Fax transmission system, image forming apparatus, and fax transmission program

Abstract

An image forming apparatus (30) provided with a storage unit (36) and a printing unit (33): stores, in the storage unit (36), a job log of a job of FAX transmission and a head page image in association with each other, the head page image being an image of a head page among pages in which FAX transmission was successful in the job; when instructed to print a preview-attached report as a report of the FAX transmission including the head page image, generates a preview-attached report using the head page image and the job log stored in the storage unit (36) in association with the head page image; prints the generated preview-attached report by means of the printing unit (33); and deletes the head page image used for generating the preview-attached report from the storage unit (36) when the preview-attached report has been printed.

Description

FAX transmission system, image forming device, and FAX transmission program

[0001] The present invention relates to a fax transmission system, an image forming apparatus, and a fax transmission program for fax transmission.

[0002] A fax transmission system including a storage unit and a printing unit is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The fax transmission system described in Patent Document 1 stores in the storage unit a job log of a fax transmission job and a first page image, which is an image of the first page of pages that were successfully faxed in the job, in association with each other. When instructed to print a report with a preview as a report of the fax transmission, including the first page image, the fax transmission system described in Patent Document 1 generates a report with a preview using the first page image and the job log stored in the storage unit in association with the first page image, and prints the generated report with a preview using the printing unit.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-69032

[0004] However, the fax transmission system described in Patent Document 1 has a problem in that the first page image puts pressure on the storage area of ​​the storage unit.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a fax transmission system, an image forming apparatus, and a fax transmission program that can reduce the amount of pressure on the storage area of ​​a storage unit.

[0006] A fax transmission system according to one aspect of the present invention includes a memory unit, a printing unit, and a control unit, wherein the control unit stores in the memory unit a job log of a fax transmission job and a first page image, which is an image of the first page of pages that were successfully faxed in the job, in association with each other; when instructed to print a report with a preview as a report of the fax transmission that includes the first page image, the control unit generates the report with a preview using the first page image and the job log that is associated with the first page image and stored in the memory unit; prints the generated report with preview by the printing unit; and when the report with preview has been printed, the control unit deletes the first page image used to generate the report with preview from the memory unit.

[0007] An image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a memory unit, a printing unit, and a control unit, wherein the control unit stores in the memory unit a job log of a fax transmission job and a first page image as an image of the first page of pages that were successfully faxed in the job, in association with each other; when instructed to print a report with preview as a report of the fax transmission that includes the first page image, the control unit generates the report with preview using the first page image and the job log that is associated with the first page image and stored in the memory unit; prints the generated report with preview by the printing unit; and when the report with preview has been printed, the control unit deletes the first page image used to generate the report with preview from the memory unit.

[0008] A fax transmission program according to one aspect of the present invention is a fax transmission program executed by a computer having a memory unit and a printing unit, and causes the computer to perform the following operations: associate a job log of a fax transmission job with a first page image as an image of the first page of pages successfully transmitted by fax in the job, and store them in the memory unit; when instructed to print a report with a preview as a report of the fax transmission, including the first page image, generate the report with a preview using the first page image and the job log associated with the first page image and stored in the memory unit, and print the generated report with a preview by the printing unit; and when the report with a preview has been printed, delete the first page image used to generate the report with a preview from the memory unit.

[0009] The fax transmission system, image forming apparatus, and fax transmission program of the present invention can reduce the amount of pressure on the storage area of ​​the storage unit.

