Mail control device, mail control method, and mail control program

Abstract

To provide a mail control device, a method, and a program for constructing a highly reliable hierarchical communication network using e-mail for appropriately specifying a reply destination at each hierarchy when the hierarchical communication network using e-mail is constructed.SOLUTION: In a mail control device 1, a sending trigger detection unit 121 detects a trigger for sending inquiry mail (mail requiring a report or a reply), a first information acquisition unit 122 acquires a sending destination email address and a reply destination email address determined according to the sending destination from an intra-office information DB4, a first mail formation unit 123 forms inquiry mail with an email address, a sending destination (To) and a reply destination (Reply-To) acquired by the first information acquisition unit 122, and a sending server function unit 111 sends the formed inquiry mail.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus, method, and program for sending e-mails that require a reply, such as e-mails to confirm safety in the event of a disaster or questionnaire e-mails for questionnaire surveys, and for receiving reply e-mails to the e-mails that require a reply. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, communication network systems using e-mail have been in operation. The main purpose of such communication network systems is to distribute e-mail from an administrator to the communication network targets. For this reason, the process of checking the reply content of the communication network target based on the reply e-mail from the communication network target and identifying unrecipients may have to be processed manually on the receiving side. For this reason, Patent Document 1 described later discloses an invention of an e-mail-type communication network system in which a uniform resource locator (URL) of a web page is written in an e-mail, and the communication network target can access the web page and input the necessary information. In the case of the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is also possible to aggregate responses on the server device where the web page is provided. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2006-338262 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the case of a communication network system using e-mail operated in a company, it may be desirable to consolidate and understand replies hierarchically, rather than consolidating reply e-mails in one place. For example, it may be desirable to first send an e-mail to each group member of multiple groups, then send the replies to the group leaders of each group, who then consolidate the replies including their own replies and send them to the section manager. This allows the group leader to understand information about the members of his or her group, and the section manager to understand information about each group in his or her section.

[0005] However, in this communication network system, each group member must reply to the group leader of the group to which he or she belongs, and the group leader of each group must reply to the section manager of the section to which he or she belongs. This requires that the person replying to the email must properly understand the recipient, which makes specifying the reply recipient cumbersome and also creates the risk of sending a reply email to a recipient other than the appropriate recipient, which is known as human error.

[0006] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable communication network that can be constructed by properly specifying a reply destination for each layer even when constructing a hierarchical communication network using electronic mail and that does not cause so-called human error. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problem, the mail control device of the invention described in claim 1 comprises: A detection means for detecting an opportunity to send an inquiry email that requires a reply; a first acquisition means for acquiring, when the detection means detects an opportunity to send the inquiry mail, one or more destination email addresses of the inquiry mail from a predetermined information providing device, and acquiring a reply destination email address determined according to the destination email address from which the email address was acquired; a first forming means for forming and transmitting the inquiry email in which a predetermined email address is set as a sender in a header section, the email address of the sender acquired by the first acquiring means is set as a destination in the header section, and the email address of the reply destination acquired by the first acquiring means is set as a reply destination in the header section; The present invention is characterized by comprising:

[0008] According to the mail control device of the invention described in claim 1, when a trigger for sending an inquiry mail (mail requiring a report or reply) is detected by the detection means, the first acquisition means acquires from a predetermined information providing device a destination mail address and a reply destination mail address determined according to the destination. After that, the first formation means uses the email address acquired by the first acquisition means to form an inquiry mail in which a destination (To) and a reply destination (Reply-To) are set in the header section, and the formed inquiry mail is sent. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to this invention, even when constructing a hierarchical communication network using electronic mail, it is possible to properly specify the reply destination of each layer without much effort, and to construct a highly reliable communication network without causing so-called human error. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of a network system configured using a mail control device to which an embodiment of a device, method, and program according to the present invention is applied; [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a mail control device according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of data stored in an in-house information DB according to an embodiment; FIG. [Figure 4] 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of an affiliation code used in an embodiment and its breakdown. FIG. [Diagram 5]FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of a safety confirmation email according to an embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of a reply email according to an embodiment. [Figure 7] 1 is a sequence diagram for explaining a process flow centered on a mail control device in a network system using the mail control device of an embodiment. FIG. [Figure 8] This is a sequence diagram continuing from Figure 7. [Figure 9] 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by a mail control device according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, an embodiment of the device, method, and program according to the present invention will be described. The device, method, and program according to the present invention are suitable for use in, for example, constructing a communication network using e-mail for confirming safety when a disaster occurs, or a communication network using e-mail for anonymous questionnaire surveys. That is, the device, method, and program according to the present invention can be used when constructing a communication network using e-mail, and is particularly suitable for use in constructing a communication network that allows hierarchical aggregation of replies. In the following, for the sake of simplicity, a specific description will be given by taking as an example a case in which a certain company constructs a communication network using e-mail for confirming safety when a disaster occurs.

[0012] [Network system configuration example] Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of a network system that uses a mail control device 1 to which an embodiment of the device, method, and program according to the present invention is applied. In Fig. 1, the mail control device 1, router RT(1), base station BS(1) of a mobile phone network, information providing servers 6(1), 6(2), ... are connected to a wide area network 5 shown in the center. The wide area network 5 is mainly the Internet, but also includes an optical telephone network and a public telephone network that connect the mail control device 1 and router RT(1) to the wide area network 5, and a mobile phone network that connects the base station BS(1) to the wide area network 5.

[0013] Although not shown in Fig. 1, a mobile communication terminal such as a smartphone may be connected to the wide area network 5 through a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) access point. Also, in Fig. 1, a base station BS(1), a smartphone 7(1), a router RT(1), and a home PC 8(1) are shown as representatives, but in reality there are many of these. There are also many information providing servers 6(1), 6(2), ... that provide various information.

