network device further starts to transmit the email message with context information appended thereto, forming a reverse email message, back to one of the mail servers, wherein the mail server is used to store the reverse email message until the mail server is ready to send the same to the network device thereby avoiding the need for secondary storage within the network device.

Claims

1. An email communication system employed in a packet switching network environment for use by email users for transmission of an email message including information to be converted to at least one fax message, through the packet switching network environment, the fax message being received by at least one fax recipient, comprising:

a network device for communication with one or more mail servers, the mail server for receiving an email message including information to be converted to at least one fax message from an email user and for coupling the received email message, as a forward email message, through a forward connection to the network device, the network device responsive to the forward email message and operative to convert the forward email message to a fax message for transmission thereof to at least one fax recipient, the network device further operative to append context information to the forward email message, forming a reverse email message, for transmission thereof back to one of the mail servers if transmission of the fax message to the at least one fax recipient is unsuccessful, wherein the mail server receiving the reverse email message is used to store the reverse email message until the mail server is ready to resend the same to the fax device thereby avoiding the need for secondary storage, for storing of the email message, within the network device.

2. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein the network device is a router.

3. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein the network device is further operative to establish a reverse connection from the network device back to the mail server upon receipt of the email message, the reverse connection for use in transmitting the reverse email message back to the mail server upon unsuccessful transmission of the fax message to the fax recipient(s).

4. An email system as recited in claim 3 wherein upon transmission of the reverse email message back to the mail server, the reverse connection is “

gracefully”

terminated.

5. An email system as recited in claim 3 wherein upon successful transmission of the fax message to the fax recipient, the reverse connection is aborted.

6. An email system as recited in claim 3 wherein the network device is further operative to receive the transmitted reverse email message, convert the reverse email message into a fax message and based upon the context information of the reverse email message, transmit the fax message to at least one of the fax devices.

7. An email system as recited in claim 1 including an Internet Protocol for communication of information between the email user and the mail server.

8. An email system as recited in claim 1 further including a communication link for coupling the network device to the tax recipients.

9. An email system as recited in claim 8 wherein the communication link employs Public Switching Telephone Network (PSTN).

10. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein the forward connection is an SMTP connection.

11. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein the fax message is in the form of TIFF.

12. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein the context information includes the number of pages included within the fax message.

13. An email system as recited in claim 12 wherein the context information includes the number of pages within the tax message that have failed to be successfully transmitted to the fax recipient(s).

14. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein the context information further includes the number of fax recipient(s) that have not successfully received the fax message.

15. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein the context information further includes the number of times the fax message has been transmitted to the same fax recipient(s).

16. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein the context information further includes an address identifying, the fax recipient to which the fax message was originally directed by the email user.

17. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein the context information further includes identification information regarding the mail server(s) that the email message has traveled therethrough.

18. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein the context information further includes information regarding capabilities of the fax recipient(s).

19. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein the context information further includes information regarding capabilities of the fax recipient(s) to which the fax message was previously transmitted.

20. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein the mail server includes storage space for storing the reverse email message.

21. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein upon successful transmission of the reverse email message to the mail server, the reverse email message is converted to a recognized format as the fax message by remote dial-into the mail server.

22. An email system as recited in claim 21 wherein the recognized fax format is TIFF.

23. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein transmission of the fax message to at least one fax recipients in performed in real-time.

24. An email system as recited in claim 1 wherein the network device is operative to receive the forward email message in real-time.

25. A method employed in a packet switching network environment for communicating email messages, including information to be converted to at least one fax message, between email users and fax recipients comprising:

receiving a forward email message including information to be converted to at least one fax message;

converting the received forward email message to at least one fax message for transmission thereof to at least one fax recipient;

establishing a reverse connection for coupling the reverse email message to a mail server;

transmitting the fax message to the at least one fax recipient;

appending context information to the received forward email message to form an reverse email message for transmission thereof back to one of the mail servers; and

upon unsuccessful transmission of the fax message to the at least one fax recipient, using the mail server to store the reverse email message until the network device is ready to re-transmit the same to the fax device thereby avoiding the need for secondary storage within the network device.

26. A method employed in a packet switching network environment as recited in claim 25 further including the steps of transmitting the reverse email message back to the mail server and upon transmission of the reverse email message, terminating the reverse connection “

gracefully”

.

