System and method for controlling the system

Abstract

To provide an information processing system that enables a user to easily grasp a data processing situation.SOLUTION: An information processing system comprises an MFP 101, a server device 104, and a mobile terminal 105 and notifies a mobile application 510 of the mobile terminal 105 of information on a job executed by the MFP 101 via the server device 104. The information processing system makes a FAX communication data list screen 1300 including status information on a FAX reception job managed in a FAX job management table 715 be displayed on an operation display unit 231 of the mobile terminal 105.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 13

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention , Shi stem and Stem control method By law Regarding. [Background technology]

[0002] An information processing system is known that manages data generated by an image forming apparatus executing a job. In this information processing system, the image forming apparatus transmits, for example, data received from another apparatus via fax or email, or image data of a document scanned and generated from the document, to a storage server that manages the data. In addition, in this information processing system, various notifications are sent to a communication terminal that has an application that manages the data of the image forming apparatus. For example, in an environment in which multiple users manage the data processing status of the image forming apparatus, a confirmation notification is sent to each user's communication terminal to prompt them to check the data sent to the storage server (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This allows the user to know that they need to check the data processing status. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-57806 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, with only the confirmation notice described above, each user cannot easily determine whether or not someone else has already confirmed the data corresponding to the confirmation notice.

[0005] The object of the present invention is to When the server device receives a character string for changing first status information indicating that image data has not been confirmed to second status information indicating that the image data is being confirmed, the server device changes the first status information to the second status information, and when the server device receives a character string for replying to the image data, the server device transmits a reply instruction to the image processing device based on the received character string, and changes the first status information to third status information indicating that replying to the image data has been completed. can be Rusi stem and Stem control method The lawThe purpose is to provide. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the system of the present invention includes an image processing device that receives image data by fax and transmits the received image data to a server device; the server device that transfers the image data and first status information indicating that the image data has not been confirmed to the information terminal so that the image data and first status information are displayed by a chat function of the information terminal; and a system that displays a character string on a chat screen, displays the transferred image data and the first status information by the chat function, receives a character string from a user on the chat screen by the chat function, and transmits the character string received on the chat screen to the server device. The above information and a terminal, wherein the server device, when receiving a character string that changes the first status information to second status information indicating that the image data is being checked, changes the first status information to the second status information, and when receiving a character string for replying to the image data, the server device sends a reply instruction to the image processing device based on the received character string and changes the first status information to third status information indicating that the reply to the image data has been completed, and the information terminal displays the second status information based on the second status information, and the information terminal displays the third status information based on the third status information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, When the server device receives a character string for changing first status information indicating that image data has not been confirmed to second status information indicating that the image data is being confirmed, the server device changes the first status information to the second status information, and when the server device receives a character string for replying to the image data, the server device transmits a reply instruction to the image processing device based on the received character string, and changes the first status information to third status information indicating that replying to the image data has been completed. It is possible. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the MFP, the server device, and the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a software module of the MFP in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a software module of the server device of FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an OS of the mobile terminal of FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a mobile terminal screen displayed on the operation display unit of FIG. 2(c). [Figure 7] 3 is a diagram for explaining data used in FAX communication in the present embodiment. FIG. [Figure 8] 1. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a series of processes from when the MFP in FIG. 1 receives a FAX image from another FAX device until when the mobile terminal displays a confirmation screen on the operation display unit. [Figure 9] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the operation display unit of FIG. 2(c). [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure of a reply control process according to the present embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of FAX reply data generated in step S1007 of FIG. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure of a display control process of a FAX communication data list in the present embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a FAX communication data list screen displayed on the operation display unit in step S1206 of FIG. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure of a FAX data display control process according to the present embodiment. [Figure 15] 14 is a diagram for explaining an operation method for changing the configuration of the FAX communication data list screen of FIG. 13. FIG. [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure of a status update notification process according to the present embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the operation display unit of FIG. 2(c). [Figure 18]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a confirmation screen displayed on the operation display unit of FIG. 2(c). [Figure 19] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure of a status change process by a user in the present embodiment. [Figure 20] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure of updating the FAX job management table in the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the configurations described in the following embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the configurations described in the embodiments.

[0010] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system 100 according to the present embodiment. In Fig. 1, the information processing system 100 includes an MFP 101 as an image forming apparatus, a server device 104, and a mobile terminal 105 as a communication terminal.

[0011] The information processing system 100 manages data generated by the execution of a job by the MFP 101. In the information processing system 100, for example, the MFP 101 transmits data received from other devices such as the MFP 106 by fax or email, and image data of a document generated by scanning the document, to a server device 104 that manages these data.

[0012] The MFP 101 is a multifunction peripheral that has multiple functions, such as a copy function, a box function, a scan function, and a fax communication function. The MFP 101 is capable of communicating with a server device 104 and a mobile terminal 105 via a network 102. The MFP 101 is also capable of fax communication with fax devices such as the MFP 106 via a telephone line network 103, such as an analog line or a digital line (ISDN).

[0013] The server device 104 is a device that provides predetermined services and has a storage server function, a notification server function, and a chat server function. The storage server function is a function that functions as an SMB (Server Message Block) server of the network 102 to which the MFP 101 belongs. The notification server function is a function that relays between the MFP 101 and the mobile terminal 105 and notifies the mobile terminal 105 of information. The chat server function is a function that functions as a chatbot that responds with appropriate chat text in accordance with chat text received from the mobile terminal 105. Note that in this embodiment, the MFP 101 may also have the function of the server device 104. Alternatively, a chat service or SNS service provided by an external service may be used in place of the chat server function of the server device 104. The mobile terminal 105 has a mobile application 510 shown in FIG. 5 (described later) for managing data on the MFP 101. Note that, although this embodiment describes a configuration in which the information processing system 100 includes the mobile terminal 105 as a communication terminal, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the information processing system 100 may be configured to include, instead of the mobile terminal 105, other communication terminals that include a display unit, such as a client PC.

[0014] Fig. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the MFP 101, server device 104, and mobile terminal 105 in Fig. 1. Fig. 2(a) is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the MFP 101 in Fig. 1. In Fig. 2(a), the MFP 101 includes a control unit 200, a scanner 207, a printer 208, a modem 209, an NCU 211, and an operation unit 214.

[0015] The control unit 200 includes a CPU 201, a RAM 202, a ROM 203, a solid state drive (hereinafter referred to as "SSD") 204, a network I / F 205, a device I / F 206, an operation unit I / F 213, and an image processing unit 215. The CPU 201, RAM 202, ROM 203, SSD 204, the network I / F 205, the device I / F 206, the operation unit I / F 213, and the image processing unit 215 are connected to each other via an internal bus 216.

[0016] The CPU 201 reads out a program stored in the ROM 203 into the RAM 202 and executes it. As a result, the CPU 201 functions as a control unit that controls multiple functions of the MFP 101, such as a copy function, a box function, a scan function, and a fax communication function. When a job such as a scan job, a print job, or a copy job is input to the MFP 101 based on instructions input by a user to the operation unit 214, the CPU 201 executes image formation processing based on the job. The CPU 201 stores image data and the like obtained by executing the job in the SSD 204.