[0010] 1 is a block diagram of a FAX system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. It is a diagram showing an example of a menu screen displayed on the display unit shown in FIG. 2. It is a diagram showing an example of a scan setting screen displayed on the display unit shown in FIG. 2. It is a sequence diagram of the operation of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 2 when the "Scan" button is pressed on the scan setting screen. It is a diagram showing an example of a scanning screen displayed on the display unit shown in FIG. 2. It is a diagram showing an example of a scan completion screen displayed on the display unit shown in FIG. 2. It is a diagram showing an example of a destination input screen displayed on the display unit shown in FIG. 2. It is a sequence diagram of the operation of the FAX system shown in FIG. 1 when the "Start Sending" button is pressed on the destination input screen. It is a sequence diagram of "Save Job Log" shown in FIG. 9. It is a sequence diagram of "Display Completion Screen" shown in FIG. 9. It is a diagram showing an example of a sending screen displayed on the display unit shown in FIG. 2. It is a diagram showing an example of a previewable sending completion screen displayed on the display unit shown in FIG. 2. It is a diagram showing an example of a non-previewable sending completion screen displayed on the display unit shown in FIG. It is a sequence diagram of a report printing process performed after the sending completion screen is displayed. It is a sequence diagram of "Report printing with preview" shown in FIG. 15. It is a sequence diagram of "Report printing without preview" shown in FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a report with a preview printed in the operation shown in FIG. 16 . FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a report without a preview printed in the operation shown in FIG. 17 . FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission retry screen displayed on the display unit shown in FIG. 2 . FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a completion screen displayed on the display unit shown in FIG. 2 . FIG. 20 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the FAX system shown in FIG. 1 when the transmission retry screen is displayed. FIG. 21 is a sequence diagram of a process at the end of fax transmission. FIG. 22 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the FAX system shown in FIG. 1 when a job log is saved in a storage unit. FIG. 23 is a sequence diagram of an example of the operation of the image forming apparatus when a button is pressed on the transmission completion screen, different from the example shown in FIG. 15 . FIG. 24 is a sequence diagram of "report printing with preview" shown in FIG. 25 . FIG. 25 is a sequence diagram of "report printing without preview" shown in FIG. 25 . FIG. 26 is a block diagram of an example of an image forming apparatus, different from the example shown in FIG. 2 .1 is a block diagram of a FAX transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0011] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, the configuration of a FAX system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a FAX system 10 according to the present embodiment.

[0012] 1, a fax system 10 includes a fax service system 20 that transmits faxes to a fax receiver 50 via a telephone line 10a. The fax service system 20 transmits faxes to various fax receivers via telephone lines in addition to the fax receiver 50. The fax service system 20 may be configured with one computer or multiple computers.

[0013] The fax system 10 includes an image forming device 30 as a fax transmission system for sending faxes. The fax system 10 can include at least one other image forming device with a configuration similar to that of the image forming device 30. The image forming device in the fax system 10 is installed in, for example, a convenience store. The image forming device in the fax system 10 can request fax transmission from a fax service system 20 via a network 10b such as a local area network (LAN) or the Internet.

[0014] The fax system 10 includes a cloud service system 40 that stores a job log (hereinafter referred to as a "job log") of fax transmissions performed by image forming devices in the fax system 10. The cloud service system 40 may be configured with one computer or multiple computers. The image forming devices in the fax system 10 transmit the job log to the cloud service system 40 via the network 10b.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the image forming apparatus 30. As shown in FIG.

[0016] 2 , the image forming apparatus 30 includes an operation unit 31, which is an operation device such as buttons through which various operations are input, a display unit 32, which is a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that displays various information, a printing unit 33, which is a printing device formed by an electrophotographic image forming mechanism that prints images on a recording medium such as paper, a scanner 34, which is a reading device that reads images from a document, a network communication unit 35, which is a communication device that communicates with an external device via a network such as a LAN or the Internet, or directly via a wired or wireless connection without using a network, a storage unit 36, which is a non-volatile storage device such as a semiconductor memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) that stores various information, and a control unit 37 that controls the entire image forming apparatus 30. The operation unit 31 includes a touch panel.

[0017] The storage unit 36 ​​stores a fax transmission program 36a for fax transmission. The fax transmission program 36a may be installed in the image forming apparatus 30 during the manufacturing process of the image forming apparatus 30, or may be additionally installed in the image forming apparatus 30 from an external storage medium such as a CD (Compact Disk), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, or may be additionally installed in the image forming apparatus 30 from a network.