[0014] The mail control device 1, which will be described in detail later, has both a function as a mail server for transmitting and receiving e-mails and a function as a contact network server for realizing a contact network by e-mail. The mail control device 1 is connected to PCs (Personal Computers) 3(1), 3(2), 3(3), 3(4), ... used by each employee who is a member of the company, and an in-house information DB (Data Base) 4 that stores information about employees, etc., via a LAN (Local Area Network) 2. The in-house information DB 4 is a device unit consisting of a recording medium such as an SSD (Solid State Drive) and its driver, but may also be configured as a server device further equipped with a CPU, etc.

[0015] The information providing servers 6(1), 6(2), ... connected to the wide area network 5 provide information on the occurrence of natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons and the situation afterwards. The information providing servers 6(1), 6(2), ... may be operated by public institutions such as the Japan Meteorological Agency, or may be operated by private organizations. The mail control device 1 can recognize the occurrence of a natural disaster based on the information provided by the information providing servers 6(1), 6(2). In the following, the various information providing servers 6(1), 6(2), ... will be collectively referred to as the information providing server 6, except when it is necessary to distinguish them from one another.

[0016] A smartphone 7(1) connected to a wide area network 5 via a mobile phone network base station BS(1) is owned by an employee of the company, and can receive e-mails addressed to the employee and send work-related e-mails even when the employee is away from the office. A home PC 8(1) connected via a router RT(1) is used by the employee of the company when performing so-called remote work from a place other than the company office, such as a home. Therefore, the employee can receive e-mails addressed to the employee and send work-related e-mails through the home PC 8(1).

[0017] As described above, the mail control device 1 has a function as a mail server for transmitting and receiving e-mails. Therefore, e-mails addressed to employees received using the PCs 3(1), 3(2), 3(3), 3(4), ..., smartphone 7(1), and home PC 8(1) used by employees are received via the mail control device 1. Also, e-mails sent using the PCs 3(1), 3(2), 3(3), 3(4), ..., smartphone 7(1), and home PC 8(1) used by employees are sent via the mail control device 1.

[0018] In this way, since e-mail is sent and received via the e-mail control device 1, a hierarchical communication network using e-mail can be constructed to confirm the safety of people in the event of a disaster, by using the functions of the e-mail control device 1. In this embodiment, it is assumed that a company that constructs a hierarchical communication network using e-mail has an organization structure of group → section → department → headquarters. In this case, it is assumed that there may be at least multiple groups and sections.

[0019] When a disaster occurs, the mail control device 1 creates and sends safety confirmation mails with each group member as the destination and each group leader as the reply destination. By having each group member reply to the safety confirmation mail, the group leader of the group to which the member belongs can automatically be created and sent as the destination. The mail control device 1 also aggregates reply mails from each group member addressed to the group leader, and creates and sends safety confirmation mails with each group leader as the destination and the section manager of the section to which the group belongs as the reply destination.

[0020] By making each group leader reply to the safety confirmation email, the group leader can automatically create and send a reply email addressed to the manager of the department to which the group leader belongs. The email control device 1 collects reply emails addressed to the managers from each group leader, and creates and sends a safety confirmation email addressed to the manager of the department as the destination and the department manager as the reply destination. By making each section manager reply to the safety confirmation email, the group leader can automatically create and send a reply email addressed to the department manager of the department to which the group leader belongs.

[0021] The email control device 1 collects reply emails from each section manager addressed to the department manager, and creates and sends a reply email addressed to the head of headquarters. As a result, a reply email including the department manager's safety information is sent to the head of headquarters. In this way, a hierarchical communication network can be configured, from group → section → department → headquarters. This allows the group leader to grasp the status of the group members. Furthermore, the section manager can grasp the status of the group members and the group leader. Furthermore, the department manager can grasp the status of the group members, group leader, and section manager. Furthermore, the department manager can grasp the status of the group members, group leader, section manager, and department manager. In this way, it is possible to accurately grasp the status of the members (employees) hierarchically.

[0022] In this case, the recipient of the safety confirmation email can create and send a reply email addressed to the recipient specified by the email control device 1, without specifying a destination, simply by filling in the necessary information and replying to the received safety confirmation email. To achieve this, the email control device uses "Reply-TO", an existing tag that exists in the header of an email. By using an existing tag that originally exists in the header of an email in this way, no special processing is required in the information processing device, such as a PC, that receives the safety confirmation email. By simply replying to the safety confirmation email, the reply email can be sent to the reply destination specified by the email control device 1. Furthermore, the email control device 1 performs the necessary calculation processing on the reply email, and the calculation results can also be notified to the reply destination.

[0023] In this manner, in the network system of this embodiment, a hierarchical communication network using e-mail can be configured by the function of the e-mail control device 1. This communication network allows each employee who receives an inquiry by e-mail to properly specify the reply destination of each hierarchy without any trouble, and so-called human error does not occur. As described above, the e-mail control device 1 has a function of a mail server and a function of a communication network server, so that it can receive a safety confirmation e-mail and properly return a reply e-mail even through a home PC 8(1) or a smartphone 7(1) during remote work. The details of the e-mail control device 1 of this embodiment, the operation of the network system centered on the e-mail control device 1, and the details of the processing performed by the e-mail control device 1 will be described below.

[0024] [Example of configuration of mail control device 1] 2 is a block diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of the email control device 1 of an embodiment. Connection end 101T constitutes a connection end to wide area network 5. Communication I / F 101 is a part that enables communication through wide area network 5. Communication I / F 101 converts data transmitted through wide area network 5 into data in a format that can be processed by the email control device 1 and imports it. In addition, communication I / F 101 converts data to be sent from the email control device 1 to the wide area network 5 into data for transmission and sends it to the wide area network 5.