[0017] The RAM 202 is used as the main memory for the CPU 201 and as a temporary storage area for various data. For example, the RAM 202 temporarily stores image data and the like to be processed by the image processing unit 215. The ROM 203 stores various programs, for example, programs for executing the processing of a software module 300 in FIG. 3 , which will be described later. The SSD 204 stores image data and the like. Note that, in this embodiment, a configuration will be described in which the MFP 101 includes an SSD as a storage device, but the storage device of the MFP 101 is not limited to an SSD and may be any storage device with a large-capacity storage area, such as a hard disk drive (HDD). The network I / F 205 controls communication with the mobile terminal 105 and the server device 104 connected via the network 102.

[0018] The device I / F 206 is an interface that connects to the scanner 207, printer 208, and modem 209, and performs synchronous and asynchronous conversion processing of image data. The scanner 207 reads a set document and generates image data of the document. The printer 208 prints the acquired image data on paper. The modem 209 demodulates modulated signals received via a switchboard 210 connected to the MFP 101, and also modulates signals output from the control unit 200 and sends the modulated signals to the switchboard 210. The NCU 211 detects signals output from the switchboard 210 and transmits them to the modem 209, and performs line control such as switching the line to the telephone 212.

[0019] The operation unit I / F 213 is an interface that connects to the operation unit 214. The operation unit I / F 213 outputs a signal indicating an instruction input by a user to the operation unit 214 to the internal bus 216. The operation unit I / F 213 also acquires display data via the internal bus 216 and displays the display data on the operation unit 214. The image processing unit 215 performs various image conversion processes on the image data.

[0020] Fig. 2(b) is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the server device 104 in Fig. 1. In Fig. 2(b), the server device 104 includes a control unit 217. The control unit 217 includes a CPU 218, a RAM 219, a ROM 220, a storage unit 221, and a network I / F 222. The CPU 218, the RAM 219, the ROM 220, the storage unit 221, and the network I / F 222 are connected to one another via an internal bus 223.

[0021] The CPU 218 loads programs stored in the ROM 220 into the RAM 219 and executes them. As a result, the CPU 218 functions as a control unit that controls the storage server function, notification server function, chat server function, and the like described above. The RAM 219 is used as the main memory of the CPU 218 and as a temporary storage area for various data. The ROM 220 stores various programs, for example, a program for executing the processing of a software module 400 in FIG. 4, which will be described later. The storage unit 221 is a storage device such as an HDD, and stores data received from the MFP 101, and the like. The network I / F 222 controls communication with the mobile terminal 105 and the MFP 101 connected via the network 102.

[0022] Fig. 2(c) is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the mobile terminal 105 of Fig. 1. In Fig. 2(c), the mobile terminal 105 includes a control unit 224 and an operation display unit 231. The control unit 224 includes a CPU 225, a RAM 226, a ROM 227, a storage unit 228, a network I / F 229, and an operation unit I / F 230. The CPU 225, the RAM 226, the ROM 227, the storage unit 228, the network I / F 229, and the operation unit I / F 230 are connected to one another via an internal bus 232.

[0023] The CPU 225 loads a program stored in the ROM 227 into the RAM 226 and executes it. The RAM 226 is used as the main memory of the CPU 225 and as a temporary storage area for various data. The ROM 227 stores various programs, for example, a program for executing the OS 500 shown in FIG. 5 (described later). The storage unit 228 is a storage device such as a HDD. The network I / F 229 controls communication with the MFP 101 and the server device 104 connected via the network 102. The operation unit I / F 230 is an interface connecting to the operation display unit 231. The operation unit I / F 230 acquires display data via the internal bus 232 and displays the display data on the operation display unit 231. The operation unit I / F 230 also outputs a signal indicating an instruction input by a user to the operation display unit 231 to the internal bus 232. The operation display unit 231 is, for example, a touch panel display. The input detection method for the operation display unit 231 is, for example, a resistive film method, an infrared method, an electromagnetic induction method, or a capacitance method. Note that the input operation by the user may be realized by a hardware input device such as a switch or a keyboard.

[0024] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of software module 300 of MFP 101 in FIG. 1. In FIG. 3, software module 300 includes job processing module 301, image data management module 302, print module 303, scan module 304, FAX reception notification information generation module 305, data transmission / reception module 306, and reply template management module 307. The processing of software module 300 is realized by CPU 201 reading and executing a program stored in ROM 203. While the present embodiment describes a configuration in which a program for executing the processing of software module 300 is stored in ROM 203, the storage device is not limited to ROM 203 as long as it has a capacity sufficient to record the program. For example, a dedicated area for the program may be allocated to SSD 204, and the program may be stored in the dedicated area.

[0025] The job processing module 301 manages jobs submitted by a user operating the operation unit 214, fax reception jobs for receiving fax data via the modem 209, and the like. For example, when a copy job is submitted by a user operating the operation unit 214, the job processing module 301 causes the scan module 304 to execute a scanner process for a document related to the copy job. As a result, image data of the document is generated by the scanner 207. Next, the job processing module 301 causes the image data management module 302 to execute a process for recording the image data generated by the scanner 207 in the SSD 204. As a result, the image data is stored in the SSD 204. Next, the job processing module 301 causes the print module 303 to execute a print process for the image data stored in the SSD 204. As a result, the image data is printed on paper. Furthermore, when a fax reception job is accepted, the job processing module 301 causes the image data management module 302 to execute a process for recording fax data received via the modem 209 in the SSD 204. Furthermore, the job processing module 301 acquires the received information, such as the telephone number of the FAX sender and the telephone number of the device that received the FAX, via the modem 209, and records this information in the SSD 204 as bibliographic information.

[0026] The image data management module 302 records image data related to a job to the SSD 204 and reads it from the SSD 204. The print module 303 executes printing processing of the image data related to the job. The scan module 304 causes the scanner 207 to execute scanning processing of an original to generate image data related to the job. The FAX reception notification information generation module 305 generates FAX reception information to be notified to the mobile terminal 105. The data transmission / reception module 306 performs data communication with the server device 104, the mobile terminal 105, etc. The data transmission / reception module 306 also converts FAX images received from other FAX devices into a predetermined data format (TIFF, PDF, MS Office, etc.) and transfers the converted data to the server device 104. The reply template management module 307 saves and manages reply messages as reply templates in the SSD 204, etc.

[0027] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a software module 400 of the server device 104 of Fig. 1. In Fig. 4, the software module 400 includes a main control module 401, a data transmission / reception module 402, an interaction processing module 403, an interaction data management module 404, and a user management module 405. The processing of the software module 400 is realized by the CPU 218 of the server device 104 reading and executing a program stored in the ROM 220.

[0028] The main control module 401 issues instructions to each module and manages each module. The data transmission / reception module 402 transmits and receives data to and from the mobile terminal 105 and MFP 101, and exchanges the transmitted and received data with the main control module 401. The dialogue processing module 403 includes an automatic dialogue program and has the function of interpreting the content of chat text. The dialogue processing module 403 understands the content of instructions given via chat and processes them. The dialogue data management module 404 is a module that manages dialogue data. The dialogue data is chat text necessary for dialogue processing.

[0029] The user management module 405 manages users who use the MFP 101 and users who use the mobile application 510 of the mobile terminal 105. The user management module performs user authentication based on the username and password stored as user information. The user management module also executes processing for logging in and out of services provided by the server device 104.

[0030] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the OS 500 of the mobile terminal 105 of Fig. 1. In Fig. 5, the OS 500 includes an image management module 501, an address management module 502, a notification processing module 503, and a mobile application 510. The processing of the OS 500 is realized by the CPU 225 of the mobile terminal 105 reading and executing a program stored in the ROM 227.

