Method and system for facilitating paper to electronic communications
First Claim
1. A computer system providing fax to e-mail messaging operated by a fax-to-e-mail service provider comprises:
- a receiving portion configured to receive a facsimile transmission comprising a digitized representation of a document from a user using a facsimile transmission device and comprising a billing telephone number associated with the facsimile transmission device, wherein the digitized representation of the document includes a digitized representation of a user-modified transmission page, wherein the digitized representation of the user-modified transmission page includes a digitized representation of an e-mail address for a recipient, and wherein a receiving telephone number over which the facsimile transmission is configured to be received is associated with a pay-per-use service;
an optical character recognition portion configured to determine the e-mail address for the recipient in response to the digitized representation of the e-mail address for the recipient;
a formatting portion configured to determine an attachment in response to the digitized representation of the document, wherein the attachment is in a format suitable for attachment to an e-mail message; and
a sending portion configured to send an e-mail message comprising an e-mail attachment portion, an e-mail TO portion, and an e-mail body portion, wherein the e-mail attachment portion comprises the attachment, wherein the e-mail TO portion comprises the e-mail address for the recipient, and wherein the e-mail body portion comprises an indication of a service provider, andwherein a service charge associated with the pay-per-use service may be charged to the user via a telephone bill provided by a telephone-service service provider associated with the billing telephone number, wherein the telephone-service provider is distinct from the fax-to-e-mail service provider.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for a computer system includes receiving a fax from a user comprising a digitized document and a billing telephone number associated with the user, wherein the digitized document includes a digitized transmission page including a digitized recipient e-mail address, and wherein a receiving number over which the fax is received is associated with a pay-per-use service, optically recognizing characters of the recipient e-mail address from the digitized e-mail address, determining an attachment in a format suitable for attachment to an e-mail message from the digitized document, sending an e-mail message comprising an e-mail attachment portion including the attachment, an e-mail TO portion including the recipient e-mail address, and an e-mail body portion including a service provider identifier, and submitting a service charge associated with the pay-per-use service against the billing telephone number.
118 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A computer system providing fax to e-mail messaging operated by a fax-to-e-mail service provider comprises:
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a receiving portion configured to receive a facsimile transmission comprising a digitized representation of a document from a user using a facsimile transmission device and comprising a billing telephone number associated with the facsimile transmission device, wherein the digitized representation of the document includes a digitized representation of a user-modified transmission page, wherein the digitized representation of the user-modified transmission page includes a digitized representation of an e-mail address for a recipient, and wherein a receiving telephone number over which the facsimile transmission is configured to be received is associated with a pay-per-use service; an optical character recognition portion configured to determine the e-mail address for the recipient in response to the digitized representation of the e-mail address for the recipient; a formatting portion configured to determine an attachment in response to the digitized representation of the document, wherein the attachment is in a format suitable for attachment to an e-mail message; and a sending portion configured to send an e-mail message comprising an e-mail attachment portion, an e-mail TO portion, and an e-mail body portion, wherein the e-mail attachment portion comprises the attachment, wherein the e-mail TO portion comprises the e-mail address for the recipient, and wherein the e-mail body portion comprises an indication of a service provider, and wherein a service charge associated with the pay-per-use service may be charged to the user via a telephone bill provided by a telephone-service service provider associated with the billing telephone number, wherein the telephone-service provider is distinct from the fax-to-e-mail service provider. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for a computer system including a processor and a memory for providing fax to e-mail messaging operated by a fax-to-e-mail service provider comprises:
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storing a facsimile transmission comprising a digitized representation of a document from a user using a facsimile transmission device and a billing telephone number associated with the facsimile transmission device in the memory, wherein the digitized representation of the document includes a digitized representation of a user-modified transmission page, wherein the digitized representation of the user-modified transmission page includes a digitized representation of an e-mail address for a recipient, and wherein a receiving telephone number over which the facsimile transmission is configured to be received is associated with a pay-per-use service; performing optical character recognition to determine the e-mail address for the recipient under direction of the processor in response to the digitized representation of the e-mail address for the recipient; determining an attachment in response to the digitized representation of the document under direction of the processor, wherein the attachment is in a format suitable for attachment to an e-mail message; sending an e-mail message comprising an e-mail attachment portion, an e-mail TO portion, and an e-mail body portion under direction of the processor, wherein the e-mail attachment portion comprises the attachment, wherein the e-mail TO portion comprises the e-mail address for the recipient, and wherein the e-mail body portion comprises an indication of a service provider, and submitting a service charge associated with the pay-per-use service to the user via a telephone bill provided by a telephone-service service-provider associated with the billing telephone number under direction of the processor, wherein the telephone-service provider is distinct from the fax-to-e-mail service provider. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for providing fax to e-mail messaging comprises:
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receiving a pre-user-modified facsimile transmission page from a facsimile server operated by a fax-to-e-mail service provider; creating a user-modified facsimile transmission page by a user providing an e-mail address of a recipient on the pre-user-modified facsimile transmission page to form a user-modified facsimile transmission page; dialing a receiving telephone number associated with a facsimile server from a facsimile transmission device associated with a billing telephone number, wherein the receiving telephone number is associated with a pay-per-use service; sending a facsimile transmission via the facsimile transmission device to the facsimile server, wherein the facsimile transmission includes a digitized representation of a document comprising a digitized representation of the user-modified facsimile transmission page including a digitized representation of the e-mail address of the recipient; wherein an e-mail message is sent to the e-mail address of the recipient and includes an e-mail attachment determined in response to the digitized representation of the document; wherein characters of the e-mail address for the recipient are recognized optically in response to the digitized representation of the e-mail address for the recipient; wherein the e-mail attachment is in a format suitable for attachment to the e-mail message; wherein and a body of the e-mail message comprises an indication of the fax-to-e-mail service provider, and wherein a service charge associated with the pay-per-use service is charged to the user via a telephone bill provided by a telephone-service service-provider associated with the billing telephone number, wherein the telephone-service provider is distinct from the fax-to-e-mail service provider. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification