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DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
An electronic mail system such as the IBM DISOSS system (Distributed Office
Support System) performs the automatic storage and automatic distribution
of messages and documents within a company or an organization. Such a
system comprises a central computer with attendant electronic mail
software, a screen monitor connected to the computer and several terminals
connected to the screen monitor. The arrival of messages or documents in
the central computer is signalled by the appearance of a data item in a
list of messages and documents received (queueing file). The queueing file
is transmitted on a permanent basis to the various terminals and to the
screens of the latter, the users can consult the queueing file and request
the receipt of a message or consult an identified document. An electronic
mail system of this kind renders important services in that it leads in
particular to improving the efficiency of the administrative work,
improving communication between decision-makers and reducing the space
required for the archives. However, such a system does not allow the
addressees of messages or documents to be notified of the arrival of these
messages and these documents. This is universally recognized to be a
disadvantage. The presentation of a message or document necessitates, in
fact, the regular if not permanent consultation of the queueing file of
the messages received, which can involve delays in the receipt of the
messages or the communication of the documents and requires the users to
be on virtually permanent stand-by.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is an automatic electronic system which
remedies the disadvantage mentioned above and ensures that the addressees
of messages or documents are automatically notified of the arrival of
these messages or documents. The characteristic features of the system
according to the invention are set out in the attached claims.
A microprocessor is connected to the electronic mail system in order to
receive the data items which identify the queueing messages, and a random
access memory is organized to form a file containing codes which identify
predetermined addressees of messages and data items representing the
telephone numbers of these addressees. A modem connected to a telephone
line is organized to extract the telephone number data items from the file
and dial automatically the telephone numbers of the addressees in order to
transmit call signals to them on the telephone line. The microprocessor is
organized to read the queueing file of the messages received in the
electronic mail system, to detect the presence there of the identification
codes residing in the file, to extract from the file the telephone number
data item corresponding to each identification code detected, and to
instruct the modem to dial automatically the corresponding call numbers in
order to trigger a call signal on the telephone line during a
predetermined time interval.
The advantages of the system according to the invention are that the
addressees of messages or documents received are notified immediately by
telephone of the receipt of a message or document intended for them and
that the messages and documents can be received more quickly by their
addressees without the need for special stand-by. In addition, the
addressees can be notified not only locally through an internal telephone
network but also long distance through an external telephone network. This
system according to the invention can also with advantage replace the use
of telex in urgent cases within a group using an electronic mail system.
Finally, the hardware and software costs of the system according to the
invention are low.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 represents diagrammatically an electronic mail system which
incorporates an automatic notification system according to the invention.
FIG. 2 represents diagrammatically the general architecture of the
automatic notification system according to the invention.
FIG. 3 is a flow-chart of the telephone notification process employed in
the system according to the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLIFYING EMBODIMENT
In FIG. 1 there is represented diagrammatically an electronic mail system
such as the DISOSS system. A system of this kind comprises a central
processor or host processor 1, a screen monitor 2 and a set of terminals
of which one terminal 4 is shown. The host processor manages the reception
and distribution of the messages and documents. The reception of a message
or document is signalled by the insertion of a data item in a queueing
list or file (QUEUE). This queueing list can be transmitted on the line 3
and displayed on the screen of each terminal 4 at the request of the user.
An example of a queueing list is reproduced in Table 1 below.
TABLE 1
__________________________________________________________________________
6 7 8 9
1 2 3 DATE
WT DATE
WT
QUEUE IDENTIF
TYPE
4 5 (M/D)
(H:M)
(M/D)
(H:M)
__________________________________________________________________________
BXLDIS32
BXLAR5IN
RECP
4 0 08/03
332:19
08/03
332:19
BXLDIS32
BXLPC2EX
RECP
2 0 08/05
284:13
08/05
284:13
BXLDIS32
EPSPC1GS
RECP
1 0 08/16
24:46
08/16
24:46
__________________________________________________________________________
In this example, each heading in the queueing list contains the reference
of the list (column 1), the identification code of an addressee (column
2), the type of queueing list (column 3), the number of messages entered
for the addressee (column 4), the number of attempted receipts of the
messages (column 5), the date and queueing time of the first message
entered (columns 6 and 7), the date and queueing time of the oldest
message (columns 8 and 9). When a message or document has been received by
its addressee, the corresponding heading is up-dated or erased according
to whether there still remains a message to be received by the addressee
in question or whether the last queueing message or document has been
received. In this known system, each user has to consult the queueing file
and, in order to do this, to operate the keyboard of his terminal, to know
if a message or document is intended for him.
