Mail processing device and method

Abstract

To provide pinpoint information to users regarding the safety and importance of specific emails they receive.SOLUTION: In a control unit 13 of a mail processing device 10, a mail identification unit 13B identifies a target mail from among the mails received by a user on the basis of a keyword registered in a memory unit 12, the mail generation unit 13C attaches the identified target mail and generates an information mail with an information message included in the mail body, and a mail delivery unit 13D delivers the generated information mail to the user who is the destination of the target mail.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a mail processing technology used when guiding a user about the safety and importance of target mails reaching the user.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, users' awareness of the safety of received mails has increased. Even when a target mail that the user should check arrives, if the user cannot confirm the safety from the sender or the content of the mail, the user may leave the content of the target mail unconfirmed or delete it. For this reason, the fact that the user has not checked the target mail may sometimes lead to subsequent troubles.

[0003] Conventionally, as a technology for checking the safety of received mails, a technology for rejecting specific mails using a whitelist or a blacklist has been used. In particular, in Patent Document 1, a function for checking mails rejected by the whitelist is added, and if the safety of the mail is confirmed, it is registered in the whitelist and the mail is re-checked and delivered.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in such prior arts, management operations such as registration, modification, and deletion of lists are cumbersome and difficult to operate easily. In particular, according to the technology of Patent Document 1, there is a problem that the administrator has to review the emails that have been rejected, increasing the workload of the administrator. Also, in these prior arts, the necessity of email rejection is the main purpose. Even if it is determined that email rejection is unnecessary and the target email is delivered to the user, the importance of a specific target email is not pinpointedly guided to the user. For this reason, there is a problem that the possibility that the user leaves the content of the target email unconfirmed or deletes it cannot be reduced.

[0006] The present invention is for solving such problems, and an object thereof is to provide an email processing technology capable of pinpointedly guiding the user about the safety and importance of specific target emails reaching the user.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] To achieve such an object, the email processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a storage unit configured to store a keyword for identifying a first email and a guidance text for guiding the user about the first email, and a control unit configured to deliver the first email identified based on the keyword to the user by a second email including the guidance text. The control unit includes an email identification unit configured to identify the first email from the emails reaching the user based on the keyword, an email generation unit configured to generate the second email by attaching the identified first email and describing the guidance text in the email body, and an email delivery unit configured to deliver the generated second email to the user who is the destination of the first email.

[0008] One configuration example of the mail processing apparatus according to the present invention is such that the storage unit stores a target address indicating the sender address of the first mail as the keyword, and the mail identification unit is configured to identify, among the mails received by the user, a mail whose sender address matches the target address as the first mail.

[0009] One configuration example of the mail processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes a pre - setting unit configured such that the control unit extracts the keyword and the guidance text from a pre - mail sent from an administrator to the user before the first mail arrives, for the purpose of notifying the arrival of the first mail in advance, and registers them in the storage unit.

[0010] One configuration example of the mail processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes a destination confirmation unit configured such that the control unit compares the destination of the pre - mail with the destination of the first mail, and notifies the obtained comparison result to the administrator.

[0011] A mail processing method according to the present invention is a mail processing method used in a mail processing apparatus including a storage unit configured to store a keyword for identifying a first mail and a guidance text for guiding the user about the first mail, and a control unit configured to deliver, to the user, the first mail identified based on the keyword by a second mail including the guidance text. The control unit includes a mail identification step configured to identify the first mail from among the mails received by the user based on the keyword, a mail generation step configured to generate the second mail by attaching the identified first mail and including the guidance text in the mail body, and a mail delivery step configured to deliver the generated second mail to the user who is the destination of the first mail.

Advantages of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to pinpoint and guide the user regarding the safety and importance of specific target mails reaching the user.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. [Mail Processing Apparatus] First, with reference to FIG. 1, a mail processing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1, this mail processing apparatus 10 is generally composed of a data communication apparatus, and is connected to a user terminal 20 such as a PC or a smartphone and an administrator terminal 21 via a local area network (LAN) L, and is also connected to a communication network NW such as the Internet via a relay apparatus 30 such as a gateway, and is configured to guide the user regarding the safety and importance of a target mail (first mail) reaching the user from a target person terminal 50 via a mail server 40.

[0015] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a case will be described where the mail processing apparatus 10 is connected to the local area network L and is configured to also operate as a local mail server that sends and receives mails within the local area network L. Note that the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the mail processing apparatus 10 may be mounted in the relay apparatus 30, may be mounted in the mail server 40 connected to the communication network NW, or a local mail server may be provided separately.

