JP3182596B2 - Communications system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication system for transmitting and receiving document data via a communication medium such as an ISDN, a public telephone network, or a wireless communication line or a private communication line (LAN).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a communication device of this type, for example, in a facsimile device, identification information of a partner station, such as a telephone number and a company name, is transmitted and received during a line connection procedure as part of a service for a user. Means and means for displaying the identification information on a display means and for printing simultaneously with the output of document data are known.

[0003] On the other hand, in electronic mail, Thomas W. et al.
Malone et al. : Intelligent Information − Sha
ring Systems: Communication of the ACM, Vol. 30, N
As described in o.5, pp.390-402 (May 1987), an ID, a means for adding identification information composed of a document title to document data and transmitting / receiving the same, and a means for displaying the identification information on a display means Etc. are known. In particular, recently, computers and modems can be purchased at a low price, and communication devices can be easily configured by connecting a modem or a LAN to a computer on hand.

[0004] The above-mentioned service means is commonly provided as a first service target to be able to confirm the partner station of transmission and reception.
Use the identification information for purposes other than confirmation of the partner station, such as making a call to the telephone number of the partner station using the stored information or displaying a list of received documents classified in accordance with the identification information. There are also known ways to do this.

On the other hand, in the sent document, the operator of the transmitting station issues a document processing request as to whether the document needs to be replied, is urgent, or is a (secret) document. Since it is transmitted as document data by writing in it, the operator of the receiving station displays the received document for each document or prints it out,
Without actually reading the document, it was impossible to perform the processing required by the transmitting station. As a result, if you receive a large number of documents, including timed return requests,
Since it is not possible to immediately recognize which document is a document with a time limit, there is a problem that the processing of the document cannot be completed in time by the time limit.

[0005] As a measure for solving this problem, if a response request or a processing request such as urgency or time limit (hereinafter referred to as document processing procedure information) is added to the identification information and transmitted, the receiving station can use the identification information as the identification information. When the document processing procedure information is transmitted, a list of received documents can be displayed and, at the same time, the document processing procedure information such as whether there is a reply request or urgent can be identified and displayed. Can be performed according to.

[0006] However, the above-mentioned document processing procedure information is set by the transmitting station without consideration of the convenience of the operator of the receiving station. Therefore, at the time of the end of the term or the like, there may be a case where there are a plurality of unprocessed documents designated by the same date in the receiving station. In this case, the operator must flexibly determine the processing order of the received document based on the document attribute information such as the source of the received document and the document title, and execute the document processing. For example, it is necessary for the operator of the receiving station to make a judgment such as processing the important document preferentially among the documents designated by the same date.

Therefore, there is no need to spend a wasteful time as described above in which the operator of the receiving station determines the processing order of the received document, and it is necessary to provide an environment in which the original document processing can be smoothly performed. .

It is also necessary to take measures when an emergency document is received and a deadline for a time-limited document occurs when an operator of the receiving station is absent.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has a function of assisting a document processing of an operator on a receiving side, and smoothly performs a reply procedure for a document with urgency or time limit. It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication system that can perform the communication .

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONCommunications system
Sends and receives information between multiple stationsWitheach
The bureau has at least a document processing procedure that includes a document processing request.
A communication device that can add and receive connection information to a document and send and receiveAs
The combination of multiple processes sent from the transmitting station
Stores document attribute information including sender document processing procedure information
Document attribute information storage means and document processing procedure information of the receiving station
Receiving document processing procedure information consisting of multiple processing procedures as
Input means for inputting the information in association with the document attribute information,
Receiving-side document processing procedure information input by the input means
Document processing procedure information storage means for storing
Document attribute information read from information storage means and document processing
Receiving document processing procedure read from procedure information storage means
The information is compared with the information, and based on the identified result, the sender statement
A plurality of document processes for document processing procedure information.
Document processing execution means for sequentially executing according to a management procedure, and transmission
Document data storage for storing document data sent from the station
Means, document data, document attribute information, and document processing of the receiving station.
Display means for displaying process information and results of document processing
HavingAlong with the schedule of the receiving station operator
Schedule that manages files according to schedule management information
A schedule management device,
Information relating to receiving a document from a communication device;
The document attribute information and the schedule
Collation with the module management information, and when the operator is absent,
Instructs the communication device to notify the absence and transfer the documentThis
And features.