[0018] The control unit 37 includes a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores programs and various data, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that serves as a working area for the CPU. The CPU executes programs stored in the storage unit 36 ​​or the ROM.

[0019] By executing the fax transmission program 36a, the control unit 37 realizes an operation reception unit 37a that displays a screen on the display unit 32 and receives operations input via the operation unit 31, a fax job management unit 37b that manages fax transmission jobs, a scan control unit 37c that controls the scanning operation of reading an image from a document using the scanner 34, a communication control unit 37d that controls communication with external devices, a job log management unit 37e that manages job logs, a report management unit 37f that manages fax transmission reports, and a print control unit 37g that controls ``printing'' to print a specific image on a recording medium using the print unit 33.

[0020] Next, the operation of the FAX system 10 will be described.

[0021] When the image forming apparatus 30 is started up, the operation accepting unit 37a of the image forming apparatus 30 displays a menu screen 100 (see FIG. 3) on the display unit 32 for selecting the main functions of the image forming apparatus 30.

[0022] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a menu screen 100 displayed on the display unit 32. The menu screen 100 shown in Fig. 3 includes a "Copy" button 101 for causing the image forming apparatus 30 to execute a "Copy" function, which prints an image read from an original by the scanner 34 onto a recording medium by the printing unit 33, a "Send Fax" button 102 for causing the image forming apparatus 30 to execute a "Send Fax" function, which sends an image read from an original by the scanner 34 by fax via the fax service system 20, a "Scan" button 103 for causing the image forming apparatus 30 to execute a "Scan" function, and a "Print" button 104 for causing the image forming apparatus 30 to execute a "Print" function.

[0023] When a user presses the "Send Fax" button 102 on the menu screen 100 and inputs a scan setting instruction to the operation unit 31, the operation reception unit 37a of the image forming device 30 receives the stepping motor start setting instruction and displays a scan setting screen 110 (see Figure 4) for setting the scan on the display unit 32.

[0024] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a scan setting screen 110 displayed on the display unit 32. The scan setting screen 110 shown in Fig. 4 includes radio buttons 111a, 111b, 111c, and 111d for setting the size of a document to be scanned by the scanner 34, radio buttons 112a and 112b for setting the resolution at which the image is scanned by the scanner 34, and a "Scan" button 113 for starting scanning. When scanning a document, the user places one document on the scanner 34 and then presses the "Scan" button 113. This inputs a document scanning instruction to the operation unit 31, and the document scanning instruction is accepted by the operation acceptance unit 37a.

[0025] 5 is a sequence diagram of a scanning operation executed in accordance with an instruction to read a document. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a scanning screen 120 displayed on the display unit 32.

[0026] When the operation reception unit 37a of the image forming device 30 receives the document reading instruction, it causes the display unit 32 to display a scanning in progress screen 120 (see Figure 6) indicating that scanning is in progress, as shown in the example of Figure 5 (S201).

[0027] When the process of S201 is completed, the operation accepting section 37a notifies the FAX job managing section 37b that an instruction to start scanning has been issued (S202).

[0028] Upon receiving the notification in S202, the FAX job management section 37b instructs the scan control section 37c to execute scanning (S203).

[0029] Upon receiving the instruction in S203, the scan control unit 37c executes a scan (S204).

[0030] When the scan process started in S204 is completed, the scan control unit 37c notifies the FAX job management unit 37b of the completion of the scan operation (S205).

[0031] Upon receiving the notification in S205, the FAX job management unit 37b notifies the operation reception unit 37a of the completion of the scan execution (S206).

[0032] When the operation reception unit 37a receives the notification in S206, it causes the display unit 32 to display the scan completion screen 130 (see FIG. 7) indicating the completion of the scan execution (S207).

[0033] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a scan completion screen 130 displayed on the display unit 32. As shown in FIG.