[0016] [Mail Processing Apparatus] Next, with reference to FIG. 1, the configuration of the mail processing apparatus 10 will be described in detail. The mail processing apparatus 10 is provided with a communication I / F 11, a storage unit 12, and a control unit 13 as main circuit units.

[0017] [Communication I / F] The communication I / F 11 is configured to perform data communication with the relay apparatus 30 and perform data communication with the user terminal 20 and the administrator terminal 21 via the local area network L, thereby extracting and sending and receiving mails.

[0018] [Storage Unit] The storage unit 12 is composed of a storage device such as a semiconductor memory or a hard disk, and is configured to store processing data and a program 12P used for mail processing executed by the control unit 13. The program 12P is a program for realizing various processing units that perform mail processing related to the target mail executed by the control unit 13 by cooperating with the CPU of the control unit 13. The program 12P is read from an external device or a recording medium (both not shown) and is pre-stored in the storage unit 12.

[0019] As the main processing data stored in the storage unit 12, there is guidance data 12A. The guidance data 12A includes a keyword for identifying a target mail to be guided and a guidance text for notifying the user of the guidance of the target mail. In the configuration example of the guidance data 12A shown in FIG. 2, the sender address "info@△△△.biz" of the target mail is used as the keyword. Also, as the guidance text, "This is Taro Saksa, the administrator. A mail will arrive from △△△ (info@△△△.biz), the consignee, at a later date. We apologize for the inconvenience, but please check the mail content and return the questionnaire results by the due date." is registered, which is a notice text that the target mail will arrive. The guidance text is set according to the content of the target mail.

[0020] [Control Unit] The control unit 13 has a CPU and its peripheral circuits, and is configured to realize various processing units that perform mail processing related to the target mail by causing the CPU to cooperate with the program in the storage unit 12. As the main processing units realized by the control unit 13, it includes a pre-setting unit 13A, a mail identification unit 13B, a mail generation unit 13C, a mail distribution unit 13D, and a distribution destination confirmation unit 13E.

[0021] [Pre-setting Unit] The pre-setting unit 13A is configured to extract a keyword and a guidance text from a pre-mail that is sent from the administrator terminal 21 to the user before the target mail arrives, for notifying in advance that the target mail will arrive, and register them in the storage unit 12. The configuration example of the pre-mail shown in FIG. 3 includes the mail body guidance text and the sender address of the target mail.

[0022] When it is confirmed that the received mail is a pre-mail based on, for example, that the pre-mail identification information pre-set in the subject of the mail is included, or that the sender indicates the administrator address, the pre-setting unit 13A acquires the mail body as the guidance text, extracts the sender address of the target mail from the mail body, and registers it in the storage unit 12 as the guidance data 12A.

[0023] [Mail Identification Section] The mail identification section 13B is configured to identify target mails from among the mails received by the user based on the keywords registered in the guidance data 12A of the storage section 12. For example, when the keyword consists of the sender address of the target mail, the sender address of the mail received by the user is compared with the keyword. Incidentally, when the keyword is the name indicating the sender of the target mail, the sender name of the received mail may be compared with the keyword. Further, when the keyword is the subject of the target mail, the subject of the received mail may be compared with the keyword.

[0024] Also, the mail identification section 13B may identify pre-mails to be processed by the pre-setting section 13A from among the mails received by the user. For example, when the subject or the mail body of the mail received by the user contains the identification character string registered in advance in the storage section 12, the mail may be identified as a pre-mail.

[0025] [Mail Generation Section] The mail generation section 13C is configured to acquire the template of the guidance mail (second mail) registered in advance from the storage section 12, attach the target mail identified by the mail identification section 13B, and generate a guidance mail with a guidance text described in the mail body.

[0026] In the configuration example of the guidance mail shown in FIG. 4, the entire target mail is filed and an attached file with the file name "Request for Questionnaire - △△△(info@△△△.biz).eml" is attached to the guidance mail. Further, the guidance text registered in the guidance data 12A of the storage section 12 is described in the body of the guidance mail. Regarding the template of the guidance mail, for example, in the case of FIG. 4, a character string "Notification of Mail Delivery" is registered as the subject, and character strings "The mail notified in advance the other day has arrived, so we are notifying you." and "◇Contents of Advance Notification" are registered in the mail body.

[0027] In addition, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the pre-mail is an email pre-sent from the administrator to the user. Therefore, in reality, the content of the guidance text has already reached the user. For this reason, in the body of the guidance email, a heading "◇Pre-notification Content", indicating that it is the content pre-notified by the guidance text, is added to the guidance text, and a message "We are sending you this guidance because the pre-notification email you received the other day has arrived." indicating the purpose of the guidance email is added. This can reduce the possibility that the user may misunderstand due to the resending of the guidance text with the same content.