[0031] The image management module 501 manages images and application data. The OS 500 provides a control API for using the image management module 501, and each application uses the control API to acquire and save images and application data managed by the image management module 501.

[0032] Address management module 502 manages address information such as name, telephone number, and address. Notification processing module 503 receives notification information from server device 104, identifies an application to be the notification destination using app identification information 711 (described later in FIG. 7) included in the notification information, and transmits the notification information to the identified application. Here, app identification information 711 is information generated from an app identifier for identifying mobile app 510 (described later) and a mobile terminal identifier for identifying mobile terminal 105. In this embodiment, app identification information 711 indicating mobile terminal 105 and mobile app 510 is preset in MFP 101 as notification destination information.

[0033] The mobile application 510 is installed using the installation function of the OS 500. The mobile application 510 requests the server device 104 to execute data processing on data managed by the server device 104. The mobile application 510 is composed of a main control module 511, a UI operation information acquisition module 512, a FAX data operation module 513, a data transmission / reception module 514, an application notification processing module 515, and an information display module 516.

[0034] The main control module 511 controls the mobile application 510 and issues instructions to and manages each module that constitutes the mobile application 510. The main control module 511 also has a built-in chat function for chatting with the server device 104.

[0035] The information display module 516 displays a UI screen serving as a user interface for the mobile application 510, for example, a mobile terminal screen 600 shown in FIG.

[0036] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a mobile terminal screen 600 displayed on the operation / display unit 231 of FIG. 2(c). A notification 601 indicating that fax data has been received is displayed on the mobile terminal screen 600. When the user touches the notification 601, a chat screen such as that shown in FIG. 9 (described later) is displayed on the operation / display unit 231. Note that in FIG. 6, as an example, the notification 601 consisting of a message indicating that fax data has been received is displayed, but the notification 601 consisting of a message appropriate for the purpose may be displayed. For example, when the status of a job is changed, the notification 601 consisting of a message indicating that the status has been changed is displayed. Also displayed on the mobile terminal screen 600 are a fax communication data list button 602 and a settings button 603. The fax communication data list button 602 is used to display a data list of fax reception and transmission of the MFP 101. The settings button 603 is used to change the settings of the mobile application 510.

[0037] 5, the UI operation information acquisition module 512 acquires information about a user's operation on a UI screen such as the mobile terminal screen 600 displayed on the operation display unit 231, and transmits the acquired information to the main control module 511. For example, the UI operation information acquisition module 512 transmits to the main control module 511 position information indicating the position on the mobile terminal screen 600 touched by the user.

[0038] The fax data operation module 513 performs operations on fax data instructed by the user on the UI screen of the mobile application 510, such as moving, copying, or deleting the fax data. The data transmission / reception module 514 transmits and receives data to and from the server device 104. The application notification processing module 515 performs various processes based on notification information transmitted from the notification processing module 503 to the mobile application 510.

[0039] Next, the data used in the FAX communication in this embodiment will be described.

[0040] A FAX image 701 in FIG. 7A is image data that the MFP 101 receives by FAX communication from another FAX machine via a public line, or image data that the MFP 101 transmits by FAX communication to another FAX machine.

[0041] The FAX communication data 702 in FIG. 7B includes FAX data 703 obtained by converting the FAX image 701 into a predetermined data format such as TIFF format, and FAX bibliographic information 704 .

[0042] The fax bibliographic information 704 includes a job ID 705 , a reply source job ID 706 , a job type 707 , a reception / transmission time 708 , a sender's phone number 709 , a destination phone number 710 , application identification information 711 , a status 712 , an update user 713 , and a fax data storage location 714 .

[0043] A number for identifying a job issued by the MFP 101 is set in the job ID 705. Job IDs are managed using unique numbers such as UUIDs (Universally Unique Identifiers). When a reply is made to the device that sent the received FAX image 701, the job ID of the FAX reception job that received the FAX image 701 is set in the reply source job ID 706. The type of job is set in the job type 707. In this embodiment, "FAX reception" or "FAX transmission" is set in the job type 707.

[0044] The time when the FAX image 701 was received or the time when the FAX image 701 was sent is set in the receiving / sending time 708. The telephone number of the device that sent the FAX image 701 is set in the sending phone number 709. For example, if the MFP 101 receives the FAX image 701 from another FAX device, the telephone number of the other FAX device that sent the FAX image 701 is set in the sending phone number 709. On the other hand, if the MFP 101 sends the FAX image 701 to another FAX device, the telephone number of the MFP 101 that sent the FAX image 701 is set in the sending phone number 709.

[0045] The destination telephone number 710 is set to the telephone number of the device receiving the FAX image 701. For example, when the MFP 101 receives the FAX image 701 from another FAX device, the destination telephone number 710 is set to the telephone number of the MFP 101 that received the FAX image 701. On the other hand, when the MFP 101 transmits the FAX image 701 to another FAX device, the destination telephone number 710 is set to the telephone number of the other FAX device that received the FAX image 701.

[0046] The application identification information 711 is set with information generated from an application identifier for identifying the mobile application 510 and a mobile terminal identifier for identifying the mobile terminal 105. The status 712 is set with information related to the status of the FAX job. The status 712 is initially set to "unconfirmed" as shown in FIG. 7(c). When a reply is sent to the device that sent the FAX image 701, the status 712 is set to "replied" as shown in FIG. 7(c), indicating this. In this embodiment, in addition to these values, the user can set any character string indicating the status of the FAX job. The setting of the status 712 will be described in detail later.

[0047] Information indicating the user who updated the FAX job status 712 is set in the update user 713. Details of the setting of the update user 713 will be described later. Information indicating the location where the FAX data is saved is set in the FAX data storage location 714.

[0048] 7D, FAX bibliographic information 704 of the FAX job executed by the MFP 101 is recorded as a FAX job list 716. The FAX job management table 715 is stored (held) in the SSD 204 of the MFP 101 or the like.

[0049] Next, notification to the mobile terminal 105 when the MFP 101 receives a FAX image 701 from another FAX device will be described with reference to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a series of processes from when the MFP 101 in FIG. 1 receives the FAX image 701 from another FAX device until the mobile terminal 105 displays a confirmation screen (described later) on the operation display unit 231. The process in FIG. 8 is executed by the MFP 101, server device 104, and mobile terminal 105 that constitute the information processing system 100. The process by the MFP 101 is realized by the CPU 201 of the MFP 101 executing a program stored in the ROM 203 or the like. The process by the server device 104 is realized by the CPU 218 of the server device 104 executing a program stored in the ROM 220 or the like. The process by the mobile terminal 105 is realized by the CPU 225 of the mobile terminal 105 executing a program stored in the ROM 227 or the like.

[0050] 8, first, in step S801, the CPU 201 of the MFP 101 receives a fax image 701 from another fax device, for example, the MFP 106. Then, the CPU 201 stores the received fax image 701 and fax information in the SSD 204 or the like. The fax information includes, for example, the telephone number of the MFP 106 that sent the fax image 701, the time the fax image 701 was received, and the like.

[0051] Next, in step S802, the CPU 201 causes the job processing module 301 to issue a job ID for a FAX reception job corresponding to the reception of the FAX image 701. Next, in step S803, the CPU 201 causes the data transmission / reception module 306 to generate FAX data 703 by converting the FAX image 701 into a predetermined data format such as TIFF format. The FAX data 703 is stored in the SSD 204 or the like.