[0025] Although not shown, the control unit 102 is a microprocessor configured by connecting a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a non-volatile memory via a bus. The control unit 102 realizes the function of controlling each part of the mail control device 1. The storage device 103 is a device unit consisting of a recording medium, such as an SSD, and its driver, and records, modifies, and deletes various data on the recording medium, and reads data from the recording medium. The storage device 103 stores and holds necessary data and programs, and is also used as a working area for temporarily storing intermediate data generated in various processes.

[0026] The transmission box 104 is a storage unit that stores e-mails (sent e-mails) sent from a subordinate terminal device using the mail server function of the device itself. The reception box is a storage unit that stores e-mails (received e-mails) received by a subordinate terminal device using the mail server function of the device itself. The reply mail storage unit 106 is a storage unit that temporarily stores reply mails corresponding to safety confirmation mails, which will be described in detail later. The transmission box 104, reception box 105, and reply mail storage unit 106 are formed in a storage device unit that is composed of a storage medium such as an SSD and its driver. The transmission box 104, reception box 105, and reply mail storage unit 106 can be formed in the same storage device unit by changing the storage area, or can be formed in different storage devices.

[0027] The connection end 107T constitutes a connection end to the LAN2. The LANI / F 107 is a part that enables communication through the LAN2. The LANI / F 107 converts data transmitted through the LAN2 into data in a format that can be processed by the mail control device 1 and imports it. The LANI / F 107 also converts data to be sent from the mail control device 1 to the LAN2 into data for transmission and sends it to the LAN2.

[0028] The mail server function unit 110 is a part that realizes the mail server function, and is composed of a transmission server function unit 111 and a reception server function unit 112. The transmission server function unit 111 is a part that functions as an SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server. The transmission server function unit 111 receives outgoing mail from PC3(1), ... connected to LAN2 and outgoing mail from employee's smartphone 7(1), ... and employee's home PC 8(1), ... sent through wide area network 5, and stores the mail in the outgoing box 104. The transmission server function unit 111 identifies the destination from the information in the header section of the outgoing mail, and performs processing to send the outgoing mail to the destination.

[0029] The receiving server function unit 112 functions as a Post Office Protocol Version 3 (POP3) server or an Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) server. The receiving server function unit 112 receives e-mails sent via the LAN 2 or wide area network 5 addressed to employees who receive e-mails through the receiving server, stores them in the inbox 105, and provides them upon request. Note that since the mail server function unit 110 is a unit that realizes a well-known mail server function, detailed explanations of, for example, a unit that identifies a destination through a DNS (Domain Name System) server and a unit that manages e-mail addresses to identify a recipient will be omitted.

[0030] The contact network server function unit 120 is a part that realizes the function of constructing a contact network using electronic mail in the mail control device 1 of this embodiment, and is characterized in that it can construct a hierarchical contact network. As shown in Fig. 2, the contact network server function unit 120 includes a transmission trigger detection unit 121, a first information acquisition unit 122, a first mail formation unit 123, a second information acquisition unit 124, a counting processing unit 125, and a second mail formation unit 126.

[0031] The transmission trigger detection unit 121 performs a process of detecting a trigger (trigger) for transmitting a safety confirmation email. For example, it is assumed that the information providing server 6(1) is an earthquake information providing server operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency. In this case, the transmission trigger detection unit 121 periodically accesses the information providing server 6(1) on the wide area network 5 through the communication I / F 101 and the connection terminal 101T, and collects information such as the occurrence of an earthquake, the occurrence time, and the seismic intensity of each area. In this embodiment, the transmission trigger detection unit 121 detects, for example, when an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 5 or more occurs in the area where the email control device 1 is installed, as a trigger for transmitting a safety confirmation email, and notifies the control unit 102. The control unit 102 controls the first information acquisition unit 122 and the first email formation unit 123 to perform a process of transmitting the first safety confirmation email.

[0032] The transmission trigger detection unit 121 also detects an instruction to send a safety confirmation email from a PC of a specific employee connected to the LAN 2 as an opportunity to send the safety confirmation email. In other words, when a large earthquake occurs and it is determined that it is necessary to confirm the safety of employees without waiting for earthquake information to be made public on the earthquake information providing server, the arrival of an instruction through the employee's PC can be detected as an opportunity to send the safety confirmation email. In this case, it is not necessary for any employee to instruct the sending of a safety confirmation email, but rather, it is sufficient to make it possible to instruct the sending of a safety confirmation email when a specific authentication code is entered through a specific input screen, for example.

[0033] The first information acquisition unit 122 accesses the in-house information DB4 on the LAN2 via the LANI / F 107 and the connection terminal 107T, and acquires the destination email address to which the safety confirmation email is initially sent and the reply email address. As described above, the company is hierarchically organized from group → section → department → headquarters. Therefore, organizational structure data is stored and held in the in-house information DB4 accordingly.

[0034] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of data (organizational structure data) stored in the in-house information DB4 of the embodiment. Also, FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of an affiliation code used in the embodiment and its breakdown. As shown in FIG. 3, the organizational structure data has information on the affiliation code, job title, name, and email address. As shown in FIG. 4, the affiliation code has the first two digits identifying the headquarters, the next digit identifying the department, the next digit identifying the section, and the next digit identifying the group. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, if the affiliation code is "01111", it can be seen that the affiliation belongs to "Sales Headquarters Sales Department Section 1 Group 1".

[0035] 3, there are three members of "Sales Headquarters / Sales Department / Section 1 / Group 1", namely "Mr. A", "Mr. B", and "Mr. C", but the two-digit job title code indicates that "Mr. C" is the group leader (section chief). Therefore, the first information acquisition unit 122 acquires the email addresses of "Mr. A" and "Mr. B", who are members of Section 1, Group 1, as the destination email address, and acquires the email address of "Mr. C" as the reply email address.