[0028] [Mail Delivery Section] The mail delivery section 13D is configured to deliver the guidance email generated by the mail generation section 13C to the user who is the recipient of the target email based on the recipient address extracted from the target email. When multiple addresses are set as the recipient addresses of the target email, the guidance email can be sent to these addresses collectively or individually.

[0029] Regarding the target email, the mail delivery section 13D may deliver it to the user in parallel with the guidance email, or may deliver only the guidance email to the user instead of the target email. Also, regarding the pre-mail, the mail delivery section 13D may deliver it to the user when it arrives from the administrator, or may deliver only the guidance email to the user instead of the pre-mail without delivering the pre-mail.

[0030] [Recipient Confirmation Section] The delivery destination confirmation unit 13E is configured to compare the delivery destination of the preliminary email with the delivery destination of the target email and notify the administrator of the obtained delivery status. In a general enterprise, it is assumed that the administrator has grasped in advance the users to whom the target email is to be sent. Therefore, it is considered that the delivery destinations, that is, the sender addresses, of the preliminary email and the target email are the same. However, there may be cases where changes in users or member changes are not notified to the target persons. Therefore, by automatically notifying the administrator of the delivery status by email or the like, it is possible to grasp the delivery error of the target email due to such a mismatch, and the administrator can respond promptly.

[0031] [Operation of this embodiment] Next, with reference to FIG. 5, the operation sequence of the email processing method of this embodiment will be described. Note that the communication between the user terminal 20 and the administrator terminal 21 and the email processing apparatus 10 during email transmission and reception is a general procedure, and the description thereof will be omitted here.

[0032] When the administrator recognizes that the target email is to be delivered from the target person to the user, for example, by an email from the target person, the administrator notifies the user by a preliminary email that the target email will arrive. At this time, the preliminary email is transmitted from the administrator terminal 21 to the email processing apparatus 10 via the local area network L according to the administrator's operation (step 100).

[0033] In the email processing apparatus 10, the email delivery unit 13D of the control unit 13 receives the preliminary email via the communication I / F 11, and the preliminary setting unit 13A extracts the keyword and the guidance text from the preliminary email and registers them as guidance data 12A in the storage unit 12 (step 101). Also, the email delivery unit 13D delivers the preliminary email to the corresponding user terminal 20 based on the destination of the preliminary email (step 102).

[0034] After that, the user checks the content of the preliminary email received from the email processing apparatus 10 on the user terminal 20 (step 103). Thereby, the user recognizes that the target email from the target person will arrive.

[0035] Next, when the subject operates the subject terminal 50 to send the subject mail to the user (step 110), the subject mail is once received by the mail processing device 10 via the mail server 40 (step 111).

[0036] In the mail processing device 10, the mail identification unit 13B of the control unit 13 identifies the subject mail from among the mails received by the user based on the keywords registered in the guidance data 12A of the storage unit 12 (mail identification step) (step 112).

[0037] The mail generation unit 13C, for example, acquires a template of a guidance mail registered in advance from the storage unit 12 (step 113), attaches the subject mail identified by the mail identification unit 13B (step 114), and generates a guidance mail by describing the guidance text registered in the guidance data 12A of the storage unit 12 in the mail body (mail generation step) (step 115). Subsequently, the mail delivery unit 13D delivers the guidance mail generated by the mail generation unit 13C to the user who is the recipient of the subject mail based on the recipient address extracted from the subject mail (mail delivery step) (step 116).

[0038] Thereafter, the user checks the content of the guidance mail received from the mail processing device 10 on the user terminal 20 (step 117). As a result, since the guidance text from the administrator is described again in the body of the guidance mail, the user can recognize both the safety and importance of the subject mail attached to the guidance mail. Therefore, the possibility that the user leaves the content of the subject mail unconfirmed or deletes it is reduced.

[0039] In addition, the destination confirmation unit 13E of the mail processing device 10 compares the destination of the pre-mail with the destination of the target mail and sends a delivery status mail for notifying the obtained delivery status to the administrator (step 118). The administrator checks the content of the delivery status mail received from the mail processing device 10 on the administrator terminal 21 (step 119). As a result, the administrator can grasp the delivery failure of the target mail due to a mismatch regarding the destinations of the pre-mail and the target mail.