[0052] Next, in step S804, CPU 201 generates fax bibliographic information 704 using job processing module 301 based on the fax information stored in SSD 204 or the like. The job ID issued in step S802 is set as job ID 705 of fax bibliographic information 704. "Fax reception" is set as job type 707. The time at which MFP 101 received fax image 701 from MFP 106 in step S801 is set as reception / transmission time 708. The telephone number of MFP 106 that sent fax image 701 is set as sender telephone number 709. The telephone number of MFP 101 that received fax image 701 is set as destination telephone number 710. Information related to the notification destination pre-registered in MFP 101, specifically, a mobile terminal identifier that identifies mobile terminal 105 and an application identifier that identifies mobile application 510 provided in mobile terminal 105, is set as application identification information 711. The status 712 is set to the initial value "unconfirmed." The update user 713 is set to the initial value "unset (-)." The FAX data storage location 714 is set to the storage location of the FAX data 703 generated in step S803. The FAX bibliographic information 704 generated in step S804 is also saved in the SSD 204 or the like.

[0053] Next, in step S805, the CPU 201 causes the job processing module 301 to write the FAX bibliographic information 704 generated in step S804 to the FAX job management table 715. Next, the CPU 201 causes the job processing module 301 to connect to the server device 104.

[0054] Next, in step S806, CPU 201 causes data transmission / reception module 306 to transmit FAX communication data 702 including the FAX data 703 and the FAX bibliographic information 704 to server device 104. Note that in this embodiment, the FAX communication data 702 may be stored in server device 104 using any method, such as WEBDAV, uploading using the SMB protocol, or uploading using a proprietary Web service.

[0055] Next, in step S807, CPU 218 of server device 104 identifies mobile terminal 105, which is the notification destination, based on application identification information 711 in FAX bibliographic information 704 received from MFP 101. Next, in step S808, CPU 218 generates FAX reception notification information for displaying notification 601, based on FAX bibliographic information 704. Next, in step S809, CPU 218 transmits the FAX reception notification information and FAX communication data 702 to mobile terminal 105, which is the notification destination identified in step S807.

[0056] In step S810, the CPU 225 of the mobile terminal 105 receives the FAX reception notification information and the FAX communication data 702 from the server device 104 via the notification processing module 503. Then, the CPU 225 identifies the mobile application 510 from the application identification information 711 and outputs the FAX reception notification information to the mobile application 510.

[0057] Next, in step S811, the mobile application 510 causes the information display module 516 to display the notification 601 on the operation display unit 231 of the mobile terminal 105 based on the received FAX reception notification information. Next, in step S812, the UI operation information acquisition module 512 of the mobile application 510 detects a user tap on the notification 601. Upon detecting the tap on the notification 601, the UI operation information acquisition module 512 notifies the main control module 511 of an instruction to display the confirmation screen of FIG. 9(a).

[0058] Next, in step S813, the CPU 225 of the mobile terminal 105 causes the information display module 516 to display the confirmation screen of FIG. 9(a) on the operation display unit 231, and ends this process.

[0059] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the operation display unit 231 of Fig. 2(c). Fig. 9(a) is a diagram showing an example of a confirmation screen displayed on the operation display unit 231 of the mobile terminal 105 in step S813.

[0060] In step S813, a message 901 including information based on the FAX bibliographic information 704 and the FAX data 703 is displayed on the operation display unit 231. By checking the message 901, the user can understand the contents of the received FAX.

[0061] In this embodiment, a user can use the chat function to send a reply by fax to the sender's phone number included in message 901 displayed on operation display unit 231. At this time, server device 104 functions as a chatbot, and dialogue processing module 403 exchanges chat messages with mobile terminal 105 based on dialogue data management module 404, and identifies the content of an instruction from mobile terminal 105. If the identified content is an instruction to execute a reply process to send a reply to the fax sender, server device 104 transmits fax bibliographic information 704 at the time of fax reception to MFP 101, and MFP 101 executes the reply process. It is assumed that the user operating mobile terminal 105 has executed a login process to a service provided by server device 104.

[0062] 9B shows an example of a screen displayed when instructing a reply by fax. In FIG. 9B, the user operates the mobile terminal 105 to input a message 902 saying "Please reply." This message 902 is displayed on the operation / display unit 231 of the mobile terminal 105, as shown in FIG. 9B, and the text data of the message 902 is transmitted to the server device 104. The dialogue processing module 403 of the server device 104, which has received the text data of the message 902, recognizes the character string "reply" as an instruction to execute a reply process and determines that confirmation of the "reply destination" is required. The dialogue processing module 403 then transmits text data saying "Please confirm the reply destination. If it is correct, please enter 'Yes'." to the mobile terminal 105. The mobile terminal 105, which has received this text data, displays the message 903 indicating the phone number of the reply destination and the message 904 saying "Please confirm the reply destination. If it is correct, please enter 'Yes'." on the operation / display unit 231. When the user inputs the message "yes" 905, the MFP 101 starts the reply process.

[0063] 10 is a sequence diagram showing the steps of reply control processing in this embodiment. The reply control processing in FIG. 10 is also executed by the MFP 101, server device 104, and mobile terminal 105 that constitute the information processing system 100. The processing by the MFP 101 is realized by the CPU 201 of the MFP 101 executing a program stored in the ROM 203 or the like. The processing by the server device 104 is realized by the CPU 218 of the server device 104 executing a program stored in the ROM 220 or the like. The processing by the mobile terminal 105 is realized by the CPU 225 of the mobile terminal 105 executing a program stored in the ROM 227 or the like. The reply control processing in FIG. 10 is executed when the user inputs a message instructing the start of reply processing, for example, message 905 in FIG. 9(b), to the operation display unit 231. When the user inputs a message instructing the start of reply processing to the operation display unit 231, the UI operation information acquisition module 512 of the mobile application 510 outputs a chat sending event of the user to the main control module 511.

[0064] 10 , first, in step S1001, the main control module 511 of the mobile application 510 of the mobile terminal 105 receives a user chat sending event from the UI operation information acquisition module 512. Next, in step S1002, the CPU 225 of the mobile terminal 105 sends to the server device 104 the logged-in user information and chat text entered by the user, such as “Reply” or “Yes.”

[0065] In step S1003, the CPU 218 of the server device 104 identifies the instruction content based on the chat text received from the mobile terminal 105. Next, in step S1004, the CPU 218 instructs the MFP 101 to execute a reply process. The CPU 218 also transmits the FAX bibliographic information 704 and the user information at the time of receiving the FAX to the MFP 101.

[0066] In step S1005, CPU 201 of MFP 101 identifies MFP 106 as the reply destination based on FAX bibliographic information 704 at the time of FAX reception received from server device 104. Next, in step S1006, CPU 201 issues a job ID of a FAX reply job corresponding to reply processing by job processing module 301. Next, in step S1007, CPU 201 reads out a reply template stored and managed by reply template management module 307 in SSD 204 or the like, and generates FAX reply data 1101 (see Fig. 11, described later) based on the reply template. FAX reply data 1101 is stored in SSD 204 or the like.

