Telephonic communications – Audio message storage – retrieval – or synthesis – Message management
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-30
2002-08-06
Hoosain, Allan (Department: 2645)
Telephonic communications
Audio message storage, retrieval, or synthesis
Message management
C379S067100, C379S076000, C379S088040, C379S088120, C379S088150, C379S088180, C379S088190
Reexamination Certificate
active
06430272
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a message switching apparatus such as a public telephone network, an electronic mail switching system, a computer telephony system or a facsimile accumulation switching system in which various message processing procedures such as the delivery of a message, the forwarding of a message, the deletion of a message and the conversion of a data format of a message are set.
2. Description of the Related Art
2.1. PREVIOUSLY PROPOSED ART
An internet has been explosively used in companies, homes and schools, and the transmission of electronic mails has been rapidly performed. Also, communication terminals such as a pager (called a pocket bell in Japan), a portable telephone and a personal digital assistant and information terminals such as a personal computer have been developed with the electronic mail. In addition, because the communication terminals and the information terminals have been developed with a message system such as an electronic mail, a message switching system unifying various message systems, the communication terminals and the information terminals has been paid attention. In the message switching system, an electronic mail of a text format is converted into a voice and is transmitted to a telephone, a notification of the incoming of an electronic mail is output to a pager of a mail receiver, and image information transmitted from a facsimile is transmitted in a form of a multimedia electronic mail.
A message switching in this message switching system develops from a message switching among information terminals and communication terminals which are formed of the same type and are operated at the same protocol to a message switching called a unified messaging for performing the message switching among various information terminals and communication terminals at various protocols.
In the circumstance of this unified messaging, a high function of an automatic transmission or notification is added to an old message function. Also, the number of messages to be processed in the message switching system (or the number of messages transmitted or received by a user) tends to rapidly increase.
In these circumstances of the heightening of the function and the increase of the number of messages, to select information useful for each user himself and to quickly read a message if required, in addition to the requirement of a high functional message processing tool such as a message selection function or a message notification function for the message switching system, it is important that a user can easily use the high functional message processing tool.
To achieve the simple use of the high functional message processing tool, for example, various software tools such as a software program “MH”, a software program “Mailagent” and a software program “Elm” have been developed to perform an intellectual processing of an electronic message in a UNIX type work station.
2.2. PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION
However, though functions of various high functional message processing tools are all different from each other, when a user desires to set one high functional message processing tool to be operated according to a user's intention, the user is required to have a high-grade knowledge for the software tool. Therefore, it is difficult for many users having no knowledge about the programming and no knowledge of computers to use the high functional message processing tool. For example, in cases where the user uses the software program “Mailagent”, it is required of the user to set a setting file of a sentence structure similar to a command “awk” of the UNIX, so that it is required of the user, for example, to have a knowledge relating to a regular expression of a character string and a knowledge of RFC822 denoting an agreement of an internet.
To achieve a purpose that a user not having a knowledge of computers so much can use any high functional message processing tool, a system designer assumes a user's typical use method, and a message processing according to the use method is only provided for the user. Therefore, though the user can easily use any high functional message processing tool, the use of the high functional message processing tool is restricted to the message processing according to the use method, the use of the high functional message processing tool suitable for circumstances of each user is impossible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide, with due consideration to the drawbacks of such a conventional message switching apparatus, a message switching apparatus in which a plurality of message processing procedures suitable for circumstances of each user are easily set and a user not having a knowledge of a computer so much uses any high functional message processing tool according to one message processing procedure suitable for circumstances of the user.
The object is achieved by the provision of a message switching apparatus, comprising:
message receiving means for receiving a particular message and a destination address of a receiver of the particular message from a sender operating a sender's communication terminal or information terminal;
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 condition, the motive being expressed by an event, the event determining a start of an operation of one message processing procedure with condition corresponding to the motive, the occurrence of the event being expressed by the firing of the motive, the message processing procedure with condition being composed of both a message processing procedure and a condition of the performance of the message processing procedure, the condition being expressed by a predicate logical equation, and the message processing procedure indicating a procedure of a processing performed for a message;
motive firing judging means for identifying the receiver according to the particular message received by the message receiving means, retrieving a plurality of specific motive-procedure sets corresponding to the receiver from the motive-procedure set storing means, identifying a plurality of specific motives corresponding to the specific motive-procedure sets, detecting the occurrence of a particular event expressing a particular motive among the specific motives, selecting a particular motive-procedure set corresponding to the particular motive from the plurality of specific motive-procedure sets, and judging the firing of the particular motive;
message processing procedure performing means for performing a particular message processing procedure with condition of the particular motive-procedure set in cases where it is judged by the motive firing judging means that the particular motive is fired and a particular condition of the particular message processing procedure with condition is satisfied; and
message transmitting means for receiving the particular message and the destination address of the receiver from the message receiving means, transmitting the particular message to a receiver's communication terminal or information terminal indicated by the destination address of the receiver in cases where a particular message processing performed by the message processing procedure performing means indicates the transmission of the particular message to the receiver.
In the above configuration, a plurality of motive-procedure sets are stored in advance in the motive-procedure set storing means for each user representing a receiver or a sender. Each motive-procedure set is composed of a motive and a message processing procedure with condition, the motive is expressed by an event determining a start of an operation of one message processing procedure with condition corresponding to the motive. The occurrence of the event is called the firing of the motive. The message processing procedure with condition is composed of both a message pr
Iizuka Yasuki
Maruyama Tomoaki
Hoosain Allan
Lowe Hauptman & Gilman & Berner LLP
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
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