[0036] The destination email addresses and reply destination email addresses acquired by first information acquisition unit 122 are recorded and stored by control unit 102 in a predetermined area of ​​storage device 103 for each group, and the number of destinations for each group is also stored in a predetermined storage area of ​​storage device 103. This makes it possible to know the number of senders of reply emails and the number of recipients to whom a reply email has not been sent by receiving reply emails from destinations to which a safety confirmation email has been sent, and further to know who has sent a reply email and who has not sent a reply email for each group.

[0037] For the sake of simplicity, the case where an employee belonging to "Sales Headquarters / Sales Department / Section 1 / Group 1" is identified has been described here. However, if there are Groups 2, 3, ... subordinate to Section 1, the destination and reply address email addresses are obtained in a similar manner. Also, if there are Sections 2 and 3, such as "Sales Headquarters / Sales Department / Section 2 / Group 1," the destination and reply address email addresses are obtained for the groups subordinate to each section in a similar manner. In this way, the first information acquisition means realizes the function of acquiring, from the internal company information DB4, one or more destination email addresses to which an inquiry email is initially sent, and a reply address email address determined according to the destination.

[0038] The email address acquired by first information acquisition unit 122 is supplied to first email formation unit 123 via control unit 102, with the transmission destination and reply destination made distinguishable. First email formation unit 123 creates a safety confirmation email in which a predetermined email address is set as the sender, the email address of the transmission destination acquired by first information acquisition unit 122 is set as the transmission destination, and the email address of the reply destination acquired by the first information acquisition unit is set as the reply destination.

[0039] FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of a safety confirmation email according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the first email forming unit 123 sets email addresses for the sender (From), destination (To), and reply destination (Reply-To) in the header Hd. In the example shown in FIG. 5, a predetermined sender email address (kakunin@ssss.co.jp) is set for the sender (From). The destination email address (To) is set to the destination email address acquired by the first information acquiring unit 122 (Mr. A's email address (aaaa@ssss.co.jp) in FIG. 5). The reply destination email address (Reply-To) is set to the destination email address acquired by the first information acquiring unit 122 (Mr. C's email address (cccc@ssss.co.jp) in FIG. 5.

[0040] Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 5, the body part Bd is provided with a message informing of the occurrence of an earthquake, a check box display indicating whether or not the recipient of the safety confirmation email, "Mr. A," is safe, or has injuries, and an input field for detailed information. Such safety confirmation emails are also generated for "Mr. B" and other members of the group. The safety confirmation email generated by the first email generating unit 123 in this way is treated as an email to be sent, and is supplied to the sending server function unit 111 via the control unit 102, temporarily stored in the sending box, and sent to the other party.

[0041] In this case, since the safety confirmation email is addressed to an employee of the company, it is provided to receiving server function unit 112 via control unit 102 and stored in inbox 105. For example, the safety confirmation email addressed to Person A stored in inbox 105 can be received and viewed using PC 3(1), home PC 8(1), or smartphone 7(1) used by Person A. Safety confirmation emails addressed to other group members can be viewed in the same manner by each group member.

[0042] Next, group members such as "Mr. A" and "Mr. B" who received the safety confirmation email use the reply function of their mailer (an application for sending and receiving emails) to reply to the safety confirmation email. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of a reply email according to an embodiment, showing an example of a reply email from "Mr. A." In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, the function of the mailer creates a reply email in the header section Hdh of the reply email, with the sender (From) of the reply email set as the destination (recipient) of the safety confirmation email, and the destination (To) set as the sender of the safety confirmation email and the reply destination of the safety confirmation email.

[0043] The reply email shown in Fig. 6 is a "reply email" to the safety confirmation email sent to "Mr. A," and the sender (From) is set to the email address of Mr. A (aaaa@ssss.co.jp), who is the destination (recipient) of the safety confirmation email. The destination (To) is set to the email address of the sender of the safety confirmation email (kakunin@ssss.co.jp) and the reply-to address (Reply-To) of the safety confirmation email (cccc@ssss.co.jp). The reply email also includes information in the header section Hd of the safety confirmation email and information in the body section Bd of the safety confirmation email.

[0044] The information in the body part Bd includes a message informing of the occurrence of an earthquake, a checkbox display indicating whether the recipient of the e-mail "Mr. A" is safe or injured, and information in an input field for detailed information, as shown in Fig. 5. In this case, the information in the body part Bd of the reply e-mail includes the checks made by Mr. A in the checkbox display and the information entered in the input field for detailed information. The reply e-mail in the form shown in Fig. 6, which is generated at the recipient of the safety confirmation e-mail, is sent from the terminal device used by the employee and is sent to the e-mail control device 1.

[0045] For example, if the recipient of the safety confirmation email is person A, the reply email shown in Fig. 6 is formed in person A's PC 3(1), sent, received by the email control device 1, and temporarily stored in the sending box 104. After this, the sending server function unit 111 identifies the destination and sends it to the destination's email server, which includes person C, an employee of the company that uses the email control device 1 of this embodiment as its email server. For this reason, the reply email from person A is originally sent to person C. However, in the email control device 1, the second information acquisition unit 124, the aggregation processing unit 125, and the second email formation unit 126 of the contact network server function unit 120 function to remake the reply email into a report email for person C, who is the group leader, and into a safety confirmation email.

[0046] In this case, the control unit 102 analyzes the email temporarily stored in the transmission box 104 and determines whether it is a reply email to the safety confirmation email. If the subject (Subject) is "safety confirmation email", the previous header section Hd exists, and the reply destination (Reply-To) of the header section Hd is set to the destination (To) of the current header section Hdh, the control unit 102 determines that it is a reply email to the safety confirmation email.