[0067] Next, in step S1008, CPU 201 converts FAX reply data 1101 into FAX image 701 using the data transmission / reception module. Next, in step S1009, CPU 201 causes the data transmission / reception module to FAX-transmit FAX image 701 generated in step S1008 to the destination identified in step S1005, i.e., MFP 106. Next, in step S1010, CPU 201 causes job processing module 301 to set information related to the FAX reply job in FAX job management table 715. The job ID issued in step S1006 is set as job ID 705 in FAX job management table 715. The job ID of the FAX receiving job included in FAX bibliographic information 704 at the time of receiving the FAX from server device 104 is set as reply source job ID 706. In this way, in this embodiment, a FAX receiving job is associated with a FAX reply job that has sent a reply to the FAX receiving job. "FAX transmission" is set in the job type 707. The time when the FAX image 701 was sent by FAX in step S1009 is set in the reception / transmission time 708. The telephone number of the MFP 101 that sent the FAX image 701 is set in the sender telephone number 709. The telephone number of the MFP 106 that is the reply destination identified in step S1005 is set in the destination telephone number 710. Information that is preset in the MFP 101 as notification destination information is set in the application identification information 711. The default value of "unconfirmed" is set in the status 712. The user information sent in step S1004 is set in the update user 713. Information indicating the storage location of the FAX reply data 1101 generated in step S1007 is set in the FAX data storage location 714.

[0068] Next, in step S1011, CPU 201 causes job processing module 301 to update, in FAX job management table 715, information about the FAX receiving job corresponding to FAX bibliographic information 704 at the time of FAX reception received from server device 104. Specifically, in FAX job management table 715, status 712 of the FAX receiving job corresponding to FAX bibliographic information 704 at the time of FAX reception received from server device 104 is updated to "Reply Completed." Also, update user 713 of this FAX receiving job is updated to the user information sent in step S1004. Then, this process ends.

[0069] 10, the FAX reply data 1101 is unconditionally saved in the SSD 204 or the like, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the MFP 101 may be provided with a means for allowing the user to select whether or not to save the FAX reply data 1101, and control whether or not to save the FAX reply data 1101 may be performed in accordance with this selection. This makes it possible to prevent the storage capacity of the SSD 204 from becoming overwhelmed due to the unconditional saving of the FAX reply data 1101.

[0070] 11 is a diagram showing an example of FAX reply data 1101 generated in step S1007 of FIG. 10. The FAX reply data 1101 includes a reply message generated based on a preset reply template and a portion of the received image, for example, an image of the first page. The reply message is printed on recording paper and output by a reply destination device, for example, the MFP 106. In this way, by including the received image (or a portion of the image) in the FAX reply data 1101, the reply destination can know that the FAX was successfully received.

[0071] 10, a configuration has been described in which a reply message is generated based on a preset reply template, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, MFP 101 may use text entered by the user in a chat app on mobile terminal 105 as the reply message. Furthermore, the reply template may be configured to be changeable by the user operating operation unit 214 of MFP 101.

[0072] Next, control for displaying a fax communication data list, which is list information of fax jobs executed by the MFP 101, will be described. FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure for display control processing of the fax communication data list in this embodiment. The display control processing of the fax communication data list in FIG. 12 is also executed by the MFP 101, server device 104, and mobile terminal 105, which constitute the information processing system 100. The processing by the MFP 101 is realized by the CPU 201 of the MFP 101 executing a program stored in the ROM 203 or the like. The processing by the server device 104 is realized by the CPU 218 of the server device 104 executing a program stored in the ROM 220 or the like. The processing by the mobile terminal 105 is realized by the CPU 225 of the mobile terminal 105 executing a program stored in the ROM 227 or the like. The display control processing of the fax communication data list in FIG. 12 is executed when the user selects the fax communication data list button 602 on the mobile terminal screen 600. When the selection of the FAX communication data list button 602 by the user is detected, the UI operation information acquisition module 512 of the mobile application 510 of the mobile terminal 105 outputs a display instruction event for the FAX job list to the main control module 511 .

[0073] 12, first, in step S1201, the main control module 511 of the mobile application 510 of the mobile terminal 105 receives a display instruction event for the FAX communication data list from the UI operation information acquisition module 512. Next, in step S1202, the CPU 225 of the mobile terminal issues an instruction to the server device 104 to transmit data related to the FAX communication data list.

[0074] In step S1203, CPU 218 of server device 104 receives this transmission instruction and instructs MFP 101 to transmit data related to the FAX communication data list. In step S1204, CPU 201 of MFP 101 receives this transmission instruction and transmits FAX job management table 715 to server device 104. Next, in step S1205, CPU 218 of server device 104 transmits FAX job management table 715 acquired from MFP 101 to mobile terminal 105.

[0075] Next, in step S1206, the mobile application 510 of the mobile terminal 105 causes the information display module 516 to display the FAX communication data list screen 1300 of FIG. 13 on the operation display unit 231 of the mobile terminal 105 based on the FAX job management table 715, and then ends this processing.

[0076] 13 is a diagram showing an example of a FAX communication data list screen 1300 displayed on the operation display unit 231 in step S1206 of FIG. 12. On the FAX communication data list screen 1300 of FIG. 13(a), information on FAX jobs executed by the MFP 101 is displayed based on information in the FAX job management table 715 transmitted from the MFP 101. In FIG. 13(a), information 1302 on a FAX reception job in which a FAX image 701 is received from the MFP 106 and information 1303 on a FAX reply job in which a reply is sent to the MFP 106 are displayed in a tree structure. This allows the user to easily understand that the FAX reception job information 1302 and the FAX reply job information 1303 are related to each other. Note that the method of displaying this information is not limited to a tree structure, and any other display method may be used as long as it shows the relationship between the information.

[0077] In the FAX communication data list screen 1300, 1301 denotes display items. In Fig. 13(a), information corresponding to the job type 707 in the FAX job management table 715, information corresponding to the reception / transmission time 708, information corresponding to the sender's telephone number 709, information corresponding to the destination telephone number 710, information corresponding to the application identification information 711, information corresponding to the status 712, and information corresponding to the update user 713 are displayed. As described above, in this embodiment, the FAX communication data list screen 1300 including the status information of the FAX reception job managed in the FAX job management table 715 is displayed on the operation display unit 231 of the mobile terminal 105. This allows the user to easily grasp the data processing status.

[0078] Furthermore, in this embodiment, a FAX communication data list screen 1300, which associates FAX receiving job information 1302 with FAX reply job information 1303 based on the FAX job management table 715, is displayed on the operation display unit 231 of the mobile terminal 105. The FAX communication data list screen 1300 includes status information for the FAX receiving job and status information for the FAX reply job. This allows the user to easily understand that a reply has been made to the data received in the FAX receiving job.

[0079] For example, when the FAX communication data list screen 1300 is displayed with the content shown in FIG. 13(a), the user can understand that the FAX reply job for the FAX receiving job was executed at the instruction of the update user, “User A.”

[0080] Furthermore, a means for deleting job information is provided on the FAX communication data list screen 1300. When at least one of the delete checkboxes 1304 and 1305 is checked and then a delete button 1306 is selected, the FAX data operation module 513 instructs the MFP 101 via the server device 104 to delete the checked job information.

[0081] Note that a configuration may be adopted in which batch operations on the information of associated jobs can be accepted, such as checking the delete checkbox 1304 for a fax reception job, and then checking the delete checkbox 1305 for a fax reply job associated with the fax reception job. This allows the user to grasp the data processing status and easily issue instructions to delete data that is no longer needed.