[0040] [Effects of the Present Embodiment] As described above, in the present embodiment, in the control unit 13 of the mail processing device 10, the mail specifying unit 13B specifies a target mail from among the mails received by the user based on the keyword registered in the storage unit 12, and the mail generation unit 13C attaches the specified target mail and generates a guidance mail with a guidance text described in the mail body. The mail delivery unit 13D is configured to deliver the generated guidance mail to the user who is the destination of the target mail.

[0041] As a result, since the guidance text from the administrator is described again in the body of the guidance mail, the user can recognize both the safety and importance of the target mail attached to the guidance mail. Therefore, the possibility that the user leaves the content of the target mail unconfirmed or deletes it is reduced.

[0042] Further, in the present embodiment, the storage unit 12 may store a target address indicating the source address of the target mail as a keyword, and the mail specifying unit 13B may be configured to specify, as the target mail, a mail whose source address matches the target address among the mails received by the user. Thereby, the target mail can be accurately specified.

[0043] Also, in the present embodiment, the pre-setting unit 13A of the control unit 13 may be configured to extract a keyword and a guidance text from a pre-mail that is sent from the administrator to the user before the target mail arrives and is used to notify the user in advance that the target mail will arrive, and register them in the storage unit 12 as guidance data 12A. Regarding the guidance data 12A used for generating the guidance mail, the administrator may operate the mail processing device 10 to register it in the storage unit 12. However, according to this configuration, since the guidance data 12A is automatically registered based on the pre-mail only by the administrator sending the pre-mail to the user, the administrative burden can be significantly reduced.

[0044] Also, in the present embodiment, the delivery destination confirmation unit 13E of the control unit 13 may be configured to compare the delivery destination of the pre-mail and the delivery destination of the target mail, and notify the obtained comparison result to the administrator. In a general enterprise, it is assumed that the administrator has grasped in advance the user who is the delivery destination of the target mail. Therefore, it is considered that the delivery destinations of the pre-mail and the target mail, that is, the delivery destination addresses, are the same. However, there may be cases where changes in users or member changes are not notified to the target persons. According to this configuration, since the delivery status is automatically notified to the administrator by mail or the like, it is possible to grasp the delivery error of the target mail due to such a mismatch, and the administrator can respond promptly.

[0045] [Expansion of the Embodiment] As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various changes that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0046] 10…Mail processing device, 11…Communication I / F, 12…Memory unit, 12A…Guide data, 12P…Program, 13…Control unit, 13A…Pre-setting unit, 13B…Mail identification unit, 13C…Mail generation unit, 13D…Mail distribution unit, 13E…Distribution destination confirmation unit, 20…User terminal, 21…Administrator terminal, 30…Relay device, 40…Mail server, 50…Recipient terminal, NW…Communication network, L…Local area network (LAN).

Claims

1. a storage unit configured to store a keyword for identifying a first email and a guidance text for guiding a user to the first email; a control unit configured to deliver to the user, via a second email including the guidance text, the first email identified based on the keyword; wherein the control unit includes an email identification unit configured to identify the first email from among the emails received by the user based on the keyword; an email generation unit configured to generate the second email by attaching the identified first email and including the guidance text in the body of the email; and an email delivery unit configured to deliver the generated second email to the user who is the recipient of the first email A mail processing apparatus characterized by that.

2. In the mail processing apparatus according to claim 1, the storage unit stores a target address indicating the sender address of the first email as the keyword, and the email identification unit identifies, as the first email, an email among the emails received by the user whose sender address matches the target address A mail processing apparatus characterized by that.

3. In the mail processing apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, the control unit further includes a pre-setting unit configured to extract the keyword and the guidance text from a pre-email sent from an administrator to the user before the first email arrives, for the purpose of notifying in advance that the first email will arrive, and register them in the storage unit. A mail processing apparatus characterized by that.

4. In the mail processing apparatus according to claim 3, the control unit further includes a delivery destination confirmation unit configured to compare the delivery destination of the pre-email and the delivery destination of the first email, and notify the administrator of the obtained comparison result. A mail processing apparatus characterized by that.

5. A mail processing method used in a mail processing apparatus including a storage unit configured to store a keyword for identifying a first email and a guidance text for guiding a user to the first email, and a control unit configured to deliver to the user, via a second email including the guidance text, the first email identified based on the keyword, wherein the control unit A mail identification step configured to identify the first mail from among the mails received by the user based on the keyword; A mail generation step configured to generate a second mail with the identified first mail attached and the guidance text described in the mail body; A mail delivery step configured to deliver the generated second mail to the user who is the recipient of the first mail, and A mail processing method characterized by the above.

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