[0047] When the control unit 102 determines that the e-mail temporarily stored in the transmission box 104 is a reply e-mail to a safety confirmation e-mail, it transfers the reply e-mail from the transmission box 104 to the reply e-mail storage unit 106. This makes it possible to tally up the number of safe group members and injured group members for each group, and to compile detailed information for each member.

[0048] Furthermore, control unit 102 controls second information acquisition unit 124 to perform a process of acquiring the email address of the next reply destination according to the destination of the reply email recorded in reply email storage unit 106. Specifically, second information acquisition unit 124 refers to internal information DB4 and acquires the email address of a new reply destination according to the destination of the reply email other than the sender of the initial safety confirmation email.

[0049] In the case of the reply email shown in Figure 6, it is checked whether there is an employee above the employee who has the destination address "cccc@ssss.co.jp" other than the sender (kakunin@ssss.co.jp) of the first safety confirmation email. Above group leader C who has the email address "cccc@ssss.co.jp" is section manager D, as shown in Figure 3, whose email address "dddd@ssss.co.jp" is obtained as the email address of the next reply. If there is no employee above the destination address after checking the internal information DB4 based on the destination email address, in this example, if the destination is the general manager and there is no employee above the general manager, it is understood to that effect.

[0050] The tallying processor 125 performs a process of comparing the email address of the sender of the reply email stored in the reply email storage unit 106 with the email address of the destination for each group acquired by the first information acquisition unit 122 and stored in the storage device 103. This allows the processor 125 to determine whether reply emails have been received from all group members for each group, and if not, who sent them. The processor 125 instructs the second email formation unit 126 to immediately form an inquiry email to the reply destination for a group for which reply emails have been received from all group members, and after waiting a certain period of time (when a timeout occurs) for a group for which reply emails have not been received from all group members.

[0051] The second mail forming unit 126 forms a safety confirmation mail with the destination of the reply mail as the destination, and if the reply destination email address has been acquired by the second information acquiring unit 124, the reply destination email address is set in the reply destination (Reply-To) of the header section. In this case, the body section of the safety confirmation mail contains a message informing the recipient of the occurrence of an earthquake, a check box display indicating whether the recipient is safe or injured to inform the recipient of the current condition of the email, and an input field for detailed information. Furthermore, the results of the aggregation performed by the aggregation processing unit 125 are also added to the body section.

[0052] As described above, the results of the compilation by the compilation processing unit 125 are information indicating whether reply e-mails have been received from all group members for each group, and if not, from whom. Of course, it is also possible to indicate the members who have sent reply e-mails and the members who have not sent reply e-mails. The destination of the safety confirmation e-mail formed in response to the reply e-mail shown in FIG. 6 is "Mr. C", the group leader of Section 1, Group 1. In other words, the safety confirmation e-mail is intended to confirm the safety of "Mr. C", the group leader of Section 1, Group 1, and also functions as a report e-mail to report the status of the group members of Section 1, Group 1 to "Mr. C".

[0053] If the second information acquisition unit 124 is unable to acquire the email address of the reply destination, i.e., if there is no higher-ranking employee, the second email formation unit 126 forms a reply email (report email) with the destination of the reply email as the destination. In this case, the aggregation result of the aggregation processing unit 125 is also added to the body of the safety confirmation email. Therefore, if the destination is the email address of the general manager (xxxx@ssss.co.jp), the email will contain safety information of the department manager, who is a lower-ranking employee, as well as the section managers of each section, the group leaders of each group, and the group members of each group.

[0054] The safety confirmation email and reply email (report email) formed by the second email formation unit 126 are intended for employees of the company, and are therefore provided to the receiving server function unit 112 via the control unit 102 and stored in the inbox 105. As described above, the employee who is the destination can receive and view the email stored in the inbox 105 using his / her own PC 3, home PC, or smartphone 7.

[0055] In this way, the second information acquisition unit 124, the aggregation processing unit 125, and the second email formation unit 126 function when a reply email to a safety confirmation email is received, and realize the function of creating and sending a safety confirmation email and a reply email (report email) to a superior employee.

[0056] [Processing flow of a network system using the mail control device 1] 7 and 8 are sequence diagrams for explaining the flow of processing centered on the mail control device 1 in a network system using the mail control device 1 of the embodiment. For simplicity's sake, the processing will be explained here from confirming the safety of group members of Group 1 in Division 1 to reporting to Section Chief D of Division 1 via the group leader of Group 1, as explained with reference to FIG. 3.

[0057] As shown in the upper right of Fig. 7, the mail control device 1 periodically accesses a predetermined information providing server 6 that provides disaster information such as earthquake information using the function of the transmission trigger detection unit 121, so that it can automatically detect the occurrence of a disaster that affects the company. In this example, it is assumed that an earthquake occurs in the area where the company is located, and disaster information related to the earthquake is posted on the information providing server 6 (step S1). After this, it is assumed that the function of the transmission trigger detection unit 121 of the mail control device 1 periodically accesses the information providing server 6 (step S2), detecting the disaster information (step S3) and notifying the control unit 102.

[0058] The control unit 102 controls the first information acquisition unit 122 to access the in-house information DB 4 and executes a process to acquire the destination and reply email addresses of the safety confirmation email (step S4). In this example, as described above, the email addresses of group members A and B of the Sales Department / Sales Division 1 / Group 1 are acquired as the destination email addresses, and the email address of the group leader C is acquired as the reply email address.