[0082] The fax communication data list screen 1300 may also display fax data and fax reply data along with job information. For example, if a user taps the display area of ​​fax reception job information 1302, fax data generated in the fax reception job is displayed nearby. If a user taps a detail display button (not shown), fax data 1307 generated in the fax reception job and fax reply data 1308 generated in the fax reply job are displayed, as shown in FIG. 13(b). The fax data 1307 is displayed near the fax reception job information 1302, and the fax reply data 1308 is displayed near the fax reply job information 1303. In this way, the fax communication data list screen 1300 displays job information and the fax data and fax reply data generated in the job in association with each other. This allows the user to check the contents of the fax-received data and the fax-reply data from the fax communication data list screen 1300.

[0083] Next, a FAX data display control process for displaying FAX data 1307 and FAX reply data 1308 on the FAX communication data list screen 1300 will be described.

[0084] FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram showing the steps of a fax data display control process according to the present embodiment. The fax data display control process of FIG. 14 is also executed by the MFP 101, server device 104, and mobile terminal 105 that constitute the information processing system 100. The process by the MFP 101 is realized by the CPU 201 of the MFP 101 executing a program stored in the ROM 203 or the like. The process by the server device 104 is realized by the CPU 218 of the server device 104 executing a program stored in the ROM 220 or the like. The process by the mobile terminal 105 is realized by the CPU 225 of the mobile terminal 105 executing a program stored in the ROM 227 or the like. The fax data display control process of FIG. 14 is executed, for example, when the UI operation information acquisition module 512 of the mobile application 510 of the mobile terminal 105 detects a user tap on the detail display button or a user tap on the display area of ​​the fax reception job information 1302, 1303. When such a tap operation by the user is detected, the UI operation information acquisition module 512 outputs a detail display instruction event for the FAX communication data list to the main control module 511 of the mobile application 510.

[0085] 14, first, the main control module 511 of the mobile application 510 of the mobile terminal 105 receives a detailed display instruction event for the FAX communication data list from the UI operation information acquisition module 512. Next, the main control module 511 specifies the job ID of the job to be displayed in detail, and issues an instruction to the server device 104 to transmit FAX data. The job ID is identified based on the FAX job management table 715 sent from the server device 104 in step S1205.

[0086] In step S1403, CPU 218 of server device 104 receives this transmission instruction and instructs MFP 101 to transmit the FAX data of the specified job ID. CPU 201 of MFP 101 that has received this transmission instruction retrieves the FAX data of the specified job ID from its storage location based on FAX job management table 715. Next, in step S1405, CPU 201 identifies a job that has the specified job ID as its reply source job ID based on FAX job management table 715, and retrieves the FAX reply data generated by the identified job from its storage location. That is, in this embodiment, if a FAX reply job is associated with a FAX reception job in FAX job management table 715, the FAX reply data generated by the FAX reply job is retrieved in step S1405.

[0087] Next, in step S1406, CPU 201 transmits the FAX data acquired in step S1404 and the FAX reply data acquired in step S1405 to server device 104. Having received these data, CPU 218 of server device 104 transmits the FAX data and FAX reply data acquired from MFP 101 to mobile terminal 105 in step S1407.

[0088] Upon receiving this data, the mobile application 510 of the mobile terminal 105 causes the information display module 516 to display the received FAX data and FAX reception data on the FAX communication data list screen 1300 in step S1408, and then ends this process.

[0089] In this embodiment, the user can change the configuration of the FAX communication data list screen 1300.

[0090] FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining an operation method for changing the configuration of the FAX communication data list screen 1300 of FIG.

[0091] Here, an example will be described in which the FAX communication data list screen 1300 displays FAX reception job information 1501 and FAX reception job information 1502 shown in FIG. 15A in addition to FAX reception job information 1302 and FAX reply job information 1303. The FAX reception job information 1302 and FAX reply job information 1303 are displayed in a tree structure indicating their relevance, as described above. For example, the FAX reception job information 1501 may be related to the FAX reply job information 1303, such as when the FAX reception job information 1501 is information for a FAX reception job that receives a FAX image sent as a reply to the FAX reply job information 1303. In such a case, the user can drag the display area of ​​the FAX reception job information 1501 to move the FAX reception job information 1501 to the display area of ​​the FAX reply job information 1303, thereby including the FAX reception job information 1501 in the tree structure, as shown in FIG. 15B. That is, according to an instruction from the user, it is possible to change the association between the FAX reply job information 1303 and the FAX receiving job information 1501. This makes it possible to reflect the user's intention and display the association between the FAX reply job information 1303 and the FAX receiving job information 1501 in an easy-to-understand manner.

[0092] When the drag operation described above is performed, the FAX data operation module 513 of the mobile terminal 105 instructs the MFP 101 via the server device 104 to update the reply source job ID 706 corresponding to the FAX receiving job information 1501 in the FAX job management table 715.

[0093] In this embodiment, multiple users can check the FAX communication data list using different mobile terminals. The following describes how each mobile terminal is notified when the status 712 is updated.

[0094] FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure for the update notification process of status 712 in this embodiment. The update notification process of FIG. 16 is also executed by MFP 101, server device 104, and mobile terminal 105, which constitute information processing system 100. The process by MFP 101 is realized by CPU 201 of MFP 101 executing a program stored in ROM 203 or the like. The process by server device 104 is realized by CPU 218 of server device 104 executing a program stored in ROM 220 or the like. The process by mobile terminal 105 is realized by CPU 225 of mobile terminal 105 executing a program stored in ROM 227 or the like. The update notification process of FIG. 16 is executed when FAX job management table 715 is updated. FIG. 16 illustrates, as an example, what notifications are received by mobile terminal 105 and mobile terminal 105′ possessed by user B when user A inputs message 905 from mobile terminal 105 and the reply control process of FIG. 10 is executed. Note that mobile terminal 105' has the same functions and configuration as mobile terminal 105, and in the following description, components of mobile terminal 105 with "'" attached will be described as components of mobile terminal 105'. Note that in FIG. 16, it is assumed that the reply control process of FIG. 10 is executed, and the information of the FAX receiving job with job ID "AAAA" in FAX job management table 715 is updated by the process of step S1011. Specifically, it is assumed that, among the information of the FAX receiving job, status 712 is updated to "reply completed", and updated user 713 is updated to "user A".

[0095] 16, first, in step S1601, CPU 201 of MFP 101 generates fax bibliographic information 704 based on the fax receiving job information updated in step S1011. In application identification information 711 of this fax bibliographic information 704, a mobile terminal identifier for identifying mobile terminal 105 possessed by user A and an application identifier for identifying mobile application 510 provided in mobile terminal 105 are set. In addition, in application identification information 711 of this fax bibliographic information 704, a mobile terminal identifier for identifying mobile terminal 105' possessed by user B and an application identifier for identifying mobile application 510' provided in mobile terminal 105' are set.

[0096] Next, the CPU 201 connects to the server device 104 via the job processing module 301. Next, in step S1602, the CPU 201 transmits the generated FAX bibliographic information 704 to the server device 104.

[0097] In step S1603, the CPU 218 of the server device 104 identifies the mobile terminal to which the notification is to be sent, based on the application identification information 711 in the FAX bibliographic information 704 received from the MFP 101. Specifically, the CPU 218 identifies the mobile terminal 105 held by the user A and the mobile terminal 105′ held by the user B.

[0098] Next, in step S1604, CPU 218 generates FAX reception notification information for displaying a message indicating that the status has been updated as notification 601, based on FAX bibliographic information 704. Note that CPU 218 determines that the notification is a status update notification, not a FAX reception notification, because it has received only FAX bibliographic information 704 from MFP 101, and not FAX communication data 702 including FAX data 703.