[0011] In the communication system according to the present invention, the document processing execution means performs a process of collating the document attribute information with the document procedure information and assigning a priority of document processing in a receiving station to each received document. Features.

The communication system according to the present invention is characterized in that the document processing execution means executes received document grouping by comparing the sent document attribute information with the document processing procedure information of the receiving station. I do .

[0013]

In the communication system having the above configuration, the operator of the receiving station registers in advance the sender, group name, keyword, etc. of the document whose processing is to be prioritized, the processing method when the user is absent, etc. as document procedure information of the receiving station. .

When document data is received from the transmitting station,
Based on the result of identifying the document processing procedure information of the transmitting station by the identification means of the apparatus, the received document is classified (with / without reply request) in the document processing means.

The document processing means updates the document processing order for the document with the reply request by referring to the document processing procedure information of the transmitting station and the document processing procedure information of the receiving station registered in advance. Schedule to take measures at the time of absence
If it has been registered together with the module management information, a process such as an absence notification is executed according to the registered contents.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of a communication device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a display unit, 2 is an input unit,
3 is a document data transmitting / receiving unit with document attribute information, 4 is a document processing unit, 5 is a document processing procedure information storage unit of the receiving station, 6 is a document attribute information storage unit that stores received document attribute information, and 7 is a document data storage. Department.

The display unit 1 displays information necessary for operating the communication device, document data (image data) stored in the document data storage unit 7, processing results in the document processing unit 4, and the like.

The input unit 2 allows the operator to request the document processing unit 4 for processing or to register document processing procedure information (reception side document processing procedure information) in the document processing procedure information storage unit 5 of the receiving station. It is a medium for inputting information necessary for operating the communication device, and a keyboard, a handwriting input device, a touch panel, and the like are applied.

The document data transmitting / receiving section 3 with document attribute information
Data in which communication information such as the sender's name, document information such as the document title, and document processing procedure information (sending side document processing procedure information) for the transmitted document such as a reply request, time limit designation, and confidentiality are added as document attribute information. Send and receive

The document processing section 4 identifies information stored in the document attribute information storage section 6 and executes document processing based on the information registered in the document processing procedure information storage section 5 of the receiving station.

The document processing procedure information storage unit 5 of the receiving station registers how to process the received document using the document attribute information attached to the received document as a keyword, and registers a document processing request of the operator of the receiving station. is there.

The document attribute information storage section 6 stores the document attribute information sent with the received document, and the document data storage section 7 stores the received document data (image data). . When a document arrives at the document data transmission / reception section 3 with document attribute information, the document data (image data) is stored in the document data storage section 7 and the document attribute information is stored in the document attribute information storage section 6.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the structure of attribute information transmitted and received by the document data transmission / reception section 3 with document attribute information.

In FIG. 3, reference numerals 400 to 436 denote types of attribute information. Sender name 400, affiliation 401,
Position 402, telephone number 403, communication device address 40
4 is information for identifying the sender. In a similar configuration, the recipient information 410 to 414 is information for identifying the recipient. The title 420 is information for identifying the title, title, and the like of the document data to be transmitted. The number of pages 421 is information for identifying the number of transmission documents, and the creation history 422 is information for identifying history such as creation date, change date, and the like of the transmission document. The response (comment) request 430 of the document processing procedure information is information for identifying whether or not the document requires a response, and the response time limit 431 is the response time limit of the document with the response request. The document expiration date 432 identifies how long the sent document data such as a catalog is valid. The circulation 433 identifies whether or not the transmitted document is a circulation document. For the circulation document, the circulation list 434 identifies the circulation target person and the circulation complete person. The secrecy 435 is information for identifying whether or not the sent document is confidential, and the urgency 436 is information for identifying whether or not the sent document is urgent.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the contents stored in the document processing procedure information storage unit 5 of the receiving station. The document processing procedure information of the receiving station is information necessary for the operator of the receiving station to efficiently process a large amount of document data stored in the document data storage unit 7. As a storage medium,
In addition to a fixed memory such as a hard disk, a portable medium such as a memory card, a magneto-optical disk, or an optical disk can be applied. FIG. 3 shows the document attribute information as an identification element.
An example is shown in which a processing request to assign a processing priority to a received document and execute document processing is registered in the document processing procedure information storage unit 5 of the receiving station as document processing procedure information. As the registered contents, for example, priority 50, priority element 5
1. A table format as shown in FIG. As a simplest method of assigning priorities, there is a method of calculating the number of days remaining until the time limit based on the response time limit of the document attribute information and assigning a high priority to documents having a small number of days. The use reflects the processing method desired by the operator of the receiving station. In this example, the operator of the receiving station wants to give priority to documents sent urgently.
In this case, the input unit 2 of FIG. 1 is operated to register the priority level in the item of the priority order 50 (for example, if the highest priority level is “1”, “1” is registered in this field), and “ “Urgent” and “Urgent” are registered in the attribute type 52. Here, the attribute type 52 is for identifying which information in the document attribute information the registered element belongs to. The registered information is stored in the document processing procedure information storage unit 5 of the receiving station as document processing procedure information of the receiving station.