[0034] 7 includes a "Continue Scan" button 131 for continuing scanning, and a "Scan Complete" button 132 for completing scanning without continuing scanning. When the user wants to continue scanning another document, the user places a new document on the scanner 34 and then presses the "Continue Scan" button 113. This inputs an instruction to read the document into the operation unit 31, and the instruction to read the document is accepted by the operation acceptance unit 37a.

[0035] When the operation reception unit 37a receives the document reading instruction, it executes the process of S201 again.

[0036] On the other hand, when the user presses the "Scan Complete" button 132 on the scan completion screen 130 and receives a scan end instruction via the operation unit 31, the operation reception unit 37a instructs the FAX job management unit 37b to complete the scan (S208).

[0037] When the fax job management unit 37b receives the instruction in S208, it acquires all images read from the original by the scanner 34 in S204 since the operation shown in FIG. 5 was started, that is, all images generated by scanning in S204 since the operation shown in FIG. 5 was started, in multi-TIFF format from the scan control unit 37c (S209).

[0038] When the process of S209 is completed, the FAX job management section 37b stores the image in multi-TIFF format acquired in S209 in the storage section 36 (S210).

[0039] When the process of S210 is completed, the FAX job management section 37b notifies the operation acceptance section 37a of the completion of image storage (S211).

[0040] When the operation reception unit 37a receives the notification in S211, it displays the destination input screen 140 (see FIG. 8) for inputting the destination of the FAX transmission on the display unit 32 (S212). The process up to this point is the process shown in FIG.

[0041] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a destination input screen 140 displayed on the display unit 32. As shown in FIG.

[0042] 8 includes a text box 141 for inputting the fax number of the fax transmission destination, software keys 142 for inputting the fax number into the text box 141, and a "Start Transmission" button 143 for starting fax transmission to the fax number input into the text box 141. When executing facsimile transmission, the user first operates the operation unit 31 to input the fax number. The operation reception unit 37a receives the input fax number and displays it in the text box 141 of the destination input screen 140. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the fax number input into the text box 141 is expressed as "xxxxxxxxxxxx", but in reality it is expressed as numbers.

[0043] Next, the process following Fig. 5 will be described. Fig. 9 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the FAX system 10 performed following Fig. 5. Fig. 10 is a sequence diagram of "save job log" shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a sequence diagram of "display completion screen" shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a sending screen 150 displayed on the display unit 32.

[0044] When the "Start sending" button 143 is pressed on the destination input screen 140 and an instruction to execute sending is received via the operation unit 31, the operation reception unit 37a of the image forming device 30 displays a sending screen 150 (see Figure 12) on the display unit 32, indicating that a fax transmission is in progress, as shown in Figure 9 (S231).

[0045] When the process of S231 is completed, the operation accepting unit 37a instructs the fax job managing unit 37b to start fax transmission (S232). The operation accepting unit 37a notifies the fax job managing unit 37b of the fax number that was accepted at the time of accepting the transmission execution instruction, including the fax number in the instruction in S232.

[0046] When the FAX job management section 37b receives the instruction in S232, it reads out the image in the multi-TIFF format stored in the storage section 36 (S233).

[0047] When the processing of S233 is completed, the fax job management unit 37b instructs the communication control unit 37d to request the fax service system 20 to fax the multi-TIFF format image read in S233 to the fax number included in the instruction in S232 (S234).

[0048] When the communication control unit 37d receives the instruction in S234, it requests the fax service system 20 to send the image in MultiTIFF format specified in the instruction in S234 by fax to the fax number specified in the instruction in S234 (S235). At this time, the communication control unit 37d sends the data (such as the image in MultiTIFF format) and information (such as the fax number) required for the fax transmission to the fax service system 20.

[0049] When the FAX service system 20 receives the request in S235, it transmits the image in the multi-TIFF format specified in the request in S235 by FAX to the FAX number specified in the request in S235 (S236).