[0099] Next, in step S1605, the CPU 218 transmits this FAX reception notification information and the FAX bibliographic information 704 to the mobile terminal 105 and the mobile terminal 105', which are the notification destinations identified in step S1603.

[0100] Next, in step S1606, the CPU 225 of the mobile terminal 105 and the CPU 225' of the mobile terminal 105' respectively receive the FAX reception notification information and the FAX bibliographic information 704 from the server device 104. Note that the mobile terminal 105 and the mobile terminal 105' perform similar processing, and therefore, hereinafter, the processing performed by the mobile terminal 105 will be described as an example.

[0101] Next, the CPU 225 of the mobile terminal 105 identifies the mobile application 510 from the application identification information 711 in the received fax bibliographic information 704, and outputs fax reception notification information to the mobile application 510. Next, in step S1607, the mobile application 510 causes the information display module 516 to display a notification 601 on the operation display unit 231 of the mobile terminal 105 based on the received fax reception notification information. This notification 601 displays, for example, a message indicating that the status has been updated. Next, in step S1608, the UI operation information acquisition module 512 of the mobile application 510 detects a user tap on the notification 601. Upon detecting the tap on the notification 601, the UI operation information acquisition module 512 notifies the main control module 511 of an instruction to display a confirmation screen in which the status has been updated.

[0102] Next, in step S1609, the CPU 225 of the mobile terminal 105 causes the information display module 516 to display the confirmation screen of FIG. 17(a) with the updated status on the operation display unit 231, and ends this processing.

[0103] Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the operation display unit 231 of Fig. 2(c). Fig. 17(a) is a diagram showing an example of a confirmation screen displayed on the operation display unit 231 of the mobile terminal 105 and the operation display unit 231' of the mobile terminal 105' in step S1609. The confirmation screen of Fig. 17(a) displays a message 1701 in which the status is set to "Reply Completed" and the updated user is set to "User A." By displaying message 1701 on the confirmation screen, User B can understand that a reply to the FAX receiving job has been performed in accordance with User A's instructions.

[0104] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the status 712 in the FAX job management table 715 can be changed according to an instruction from the user. Here, as an example, a configuration in which the status 712 is changed using chat will be described. In this way, by using the chat function to accept an instruction to update the status 712, the user can issue an instruction to update the status 712 using the same operating method as when issuing an instruction to execute a reply process, etc.

[0105] For example, when the confirmation screen of FIG. 9(a) is displayed on the operation display unit 231 of the mobile terminal 105 and the user inputs the character string "Change status" into the operation display unit 231, a message 1801 is displayed on the confirmation screen as shown in FIG. 18. The mobile terminal 105 also transmits the text data of the message 1801 to the server device 104. The dialogue processing module 403 of the server device 104, which receives this text data, recognizes the character strings "status" and "change" as an instruction to change the status, and transmits text data of a message prompting the user to input a status to the mobile terminal 105. The mobile terminal 105 displays a message 1802 on the confirmation screen based on the received text data, saying "Please enter the changed status using any character string." Thereafter, when the user inputs the character string "Checking" into the operation display unit 231, a message 1803 is displayed on the confirmation screen as shown in FIG. 18, and the text data of the message 1803 is also transmitted to the server device 104.

[0106] The server device 104 changes the status 712 in the fax bibliographic information 704 of the corresponding job to "checking" and changes the update user 713 to the name of the user operating the mobile terminal 105, for example, "User A." The server device 104 then transmits the changed fax bibliographic information 704 to the mobile terminal 105 and the MFP 101.

[0107] Upon receiving the fax bibliographic information 704, the MFP 101 updates the fax job management table 715. Specifically, the MFP 101 changes the status 712 of the job corresponding to the received fax bibliographic information 704 in the fax job management table 715 to "checking," and also changes the update user 713 to "user A."

[0108] On the other hand, the mobile terminal 105 that has received the FAX bibliographic information 704 displays information 1804 in which the status and update user have been changed based on the FAX bibliographic information 704 on the confirmation screen.

[0109] FIG. 19 is a sequence diagram showing the steps of a status change process by a user in this embodiment. The status change process of FIG. 19 is also executed by MFP 101, server device 104, and mobile terminal 105, which are all part of information processing system 100. The process by MFP 101 is realized by CPU 201 of MFP 101 executing a program stored in ROM 203 or the like. The process by server device 104 is realized by CPU 218 of server device 104 executing a program stored in ROM 220 or the like. The process by mobile terminal 105 is realized by CPU 225 of mobile terminal 105 executing a program stored in ROM 227 or the like. The status change process of FIG. 19 is executed when a user instructs a status change. In FIG. 19, as an example, it is assumed that user A inputs the character string "Change status" to instruct a status change on the confirmation screen displayed on operation display unit 231 of mobile terminal 105. It is also assumed that user A inputs the character string "Checking" as the changed status. When user A inputs such a character string, the UI operation information acquisition module 512 of the mobile application 510 of the mobile terminal 105 outputs a chat transmission event of the user to the main control module 511.

[0110] 19, first, in step S1901, the main control module 511 of the mobile application 510 of the mobile terminal 105 receives a user chat sending event from the UI operation information acquisition module 512. Next, in step S1902, the CPU 225 of the mobile terminal 105 sends the logged-in user information and chat text such as “Change status” or “Checking” to the server device 104.

[0111] In step S1903, CPU 218 of server device 104 identifies the content of the instruction based on the chat text received from mobile terminal 105. Specifically, CPU 218 identifies the instruction as an instruction for status change processing from the character strings "status" and "change" included in the received chat text. Next, in step S1904, CPU 218 instructs MFP 101 to execute status change processing. CPU 218 also transmits FAX bibliographic information 704 and user information at the time of FAX reception to MFP 101.

[0112] Upon receiving this execution instruction, CPU 201 of MFP 101 identifies a corresponding job from among the multiple jobs managed in FAX job management table 715, based on FAX bibliographic information 704 received from server device 104. Next, in step S1905, CPU 201 causes job processing module 301 to update information related to the job identified in FAX job management table 715. Specifically, among the information related to the job identified in FAX job management table 715, status 712 is changed to "checking," entered by user A, and update user 713 is changed to "user A." This process then ends, and the update notification process of FIG. 16 described above is executed. As a result, for example, a notification 601 indicating that the status has been updated is displayed on operation / display unit 231' of mobile terminal 105' carried by user B. When user B taps this notification 601, the confirmation screen of FIG. 17(b) is displayed on operation / display unit 231'. This confirmation screen displays a message 1702 in which the status is set to "Checking" and the updated user is set to "User A." By displaying message 1702 on the confirmation screen, User B can understand that the status of the fax receiving job has been updated to "Checking" in accordance with User A's instructions.

[0113] Next, the update of the status 712 when the user operates the operation unit 214 of the MFP 101 to instruct a FAX reply will be described.

[0114] Fig. 20 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure for updating the FAX job management table 715 in this embodiment. The status update process in Fig. 20 is executed by the MFP 101 constituting the information processing system 100. The process by the MFP 101 is realized by the CPU 201 of the MFP 101 executing a program stored in the ROM 203 or the like. In the status update process in Fig. 20, it is assumed that the FAX communication data list screen 1300 in Fig. 13(a) is displayed on the operation unit 214 of the MFP 101.