FIG. 4 shows a document processing section 4 for executing document processing.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for identifying document attribute information based on document processing procedure information of a receiving station and displaying the document attribute information with priority. In the figure, when the operator operates the input unit 2 to request a priority display, first, the registration information in the document processing procedure information storage unit 5 of the receiving station is read in order from the element having the highest priority request (step 41). Next, step 4
The document corresponding to 1 is searched from the document attribute information in the document attribute information storage unit 6 (steps 42 and 43). If there is such a document, the information (for example, file name) is stored in a buffer for displaying the received document list (step 45). This is repeated for all received documents (step 44). The relevant documents (the documents stocked in step 43) are rearranged in ascending order of the number of days of the remaining time limit (step 46). Remaining documents (documents that did not apply)
Are similarly arranged in ascending order of the number of days of the remaining deadline, and are added to the contents arranged in step 46 (step 4).
7). The list of sorted documents is displayed on the display unit 1 (step 48). The registration information (table in which priority elements are registered) in the document processing procedure information storage unit 5 of the receiving station referred to in step 41 is configured to be automatically updated by learning the document processing order of the operator. It is also possible.

There are many methods of assigning the priority of processing to a received document, and an example is described here.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an example of executing grouping based on the sent document attribute information. The document attribute added to the received document indicates whether the received document is a document to be processed urgently. This is a method for automatically making a determination based on the information and sorting the data into predetermined folders. In the figure, the receiving station first receives a document,
The attribute type "urgency" of the attribute information of the received document is referred to (step 71).

If the data (attribute data) associated with the attribute type "urgency" is "urgent", the received document is moved to the urgent document folder, and the other documents are moved to the general document folder (step). 72-74).

FIG. 6 shows an example of document management in the document data storage unit 7 of the receiving station as a supplement to FIG. The document data storage unit 7 has a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. 6, and the received document is temporarily stored in the reception folder 76.
74, the data is managed as data in the emergency document folder 79 or the general document folder 78. Each folder corresponds to the group name of the classified document.

Next, a system to which the communication device according to the present invention is applied will be described. FIG. 7 shows a secretary system in which an operator's schedule management function is integrated as an embodiment. In the figure, a communication device 100
Is a communication device according to the present invention.

The schedule management device 101 includes at least the CPU 102, the schedule management unit 103, and the communication unit 10.
4. A device equipped with an input unit 106 and a display unit 107, and is often realized by a personal computer. Communication path 10
A medium 5 connects the communication device 100 and the schedule management device 101 and transmits document data or control commands.

When the communication device 100 receives the document, the communication path 105 and the communication unit 104 of the schedule management device 104
To the schedule management unit 103 via the. The schedule management unit 103 stores the schedule information of the operator, and, by referring to the schedule information, displays on the display unit 107 that the document has been received if the operator is present or at the office, thereby providing the operator with the information. Notifies that a document has arrived.

When the operator is absent, the communication device 100 refers to the document attribute information of the received document and instructs the communication device 100 to perform a process such as a notification of absence or transfer of the received document. The communication device 100 processes the received document according to an instruction from the schedule management device 101.