[0050] If the fax transmission of all pages of the image pages targeted for fax transmission in S236 is successful, the fax service system 20 notifies the communication control unit 37d of the image forming device 30 of the success of the fax transmission as a result of the fax transmission (S237).

[0051] Upon receiving the notification in S237, the communication control unit 37d notifies the FAX job management unit 37b of the success of the FAX transmission as a result of the FAX transmission (S238).

[0052] If the fax transmission of at least some of the pages of the images targeted for fax transmission in S236 fails, the fax service system 20 notifies the communication control unit 37d of the image forming apparatus 30 of the fax transmission failure as the fax transmission result (S239). The fax service system 20 includes in the notification in S239 the number of pages that were successfully faxed among the pages of the images targeted for fax transmission in S236. For example, if no pages were successfully faxed in S236, the fax service system 20 includes 0 in the notification in S239 as the number of pages that were successfully faxed among the pages of the images targeted for fax transmission in S236. For example, if the fax transmission of the first three pages was successful in S236, the fax service system 20 includes 3 in the notification in S239 as the number of pages that were successfully faxed among the pages of the images targeted for fax transmission in S236.

[0053] When the communication control unit 37d receives the notification in S239, it notifies the fax job management unit 37b of the fax transmission failure as a result of the fax transmission (S240). The communication control unit 37d includes the "number of pages for which the fax transmission was successful" included in the notification in S239 in the notification in S240.

[0054] When the fax job management unit 37b receives a notification of successful fax transmission in S238 or a notification of failed fax transmission in S240, and if at least some of the pages of the target images in the immediately preceding fax transmission have been faxed, the fax job management unit 37b extracts an image of the first page (hereinafter referred to as the "first page image") of the target images in the immediately preceding fax transmission (S241). Here, when the fax job management unit 37b receives a notification of successful fax transmission in S238, it determines that the fax transmission of all pages of the target images in the immediately preceding fax transmission was successful. Also, when the fax job management unit 37b receives a notification of failed fax transmission in S240, it determines that the fax transmission of some of the target images in the immediately preceding fax transmission was successful if the "number of successfully faxed pages" included in the notification of failed fax transmission in S240 is one or more. The first page image in S241 immediately after the FAX transmission immediately after the FAX job management unit 37b acquires the image in multi-TIFF format from the scan control unit 37c in S209 (see FIG. 5) is the image of the first page in the image in multi-TIFF format acquired by the FAX job management unit 37b from the scan control unit 37c in S209. The first page image extracted in S241 may be an image in TIFF format.

[0055] When the processing of S241 is completed, the fax job management unit 37b instructs the job log management unit 37e to save (S242) the job log of the fax transmission job that was performed in response to the instruction to the communication control unit 37d in S234 and whose results were notified by the communication control unit 37d in S238 or S240, and the first page image of the pages that were successfully faxed in this job, i.e., the first page image extracted in S241.

[0056] When the job log management unit 37e receives the instruction in S242, it stores the job log and the first page image specified in the instruction in S242 in the storage unit 36 ​​in association with each other (S243).

[0057] When the process of S243 is completed, the job log management section 37e notifies the FAX job management section 37b of the completion of saving the job log and the first page image (S244).

[0058] When the fax job management unit 37b receives a notification of a fax transmission failure in S240, if the fax transmission of all pages of the target image pages in the immediately preceding fax transmission has failed, the fax job management unit 37b instructs the communication control unit 37d in S234 and instructs the job log management unit 37e to save the job log of the fax transmission job for which the communication control unit 37d has notified the result in S240 (S245). Here, when the fax job management unit 37b receives a notification of a fax transmission failure in S240, if the "number of pages for which fax transmission was successful" included in the notification of the fax transmission failure in S240 is 0, the fax job management unit 37b determines that the fax transmission of all pages of the target image pages in the immediately preceding fax transmission has failed.