According to the invention, the system described above is advantageously
complemented by an automatic notification system 10 designed to notify
automatically the addressee of a message or document by telephone as soon
as such a message or document is received. The automatic notification
system according to the invention is connected on the one hand to the
screen monitor 2 by means of a coaxial cable 5 and it is connected on the
other to a telephone line 6 which can be linked to a private telephone
exchange or to a public telephone network represented by the block 7.
The general architecture of the automatic notification system 10 is
represented diagrammatically by blocks in FIG. 2. The coaxial cable 5 is
connected to a connection circuit 11 which serves as an interface with the
bus 20 linking the various organic units of the system to one another.
These units are basically a microprocessor 12, a screen monitor 13 with
its interface 14, a large-capacity ROM memory 15 for storing the command
programs, a random access memory 16 for forming a file as will be seen
later, and a modem circuit 17 whose function will be described later.
The microprocessor 12 is a unit well known in itself which can be realised
in various modes of execution lying within the normal competence of the
skilled man in order to execute various connections and functional tasks
under the direction of command signals laid down in an operating program
recorded in the ROM 15. The latter has, for example, a capacity of at
least 10 MB (megabytes or mega-octets).
According to the invention, a special code is assigned to each addressee
for whom automatic notification is required and a notification file FIL is
formed in the random access memory 16. The codes of addressees are polled
in the order of codes u.sub.1, u.sub.2 . . . u.sub.n. In the file FIL
there are recorded the codes u.sub.1, u.sub.2 . . . u.sub.n identifying
the addressees and, for each code, numerical data n.sub.1, n.sub.2 . . .
n.sub.n representing the telephone number of the addressee together with
data t.sub.1, t.sub.2 . . . t.sub.n representing transmission parameters
for each telephone call, as will be seen later. The telephone numbers can
be extension numbers in an internal network of a group, call numbers of a
local telephone zone, or interzonal or long-distance call numbers. The
modem 17 is a unit known in itself, which is organized to dial telephone
numbers automatically from numerical data and generate signals suitable
for transmission on the telephone line 6.
The automatic notification system according to the invention functions
under the control of the microprocessor 12 driven or organized by a
command system resident in the memory 15. The functioning of the system
according to the invention is illustrated by the flow-chart of FIG. 3.
After start-up of the system (stage 100), the first functioning stage
(stage 101) consists in establishing a link with the host processor 1 of
the electronic mail system through the cable 5. The microprocessor 12 then
activates the sending to the host processor 1 of a request signal REQ
demanding presentation of the identification codes of the queueing
messages (stage 102). In response to the request signal (REQ), the host
processor 1 sends the identification codes of addressees contained in the
queueing list QUEUE and the microprocessor 12 activates their display on
the monitor screen 13.
The microprocessor 12 then activates reading of the content of the file FIL
residing in the memory 16 and comparison of each identification code
u.sub.1, u.sub.2 . . . u.sub.n in the file FIL with the identification
codes of the queueing list QUEUE (stage 103). If the latter contains a
code corresponding to one of the codes u.sub.1, u.sub.2 . . . u.sub.n in
the file FIL, the microprocessor 12 activates the generation of an address
signal ADR in order to address the memory 16 and extract from the file FIL
the data items n.sub.1 representing the call number of the addressee
identified and the parametric data t.sub.1 previously mentioned. These
data serve to establish the methods or conditions of transmission of the
call signals on the telephone line 6. It is possible, for example, to fix
the duration of the telephone call, the hours during which the call must
be made, the days during which a call can be made, or other possible
indications. The microprocessor 12 activates the display of these data
items on the monitor screen 13 opposite each identification code. For
example, a table of the kind shown in Table 2 below appears on the monitor
screen 13.