[0059] After this, the first mail forming unit 123 of the mail control device 1 functions to form a safety confirmation mail with the sender set to a predetermined sender (kakunin@ssss.co.jp), the destination (To) set to person A (aaaa@ssss.co.jp), and the reply destination set to person C (cccc@ssss.co.jp) (step S5). The safety confirmation mail formed here is sent to person A (step S6). Similarly, the first mail forming unit 123 of the mail control device 1 functions to form a safety confirmation mail with the sender set to a predetermined sender (kakunin@ssss.co.jp), the destination (To) set to person B (bbbb@ssss.co.jp), and the reply destination set to person C (cccc@ssss.co.jp) (step S7). The safety confirmation mail formed here is sent to person B (step S8).

[0060] 8, Mr. A receives the safety confirmation email using the email client on his / her PC3(1) and writes information about damage or not in the body of the email and sends it back (step S9). As a result, a reply email is created with the sender (From) of Mr. A (aaaa@ssss.co.jp) and the recipients of the safety confirmation email (kakunin@ssss.co.jp) and Mr. C (cccc@ssss.co.jp), and this reply email is sent (step S10). It is assumed that Mr. B is not able to reply to the safety confirmation email immediately because, for example, he / she is out and not in a safe environment, but is in the middle of evacuating (step S11).

[0061] The reply email from Mr. A is received by the email control device 1 and temporarily stored in the transmission box 104. Normally, an email sent from Mr. A's PC 3(1) is sent to the destination identified by the function of the transmission server function unit 111. However, in the email control device 1 of this embodiment, the function of the control unit 102 determines whether the email is a reply email to a safety confirmation email, and if it is a reply email, moves the reply email from the transmission box 104 to the reply email storage unit 106 (step S12).

[0062] After this, the tallying processor 125 starts to function and detects whether reply emails have arrived from all destinations of the safety confirmation email, or whether a timeout has occurred in which a predetermined time (e.g., 15 minutes) has elapsed since the safety confirmation email was sent (step S13). As described above, the destinations of the safety confirmation email are stored and managed in a predetermined area of ​​the storage device 103 based on the results of acquisition by the first information acquisition unit 122, so that the reception status of the reply email can be ascertained by comparing this information with the sender of the reply email. In addition, although not shown in FIG. 2, the email control device 1 is provided with a clock circuit that can measure the time elapsed from a predetermined point in time, and is thus capable of measuring the time elapsed from the time the safety confirmation email was sent for each group, for example, and detecting a timeout.

[0063] In step S13, if the arrival of reply emails from all destinations of the safety confirmation email or a timeout is detected, the second information acquisition unit 124 functions to acquire information on the destination and reply destination of the next stage of the safety confirmation email. Specifically, the destination of the received reply email will be the destination of the next safety confirmation email or report email, so the email address of the next reply destination determined according to the destination is acquired (step S14). Therefore, the next destination is Mr. C, who is the destination of the reply email, and the reply destination above that is Mr. D, so these email addresses (cccc@ssss.co.jp) and (dddd@ssss.co.jp) are acquired from the internal company information DB4.

[0064] 7, safety confirmation emails have been sent to A and B, who are group members of Group 1, Section 1, and this is also known by control unit 102. For this reason, second information acquisition unit 124, under the control of control unit 102, may access in-house information DB4 and acquire the email address of C, who is the destination (cccc@ssss.co.jp), and the email address of D, who is the reply destination (dddd@ssss.co.jp).

[0065] Next, the second mail forming unit 126 functions to form a safety confirmation mail with a predetermined sender (kakunin@ssss.co.jp) as the sender, C (cccc@ssss.co.jp) as the destination, and D (dddd@ssss.co.jp) as the reply destination (step S15). The safety confirmation mail formed in step S15 is an mail for confirming the safety of C, who is the group leader of the first division, first group, and is also an mail for reporting to C the safety of A and B, who are members of the group. The safety confirmation mail with C as the destination also includes a compilation result of the reply mail, such as "A is safe, B has not replied". The compilation result is information obtained by the compilation processing unit 125 by compiling based on the reply mail in the reply mail storage unit 106. The safety confirmation mail formed in step S15 is sent to C (step S16).

[0066] After that, C, who received the safety confirmation email using the mailer of his / her PC3(3), writes the damage or not in the body of the safety confirmation email and operates it to reply (step S17). As a result, a reply email is created with the sender (From) of C (cccc@ssss.co.jp) and the destinations of the safety confirmation email (kakunin@ssss.co.jp) and D (dddd@ssss.co.jp), and this is sent (step S18). Here, it is assumed that the section manager D is the highest ranking employee. In this case, the reply email (report email) from C to D is sent to the section manager D, not a safety confirmation email, and includes the safety information of C and the safety information of A and B of the first group of the first section (step S19). In this step S19, the reply email from C is sent to the section manager D. In this way, an initial confirmation of safety is made through the email communication network, and if necessary, confirmation of safety from group members can be made repeatedly.

[0067] In the example described with reference to FIG. 3, section manager D is above department manager Y, and above department manager Y is above division manager X. Therefore, according to the example shown in FIG. 3, in response to a reply email from a section manager such as C, the same processing as that of steps S12 to S15 is performed, and a safety confirmation email is generated and sent to department manager Y, with Y as the destination and X as the reply destination. When department manager Y sends a reply email in response, a reply email (report email) from department manager Y to division manager X is sent, similar to the processing of step S19 described above, and the safety confirmation is completed through the communication network by email. In this case, too, safety confirmation from group members can be repeated as necessary.

[0068] [Summary of processing in mail control device 1] FIG. 9 is a flow chart for explaining the processing performed by the mail control device 1 of the embodiment. In the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8, an example was given of a case where the safety of employees is confirmed through a contact network using e-mail. However, this invention is not limited to safety confirmation, and can be used in various cases where a reply is required to confirm intentions, such as a signed questionnaire, confirmation of participation in a training session, confirmation of product purchase, etc. Therefore, in the following, the processing in the mail control device 1 will be explained by assuming that an e-mail that always requires a reply, such as a safety confirmation e-mail, is an inquiry e-mail.