[0059] When the job log management section 37e receives the instruction in S245, it stores the job log specified in the instruction in S245 in the storage section 36 (S246).

[0060] When the process of S246 is completed, the job log management section 37e notifies the FAX job management section 37b of the completion of saving the job log (S247).

[0061] When the FAX job management unit 37b receives the notification in S244 or S247, it deletes the images in the MultiTIFF format stored in the storage unit 36 ​​from the storage unit 36 ​​(S248). That is, the FAX job management unit 37b deletes the images in the MultiTIFF format saved in the storage unit 36 ​​in S210 (see FIG. 5) from the storage unit 36.

[0062] When the process of S248 is completed and the FAX job management unit 37b has received a notification of the failure of the FAX transmission in S240, the FAX job management unit 37b extracts the Multi-TIFF format images of the pages whose FAX transmission failed from the pages of the images whose FAX transmission was executed immediately before (S249). For example, if the images whose FAX transmission was executed immediately before consisted of five pages in total, and the pages whose FAX transmission failed were the fourth and fifth pages, the FAX job management unit 37b extracts in S249 the Multi-TIFF format images of two pages in total, consisting of the fourth and fifth pages of the images whose FAX transmission was executed immediately before.

[0063] When the process of S249 is completed, the FAX job management unit 37b stores the image in multi-TIFF format extracted in S249 in association with the FAX number of the destination of the FAX transmission executed immediately before in the memory unit 36 ​​(S250).

[0064] When the processing of S248 is completed and notification of successful fax transmission has been received in S238, or when the processing of S250 is completed and fax transmission of at least some of the pages of the image targeted for fax transmission executed immediately before has been successful, the fax job management unit 37b notifies the operation reception unit 37a that fax transmission of at least some of the pages has been successful (S251).

[0065] When the operation reception unit 37a receives the notification in S251, it causes the display unit 32 to display a previewable transmission completion screen 160 (see Figure 13), which is a transmission completion screen indicating the completion of the fax transmission and includes a "Print report with preview" button for printing a report of the fax transmission (hereinafter referred to as "report with preview") including an image of the first page (S252).

[0066] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a previewable transmission completion screen 160 displayed on the display unit 32. As shown in FIG.

[0067] The previewable transmission completion screen 160 shown in Figure 13 includes a "Print report with preview" button 161, a "Print report without preview" button 162 for printing a report of the fax transmission that does not include the first page image (hereinafter referred to as a "report without preview"), and a "Do not print report" button 163 for not printing the report of the fax transmission.

[0068] As shown in Figures 9 to 11, when the processing of S250 is completed, if the fax transmission of all pages of the image pages targeted for fax transmission executed immediately before has failed, the fax job management unit 37b notifies the operation acceptance unit 37a that the fax transmission of all pages has failed (S253).

[0069] When the operation reception unit 37a receives the notification in S253, it causes the display unit 32 to display a transmission completion screen indicating the completion of the fax transmission, which is a non-previewable transmission completion screen 170 (see Figure 14) that does not include a ``Print report with preview'' button (S254).

[0070] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a non-previewable transmission completion screen 170 displayed on the display unit 32. As shown in FIG.

[0071] The preview-unavailable transmission completion screen 170 shown in FIG. 14 includes a "Print Report" button 171 as a "Print Report Without Preview" button for printing a report without a preview, and a "Do Not Print Report" button 172 for not printing the transmission report.

[0072] As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, when the process of S252 or S254 is completed, the operation acceptance unit 37a completes the operations shown in FIGS.

[0073] Fig. 15 is a sequence diagram of the report printing process that is performed after the transmission completion screen is displayed. Fig. 16 is a sequence diagram of report printing with a preview. Fig. 17 is a sequence diagram of report printing without a preview.