TABLE 2
______________________________________
u.sub.i N DATE t.sub.i
n.sub.i
______________________________________
BXLPC1DI 4 28/04 2:56 3280
BXLPC1RE 2 28/04 2:56 9145
EPSPC10A 2 27/04 0:25 4302
______________________________________
In this specimen table, each heading contains the code u.sub.1 of an
addressee, the number N of messages or documents received for this
addressee, the date of receipt, and the time of receipt t.sub.1 (minutes
and seconds) of each telephone call, the telephone number n.sub.1 of the
addressee. The data items u.sub.1, t.sub.1 and n.sub.1, as has been stated
above, are extracted from the file FIL according to the invention.
The microprocessor 12 then activates the transfer of the numerical data
items n.sub.1, n.sub.2 . . . n.sub.n to the modem 17 (stage 104) and the
modem responds by dialling the telephone number automatically and
generating the pulses suitable for transmission on the telephone line 6
(stage 105), according to a process well known in the field of the art.
After a lapse of time corresponding to the parametric items t.sub.1
extracted from the file FIL, the microprocessor 12 sends to the modem 17
an interrupt order, in response to which the modem interrupts the
transmission of the pulses on the telephone line 6. The same process takes
place for each of the identification codes u.sub.1, u.sub.2 . . . u.sub.n
of the file FIL. When all the codes have been scanned (stage 106), the
activation process continues (line 107) by repetition of the operations
from stage 102 until a final order is received (stage 108). The display on
the monitor screen 13 is up-dated automatically at regular adjustable
intervals.
By means of the system according to the invention, the addressees of
messages or documents received in an electronic mail system are notified
immediately by telephone of the receipt of the messages and documents
which are addressed to them. These messages and documents can thus be
received very quickly by their addressees, which increases advantageously
and optimizes the efficiency of the electronic mail system. It should be
noted that the addressees of messages and documents can be notified both
locally through an internal telephone network and by long-distance
telephone communication.
In an exemplifying embodiment, the electronic notification system 10 is
composed of a commercially available unit known as a personal computer,
for example a PC 3270 unit made by IBM. So that it can communicate,
according to the invention, with the screen monitor 2 of the electronic
mail system, the personal computer must be fitted with a coaxial
connection card, for example the 3270 Adapter interface card made by IBM.
In addition, in order that it can convert the numerical data extracted
from the memory 16 into signals suitable for transmission on the telephone
line 6, the personal computer must be fitted with a modem card, for
example a modem card from the company Devlonics Terminals N.V., compatible
with the Hayes and CCITT V25bis transmission protocols, which are well
known to the skilled man.
The random access memory of the personal computer is used to accommodate
the above-mentioned file FIL, and the ROM of the unit is used to store the
control system designed to direct the automatic telephone notification
system described in the aforegoing. It suffices to recopy onto hard disc,
for example, the application control system recorded previously on a
diskette.
In this exemplifying embodiment, in which use is made of a personal
computer to realize the system according to the invention, the
notification system forms an operational link with the equipment of the
personal computer through interface softwares, for example: the disk
operating system DOS 3.30 for the management of a file and the software
API for interfacing with the application software (telephone notification
process) in the case of a PC 3270 personal computer. The link between the
latter and the electronic mail system can be effected by means of an
operational software Workstation Program 1.00. All these interface
softwares, as is obvious to the skilled man, are started up prior to the
start-up of the telephone notification process according to the invention.
The skilled man will recognise that the invention is in no way limited to
the exemplifying embodiment described by way of illustration. Any variant
or modification, or any equivalent arrangement, must be regarded as lying
within the scope of the invention.
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