[0069] The transmission trigger detection unit 121 of the mail control device 1, under the control of the control unit 102, periodically accesses a predetermined information providing server 6 and confirms instructions from subordinate PCs 3(1), ... to determine whether a trigger for sending an inquiry mail has arrived (step S101). If it is determined in the determination process of step S101 that the trigger for sending an inquiry mail has not arrived, the process from step S101 is repeated to wait for the trigger for sending an inquiry mail.

[0070] Assume that it is determined in the determination process of step S101 that the timing for sending an inquiry email has arrived. In this case, under the control of the control unit 102, the first information acquisition unit 122 functions to access the in-house information DB4, identify the lowest-level destination and the reply destination corresponding to the destination, and acquire those email addresses (step S102). The acquisition result is recorded by the control unit 102 in a predetermined storage area of ​​the storage unit 103 so that it can be referenced as necessary.

[0071] Next, under the control of the control unit 102, the first mail forming unit 123 functions to create an inquiry mail in which the destination address specified in the destination (To) and the reply destination address specified in the reply destination (Reply-To) are set, and the inquiry mail is sent (step S103). The control unit 102 determines whether or not there are multiple destinations specified in step S102 (step S104). It is assumed that the determination process of step S104 determines that there are multiple destinations specified in step S102. In this case, the control unit 102 determines whether or not the transmitted e-mail is a reply mail, and if it is a reply mail, processes the reply mail to be stored in the reply mail storage unit 106 (step S105).

[0072] Thereafter, the function of the tallying unit 125 determines whether reply mails have been received from all destinations to which the inquiry mail was sent, or whether a timeout has been detected (step S106). If it is determined in step S106 that reply mails have not been received from all destinations to which the inquiry mail was sent, or that a timeout has not been detected, the process from step S105 is repeated to continue receiving reply mails.

[0073] Also, suppose that in the determination process of step S104, it is determined that the number of destinations specified in step S102 is not multiple (it is one). In this case, the control unit 102 determines whether the transmitted e-mail is a reply mail or not, and if it is a reply mail, receives it as a reply mail (step S107). After this, in step S107, it determines whether a reply mail to the inquiry mail has been received (step S108), and if it is determined that it has not been received, the process from step S107 is repeated to continue receiving the reply mail.

[0074] In the determination process of step S106, if it is determined that reply emails have been received from all destinations to which the inquiry email was sent, or if it is determined that a timeout has been detected, the process proceeds to step S109. Similarly, in the determination process of step S108, if it is determined that a reply email has been received, the process proceeds to step S109. In this case, the second information acquisition unit 124 functions to identify the next destination and the next reply destination (step S109).

[0075] Next, in step S109, the control unit 102 determines whether the next reply destination has been identified (step S110). If the next reply destination has been identified, it is necessary to create an inquiry email for the next destination, so the process from step S103 is repeated. In this case, however, in step S103, the second email formation unit 126 and, if necessary, the aggregation processing unit 125 function to create an inquiry email including the reply status from the lower-level inquiry destination.

[0076] Furthermore, when it is determined in the determination process of step S110 that the next reply destination has not been specified (there is no next reply destination), it is determined that the destination of the current reply mail is the final destination. In this case, the second mail forming unit 126 functions to create a reply mail (report mail) with the destination of the current reply mail set as the final destination, and send this (step S111). After this, the process from step S101 is repeated.

[0077] In the process of step S111, if the previous inquiry mail has multiple destinations and therefore the tallying results must be included, the second mail forming unit 126 functions to create a reply mail including the tallying results. However, as in this embodiment, if the final report destination is the general manager X and the previous inquiry mail was only sent to the department manager Y, the reply mail from Y may be sent directly to the general manager X as the final report mail.

[0078] [Effects of the embodiment] By using the mail control device 1 of the above-mentioned embodiment, even when constructing a hierarchical communication network using e-mail, it is possible to appropriately specify the reply destination of each layer without much effort. This makes it possible to construct a highly reliable communication network without causing so-called human error. In particular, when constructing a communication network to be used in an organization such as a company whose members are clearly defined, the communication network can be constructed using existing information such as organizational structure data and employee master data already existing in the organization.

[0079] [Variations] In the above embodiment, the organizational structure data as shown in Fig. 3 is stored in the in-house information DB 4, but the present invention is not limited to this. The in-house information DB 4 may be stored on the wide area network 5. If existing data exists that can grasp the hierarchical affiliation of members, such as organizational structure data or an employee master, this may be used, but of course, contact network data may be created separately and used.

[0080] In the above embodiment, the mail control device 1 has been described as having both a mail server function and a contact network server function, but this is not limited thereto. For example, a network may be configured such that a contact network server having a contact network server function unit 120 is provided before or after the mail server. For example, the mail server may be provided on the wide area network 5, and the contact network server function unit 120 provided in the mail control device 1 may be provided in a device called a UTM (Unified Threat Management) device provided in the company. In this case, for example, a home PC 8(1) or a smartphone 7(1) may be connected to the UTM device through a so-called VPN (Virtual Private Network).

[0081] In this way, the mail control device of the present invention can be set up so that emails sent and received in an organization such as a company always pass through it, making it possible to build a hierarchical communication network using emails. Moreover, it is possible to properly specify the reply destination at each level without any trouble, and it is possible to build a highly reliable communication network that does not cause so-called human error.

[0082] In the above embodiment, the mail control device 1 functions when a disaster that affects the company occurs, for example, when an earthquake occurs in the area where the company is located. For this reason, if the company is large and has branches and factories all over the country, the mail control device 1 may be installed in each branch and factory.