The input unit 2 and the display unit 3 described in FIG. 1 can be replaced by the input unit 106 and the display unit 107 of the schedule management device (personal computer) via the communication path 105. Further, the schedule management unit 103 can be mounted as an extended function of the communication device.
Conversely, the function of the communication device 100 is changed to the schedule management device 1
01 as an extended function.

FIG. 8 illustrates the function of the secretary system shown in FIG.

In the figure, the horizontal axis represents time (t). Assume that the system receives a document at time t1 during the absence of the operator (t0 to t4) (200). Referring to the term information (valid period of the received document) and the schedule information of the document attribute information added to the received document, if it is determined that the reply date is specified during the absence period of the operator, the absence notification or the absence notification is made at t2. A document transfer is executed (201).

Here, if the function of the communication device according to the present invention described above is not installed in the present system, the operator must process the expired document by himself (202) and execute a reply process together with an apology (step 202). 203) However, if the system is equipped with the above function, the operator can avoid being overtaken by the above operations (202 to 203) even for a document whose expiration date has passed after the absence period such as the day after a business trip. There is.

[0041]

According to the present invention, upon processing a received document, the received document is identified and processed based on the document attribute information added to the transmitted document and transmitted and the document processing procedure information of the receiving station. With this configuration, the operator of the receiving station does not need to check the contents of documents sent in large quantities one by one, and can smoothly execute document processing according to the instructions of the present system .

Further, according to the present invention, the absence countermeasure can be performed by integrating the schedule management function with the operator, so that unnecessary documents such as documents whose time limit has passed during the absence are processed. In addition, since it is not necessary to transmit the absence notification for each document, the processing time of the received document by the receiving station operator is reduced, and other tasks can be performed accordingly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing types of document attribute information.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of document processing procedure information of a receiving station.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of document processing in a receiving station.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of document processing in a receiving station.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of document management in a document data storage unit.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a secretary system in which the present communication device is integrated with a schedule management function of a receiving station operator.

8 is an explanatory diagram showing functions of the secretary system shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Display part 2 Input part 3 Document data transmission / reception part with document attribute information 4 Document processing part 5 Document processing procedure information storage part 6 Document attribute information storage part 7 Document data storage part 100 Communication device 101 Schedule management device 102 CPU 103 Schedule management part 104 communication unit 105 communication path 106 input unit 107 display unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kozo Nakamura 7-1-1, Omika-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture Within Hitachi Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. (56) References JP-A-3-230642 (JP, A) JP-A-5-37554 (JP, A) JP-A-3-214838 (JP, A) JP-A-4-172835 (JP, A) JP-A-5-122332 (JP, A) (58) Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04L 12/54 H04L 12/58 G06F 13/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. Transmitting and receiving information between a plurality of stations.When
Together,Each station contains at least a document processing request
A communication device that can send and receive document processing procedure information to documents.
PlaceAs  The combination of multiple processes sent from the transmitting station
Stores document attribute information including sender document processing procedure information
Document attribute information storage means, and a plurality of processing procedures as document processing procedure information of the receiving station.
The receiving document processing procedure information associated with the document attribute information.
Input means for inputting the information, and receiving-side document processing procedure information input by the input means
A document processing procedure information storage unit for storing the document attribute information read from the document attribute information storage unit.
Side read from the information and document processing procedure information storage means
Compares with document processing procedure information and based on the identified result
A plurality of document processes for the sender document processing procedure information
Executing document processing sequentially executed according to the plurality of processing procedures
Means and document data for storing the document data sent from the transmitting station
Storage means, document data, document attribute information and document processing procedure information of the receiving station
And display means for displaying the results of the document processing and the document processing.
ToWith Schedule management of the receiving station operator's schedule
Equipped with a schedule management device that manages according to the information
The schedule management device receives a document from the communication device.
Information about the document together with the document attribute information
The document attribute information and the schedule management information
Collation, and when the operator is absent, the absence notification and document transfer
Communication by instructing the communication device to send data
system. 2. The document processing execution means according to claim 1, wherein said document attribute information and said document procedure information are collated to assign a priority of document processing in a receiving station to each received document. 2. The communication system according to 1. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document processing execution unit performs grouping of the received documents by comparing the sent document attribute information with document processing procedure information of the receiving station. A communication system as described.