27. A method employed in a packet switching network environment as recited in claim 25 wherein upon successful transmission of the fax message to the fax recipient, the reverse connection is aborted.

28. An email communication system employed in a packet switching network environment for use by email users for transmission of an email message including information to be converted to at least one fax message, through the packet switching network environment, the fax message being received by at least one fax recipient, comprising:

a network device for communication with one or more mail servers, the mail server for receiving an email message including information to be converted to at least one fax message from an email user and for coupling the received email message, as a forward email message, in the form of packets, in real-time, through a forward connection to the network device, the network device receiving packets of the forward email message, in real-time, and operative to append context information to each of the packets of the forward email message for transmission thereof back to the mail server during a pass, each packet of the forward email message having appended thereto context information forming a reverse email message, the network device operative to transmit each of the reverse email messages back to one of the mail servers during a pass, all of the packets of the forward email message being transmitted by the network device to the mail server during multiple passes and upon accumulation of all of the packets of the email message in the mail server, the mail server for transmitting the forward email message to the network device and the network device operative to convert the transmitted forward email message to a fax message for transmission thereof to at least one fax recipient, wherein the mail server is used to store all of the packets of the email message during multiple passes thereby avoiding the need for secondary storage within the network device.

29. An email communication system as recited in claim 28 wherein the fax message is in the form of TIFF.

30. A method for use in an email communication system employed in a packet switching network environment for use by email users for transmission of an email message including information to be converted to at least one fax message, through the packet switching network environment, the fax message being received by at least one fax recipient, the email communication system including a network device for communication with one or more mail servers, the mail server for receiving an email message including information to be converted to at least one fax message from an email user and for coupling the received email message, in packet form, as a forward email message, to the network device, the method comprising:

receiving at least one packet of a forward email message including information to be converted to at least one fax message through a forward connection;

appending context information to the received forward message to form a reverse email message for transmission thereof back to one of the mail servers during a pass;

during the first pass, transmitting the reverse email message for storage thereof in the at least one of the mail servers;

receiving further packets of the forward email message;

appending further context information to the received further packets of the forward email message to form further reverse email messages;

during further passes, transmitting the further reverse email messages for storage thereof in the at least one of the mail servers;

upon receipt of all of the packets of the forward email message;

converting the received forward email message to a fax message for transmission thereof to at least one fax recipient; and

transmitting the fax message to the at least one of the fax recipients, wherein the mail server is used to store all of the packets of the email message during multiple passes thereby avoiding the need for secondary storage within the network device.

31. A method for use in an email communication system as recited in claim 30 wherein the forward email message is received in real-time.

32. A method for use in an email communication system as recited in claim 30 wherein said during said converting step, the forward email message is converted to TIFF.

33. An email communication system employed in a packet switching network environment for use by email users for transmission of an email message including information to be converted to at least one fax message, through the packet switching network environment, the fax message being received by at least one fax recipient, comprising:

a network device for communication with one or more mail servers, the mail server for receiving an email message including information to be converted to at least one fax message from an email user and for coupling the received email message, as a forward email message, through a forward connection to the network device, the network device responsive to the forward email message and operative to convert the forward email message to a fax message for transmission thereof to at least one fax recipient, the network device further operative to append context information to the forward email message, forming a reverse email message, for transmission thereof back to one of the mail servers, the network device further operative to begin transmission of the reverse email message back to at least one of the mail servers and to transmit the fax message to the at least one of the fax recipients and upon unsuccessful transmission of the fax message, the network device operative to complete transmission of the reverse email message to the at least one of the mail servers, wherein the mail server receiving the reverse email message is used to store the reverse email message until the mail server is ready to re-send the same to the fax device thereby avoiding the need for secondary storage within the network device.

34. An email communication system as recited in claim 33 wherein the network device begins transmission of the reverse email message immediately upon receipt of the forward email message.

35. An email communication system as recited in claim 33 further including a reverse connection for coupling the reverse email message from the network device to the at least one of the mail servers.

36. An email communication system as recited in claim 35 wherein upon successful transmission of the forward email message to the at least one of the fax devices, the reverse connection is aborted.

37. An email communication system as recited in claim 33 wherein upon unsuccessful transmission of the forward email message to the at least one of the fax devices, transmission of the reverse email message back to the mail server is completed and the reverse connection is “

gracefully”

terminated.

38. An email communication system as recited in claim 33 wherein the network device is a router.