[0083] Of course, there may be cases where the mail control device 1 is installed in the head office and relays the sending and receiving of e-mail from branches and factories in various locations. In such cases, the area where the earthquake or the like occurred may be identified, and safety confirmation e-mails may be sent to employees working at branches and factories located in that area. For this reason, the organizational structure data shown in FIG. 3 may include information indicating the place of work. In this way, the first information acquisition unit 122 and the second information acquisition unit 124 can send safety confirmation e-mails to employees working at branches and factories in the area where the disaster occurred, and a communication network that can grasp the replies to the e-mails in a hierarchical manner can be constructed.

[0084] As described above, the present invention can be used in various cases where a reply is required to confirm intent, such as a signed questionnaire, confirmation of participation in a training session, confirmation of product purchase, etc. Therefore, it can also be used, for example, when circulating minutes of a management meeting to employees. In this case, it can be targeted at all employees, as in the case of safety confirmation, but by using the affiliation code explained with reference to FIG. 4, for example, by specifying that the affiliation code is limited to within "01100", it is possible to circulate the minutes only within the sales headquarters. Therefore, by specifying that the affiliation code is limited to within "01110", it is also possible to circulate the minutes only within "Sales Headquarters / Sales Department / Section 1".

[0085] In this case, the affiliation code indicating the scope of circulation can be entered via a terminal used by the employee, such as PC3(1), and set in the mail control device 1, thereby restricting the scope of information acquired by the first information acquisition unit 122 and the second information acquisition unit 124.

[0086] The affiliation code explained using Fig. 4 is merely an example, and affiliation codes of various systems can be used. In short, it is sufficient to be able to distinguish and identify the recipients of inquiry emails such as safety confirmation emails and the recipients of reply emails according to the hierarchically configured organizations.

[0087] The process performed by the mail control device 1 explained using the flowchart in Fig. 9 is an embodiment of the method and program of the present invention. Therefore, the functions of each unit of the contact network server function unit 120 and each unit of the mail server function unit 110 of the mail control device 1 shown in Fig. 2 can be realized as functions of the control unit 102 by a program executed by the control unit 102. [Explanation of symbols]

[0088] 1...mail control device, 101T...connection end, 101...communication I / F, 102...control unit, 103...storage device, 104...transmission box, 105...reception box, 106...reply mail storage unit, 107T...connection end, 107...LAN I / F, 110...mail server function unit, 111...transmission server function unit, 112...reception server function unit, 120...contact network server function unit, 121...transmission trigger detection unit, 122... First information acquisition unit, 123...first mail formation unit, 124...second information acquisition unit, 125...counting processing unit, 126...second mail formation unit, 2...LAN, 3(1), 3(2), 3(3), 3(4)...PC, 4...in-house information DB, 5...wide area network, 6, 6(1), 6(2)...information providing server, 7(1)...smartphone, BS(1)...base station, 8(1)...home PC, RT(1)...router

Claims

1. A detection means for detecting an opportunity to send an inquiry email that requires a reply; a first acquisition means for acquiring, when the detection means detects an opportunity to send the inquiry mail, one or more destination email addresses of the inquiry mail from a predetermined information providing device, and acquiring a reply destination email address determined according to the destination email address from which the email address was acquired; a first forming means for forming and transmitting the inquiry email in which a predetermined email address is set as a sender in a header section, the email address of the sender acquired by the first acquiring means is set as a destination in the header section, and the email address of the reply destination acquired by the first acquiring means is set as a reply destination in the header section; An email control device comprising:

2. 2. The mail control device according to claim 1, a second acquiring means for acquiring an email address of a reply destination from a predetermined information providing device, when a reply email corresponding to the inquiry email transmitted from the own device is received, based on a destination in a header section of the reply email other than a source in a header section of the inquiry email; a second forming means for forming and sending an inquiry mail in which the reply destination email address acquired by the second obtaining means is set as the reply destination in the header part of the reply mail, while leaving the destination in the header part of the reply mail as is, when the second obtaining means can obtain the reply destination email address based on the destination in the header part of the reply mail, and when the second obtaining means cannot obtain the reply destination email address, forming and sending a reply mail corresponding to the received reply mail; An email control device comprising:

3. 3. The mail control device according to claim 2, a counting processing means for counting reply contents of reply mails having the same destination except for the sender of the header of the inquiry mail when the reply mails corresponding to the inquiry mails transmitted from the own machine are received, The second forming means forms the inquiry mail or the reply mail including the tally result of the tally processing means.

13. An email control device comprising:

4. a detection step in which a detection means detects an opportunity for sending an inquiry email that requires a reply; a first acquisition step in which, when the detection step detects an opportunity to send the inquiry email, a first acquisition means acquires, from a predetermined information providing device, email addresses of one or more destinations of the inquiry email, and also acquires an email address of a reply destination determined according to the destination from which the email address was acquired; a first forming step in which a first forming means forms and transmits the inquiry email in which a predetermined email address is set as a sender in a header section, the email address of the sender obtained in the first obtaining step is set as a destination in the header section, and the email address of the reply destination obtained in the first obtaining step is set as a reply destination in the header section; 13. A mail control method comprising:

5. A mail control program executed by a computer, A detection step of detecting an opportunity to send an inquiry email that requires a reply; a first acquisition step of acquiring, when the detection step detects an opportunity to send the inquiry email, one or more email addresses of destinations of the inquiry email from a predetermined information providing device, and acquiring an email address of a reply destination determined according to the destination from which the email address was acquired; a first forming step of forming the inquiry email in which a predetermined email address is set as a sender in a header section, the email address of the sender obtained in the first obtaining step is set as a destination in the header section, and the email address of the reply destination obtained in the first obtaining step is set as a reply destination in the header section, and then transmitting the inquiry email; 2. A mail control program comprising:

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