[0115] 20, first, in step S2001, the CPU 201 accepts an instruction to execute a reply process from the user. For example, the user selects a FAX reception job from the FAX communication data list screen 1300 and presses a reply button (not shown) to issue an instruction to execute the reply process.

[0116] In step S2002, CPU 201 identifies the sender telephone number of the FAX receiving job selected in step S2001 as the reply destination based on FAX job management table 715. Next, in step S2003, CPU 201 causes job processing module 301 to issue a job ID of the FAX reply job corresponding to the reply process. Next, in step S2004, CPU 201 reads out a reply template stored and managed by reply template management module 307 in SSD 204 or the like, and generates FAX reply data 1101 based on the reply template. FAX reply data 1101 is stored in SSD 204 or the like.

[0117] Next, in step S2005, CPU 201 converts FAX reply data 1101 into FAX image 701 using the data transmission / reception module. Next, in step S2006, CPU 201 causes the data transmission / reception module to FAX-transmit FAX image 701 generated in step S2005 to the destination identified in step S2002. Next, in step S2007, CPU 201 causes job processing module 301 to set information related to the FAX reply job in FAX job management table 715. Specifically, the job ID issued in step S2003 is set as job ID 705 in FAX job management table 715. The job ID of the FAX reply source identified in step S2002 is set as reply source job ID 706. "FAX transmission" is set as job type 707. The time when FAX image 701 was FAX-transmitted in step S2006 is set as reception / transmission time 708. The sender telephone number 709 is set to the telephone number of the MFP 101 that sent the FAX image 701. The destination telephone number 710 is set to the telephone number of the reply destination identified in step S2002. The application identification information 711 is set to information that is preset in the MFP 101 as notification destination information. The status 712 is set to the initial value "unconfirmed." The update user 713 is set to user information of the user who is logged in to the MFP 101. The FAX data storage location 714 is set to information indicating the storage location of the FAX reply data 1101 generated in step S2004.

[0118] Next, in step S2008, CPU 201, through job processing module 301, updates information about the FAX receiving job set in FAX job management table 715. Specifically, status 712 for the FAX receiving job set in FAX job management table 715 is updated to “Reply Completed.” Furthermore, update user 713 is updated to the user information of the user currently logged in to MFP 101. This process then ends, and the update notification process of FIG. 16 described above is executed. As a result, for example, a notification 601 indicating that the status has been updated is displayed on operation / display unit 231′ of mobile terminal 105′ carried by user B. When user B taps this notification 601, the confirmation screen of FIG. 17(a) is displayed on operation / display unit 231′. This confirmation screen displays message 1701 in which the status is set to “Reply Completed” and the update user is set to “User A.” Message 1701 displayed on the confirmation screen allows user B to understand that a reply to the FAX receiving job has been completed in accordance with user A's instructions.

[0119] Although the present invention has been described above using the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, an instruction to execute a FAX reply job or an instruction to update status 712 may be issued by a method other than the chat function. For example, an application screen for issuing an instruction to execute a FAX reply job or an instruction to update status 712 may be displayed on the operation / display unit 231 of the mobile terminal 105, and the instruction to execute a FAX reply job or an instruction to update status 712 may be issued based on an instruction entered by the user on the application screen. In such a configuration, for example, in steps S1002 and S1902, the mobile terminal 105 transmits data indicating the instruction entered by the user on the application screen to the server device 104, rather than chat text, and the server device 104 identifies the instruction content based on the received data in steps S1003 and S1903. By issuing an instruction to execute a FAX reply job or an instruction to update status 712 by a method other than the chat function in this way, the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be achieved even if each device constituting the information processing system 100 does not have a chat function.

[0120] Although the above-described embodiment describes the application of the present invention to a system for managing fax data, the present invention is not limited to such systems. For example, the present invention may be applied to a system in which the server device 104 manages image data generated by scanning a document using the MFP 101. Such a system is used in hospitals, schools, government offices, and the like, where image data generated by scanning multiple documents is managed for each user. For example, in a hospital, the MFP 101 scans multiple documents, such as patient questionnaires and health insurance cards, to generate image data for these documents, and the server device 104 manages this image data for each patient. When the present invention is applied to such a system, for example, a data list screen is displayed on the operation display unit 231 of the mobile terminal 105, which associates information about a first scan job for scanning a patient's medical questionnaire with information about a second scan job for scanning the same patient's health insurance card, based on a management table similar to the fax job management table 715. This data list screen includes status information for the first scan job and the second scan job. This allows the user to easily grasp the processing status of the image data for each document managed for each patient.

[0121] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention may be applied to a system in which data received by email from a communication terminal such as the MFP 101 is managed by the server device 104. By applying the present invention to such a system, the user can easily grasp the processing status of the data received by email.

[0122] The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and having one or more processors in the computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that realizes one or more functions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0123] 100 Information Processing Systems 101 MFP 104 Server device 105 mobile devices 201 CPU 204 SSD 225 CPU 231 Operation display section 510 Mobile App 712 Status 715 FAX job management table

Claims

1. 1. A system comprising: an image processing device that receives image data by fax and transmits the received image data to a server device; the server device transferring the image data and first status information indicating that the image data has not been confirmed to the information terminal so that the image data and first status information are displayed by a chat function of the information terminal; the information terminal displays the transferred image data and the first status information by the chat function of displaying a character string on a chat screen, receives a character string from a user on the chat screen by the chat function, and transmits the character string received on the chat screen to the server device; when the server device receives a character string for changing the first status information to second status information indicating that the image data is being checked, the server device changes the first status information to the second status information; when the server device receives a character string for replying to the image data, it transmits a reply instruction to the image processing device based on the received character string, and changes the first status information to third status information indicating that the reply to the image data has been completed; the information terminal displays the second status information based on the second status information; The information terminal displays the third status information based on the third status information.

2. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the information terminal further displays information indicating that a reply to the image data has been completed.

3. 3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the information terminal displays information indicating that a reply to the image data has been completed in a position that does not overlap the image data.

4. 3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the information terminal displays information indicating that a reply to the image data has been completed as a message different from a message including the image data.

5. 3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the information terminal displays the information indicating that a reply to the image data has been completed below the image data.

6. 6. The system according to claim 2, wherein the information terminal further displays the transferred image data and sender information about the image data.

7. 6. The system according to claim 2, wherein the information terminal further displays the transferred image data and the time when the image data was received.

8. 8. The system according to claim 1, wherein information indicating that the reply to the image data has been completed can be displayed by another information terminal.

9. 1. A method for controlling a system, comprising: The system comprises: an image processing device that receives image data by fax and transmits the received image data to a server device; the server device transferring the image data and first status information indicating that the image data has not been confirmed to the information terminal so that the image data and first status information are displayed by a chat function of the information terminal; the information terminal displays the transferred image data and the first status information by the chat function of displaying a character string on a chat screen, receives a character string from a user on the chat screen by the chat function, and transmits the character string received on the chat screen to the server device; The control method of the system includes: a process in which the server device changes the first status information to the second status information when the server device receives a character string for changing the first status information to second status information indicating that the image data is being checked; a process in which, when the server device receives a character string for replying to the image data, the server device transmits a reply instruction to the image processing device based on the received character string and changes the first status information to third status information indicating that the reply to the image data has been completed; a process in which the information terminal displays the second status information based on the second status information; and a process in which the information terminal displays the third status information based on the third status information.

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