[0074] First, the sequence for printing a report with a preview will be described. As shown in Figures 15 and 16, when a "Print report with preview" button is pressed on the transmission completion screen and a report printing instruction is input to the operation unit 31, the operation acceptance unit 37a of the image forming apparatus 30 instructs the report management unit 37f to print a report with a preview (S261). Here, when the "Print report with preview" button 161 is pressed on the preview-enabled transmission completion screen 160, the operation acceptance unit 37a inputs the report printing instruction to the operation unit 31.

[0075] When the report management unit 37f receives the report printing instruction in S261, it instructs the job log management unit 37e to read the latest job log stored in the memory unit 36 ​​and the first page image associated with this job log and stored in the memory unit 36 ​​(S262).

[0076] When the job log management unit 37e receives the instruction in S262, it reads out the latest job log stored in the storage unit 36 ​​and the first page image stored in the storage unit 36 ​​in association with this job log (S263).

[0077] When the process of S263 is completed, the job log management section 37e notifies the report management section 37f of the job log and the first page image read in S263 (S264).

[0078] When the report management unit 37f receives the notification in S264, it generates a report with a preview using the job log and the first page image notified in S264 (S265).

[0079] When the process of S265 is completed, the report management unit 37f instructs the print control unit 37g to print the report with preview generated in S265 (S266).

[0080] When the print control unit 37g receives the instruction in S266, it causes the print unit 33 to print the report with preview instructed in S266 (S267).

[0081] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a report 80 with a preview that is printed in the operation shown in FIG.

[0082] The preview-included report 80 shown in FIG. 18 is an example of a report of a fax transmission in which one page is targeted for fax transmission and one page is successfully faxed. In the preview-included report 80, the transmission result 81 indicates "The next transmission is complete" when the fax job management unit 37b is notified of the success of the fax transmission. In the preview-included report 80, the destination 82 indicates the fax number of the fax transmission destination. In the preview-included report 80, the start date and time 83 indicates the date and time when the communication control unit 37d requested the fax service system 20 to transmit the fax. In the preview-included report 80, the end date and time 84 indicates the date and time when the communication control unit 37d received notification of the fax transmission result from the fax service system 20. In the preview-included report 80, the number of transmitted pages 85 indicates the number of successfully transmitted pages. In the preview report 80, the number of pages to be transmitted by fax is indicated in the document page count 86. The preview report 80 includes a first page image 87 of the pages that were successfully transmitted by fax. In the example shown in Fig. 18, the fax number shown for the recipient 82 is expressed as "xxxxxxxxxxxx", but in reality it is expressed as numbers.

[0083] As shown in FIG. 16, when the process of S267 ends, the print control unit 37g notifies the report management unit 37f that printing of the report with preview has been completed (S268).

[0084] Upon receiving the notification in S268, the report management unit 37f notifies the operation reception unit 37a that printing of the report with preview has been completed (S269).

[0085] Next, the sequence for printing a report without a preview will be described. When a print instruction for a report without a preview is input to the operation unit 31, the operation accepting unit 37a instructs the report management unit 37f to print a report without a preview (S271). Here, when the "Print report without preview" button 162 is pressed on the preview-enabled transmission completion screen 160 shown in FIG. 13 or the "Print report" button 171 is pressed on the preview-disabled transmission completion screen 170 shown in FIG. 14, the print instruction for a report without a preview is input to the operation unit 31 and accepted by the operation accepting unit 37a.

[0086] When the report management unit 37f receives the instruction to print a report without preview in S271, it instructs the job log management unit 37e to read the latest job log stored in the storage unit 36 ​​(S272).

[0087] When the job log management unit 37e receives the instruction in S272, it reads out the latest job log stored in the storage unit 36 ​​(S273).

[0088] When the process of S273 is completed, the job log management unit 37e notifies the report management unit 37f of the job log read out in S273 (S274).

[0089] When the report management unit 37f receives the notification in S274, it generates a report without preview using the job log notified in S274 (S275).

[0090] When the process of S275 is completed, the report management unit 37f instructs the print control unit 37g to print the report without preview generated in S275 (S276).

[0091] When the print control unit 37g receives the instruction in S276, it causes the print unit 33 to print the report without preview instructed in S276 (S277).

[0092] Fig. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a no-preview report 90 printed in the operation shown in Fig. 17. In the no-preview report 90, when a failure of a fax transmission is notified to the fax job management unit 37b as a result of the fax transmission, the message "The following transmission failed" is displayed.

[0093] The no-preview report 90 is a report of a fax transmission in which two pages were targeted for fax transmission and zero pages were successfully transmitted. Like the preview-included report 80 (see FIG. 18), the no-preview report 90 includes a transmission result 81, a destination 82, a start date and time 83, an end date and time 84, a number of transmitted pages 85, and a number of original pages 86. However, unlike the preview-included report 80, the no-preview report 90 does not include an image of the first page 87 (see FIG. 18) of the successfully transmitted pages. In the example shown in FIG. 19, the fax number shown for the destination 82 is expressed as "xxxxxxxxxxxx," but is actually expressed as a number.

[0094] As shown in FIG. 17, when the process of S277 ends, the print control unit 37g notifies the report management unit 37f that printing of the report without preview has been completed (S278).

[0095] Upon receiving the notification in S278, the report management unit 37f notifies the operation reception unit 37a of the completion of printing the report without preview (S279).

[0096] When the "Do not print report" button 163 is pressed on the previewable transmission completion screen 160, or when the "Do not print report" button 172 is pressed on the non-previewable transmission completion screen 170, a print refusal instruction is input to the operation unit 31, and the operation accepting unit 37a accepts the print refusal instruction. When the operation accepting unit 37a accepts the print refusal instruction, it does not instruct the report management unit 37f to print a report of the FAX transmission.

[0097] When the operation reception unit 37a receives the notification in S269 or S279, or when it receives the print rejection instruction, if the fax transmission of at least some of the pages of the image that was the target of the fax transmission executed immediately before has failed, it causes the display unit 32 to display a transmission retry screen 180 (see Figure 20) for retrying the fax transmission (S281).

[0098] Fig. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission retry screen 180 displayed on the display unit 32. The transmission retry screen 180 shown in Fig. 20 includes a "Transmission retry" button 181 for retrying fax transmission, and a "Do not retry transmission" button 182 for not retrying fax transmission.

[0099] As shown in Figures 16 and 17, when the operation reception unit 37a receives a notification in S269 or S279, or when the "Do not print report" button is pressed on the transmission completion screen and a print refusal instruction is input to the operation unit 31, if the fax transmission of all pages of the images targeted for the fax transmission executed immediately before was successful, the operation reception unit 37a causes the display unit 32 to display a completion screen 190 (see Figure 21) indicating the completion of the fax transmission (S282).

[0100] Fig. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a completion screen 190 displayed on the display unit 32. The completion screen 190 shown in Fig. 21 includes an "End" button 191 for ending the FAX transmission.

[0101] As shown in FIG. 15, when the process of S281 or S282 is completed, the operation acceptance unit 37a completes the operations shown in FIGS.

[0102] FIG. 22 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the FAX system 10 when the transmission retry screen 180 is displayed.

[0103] As shown in FIG. 22, when the "Retry transmission" button 181 is pressed on the transmission retry screen 180 and a transmission retry instruction is input to the operation unit 31, the operation reception unit 37a of the image forming device 30 displays the transmission in progress screen 150 (see FIG. 12) on the display unit 32 (S301).

[0104] When the process of S301 is completed, the operation accepting unit 37a instructs the FAX job managing unit 37b to retry the FAX transmission (S302).

[0105] When the fax job management unit 37b receives the instruction in S302, it instructs the job log management unit 37e to delete the job log of the fax transmission job executed immediately before, i.e., the first page image stored in the memory unit 36 ​​in association with the latest job log stored in the memory unit 36 ​​(S303).

[0106] When the job log management unit 37e receives the instruction in S303, it deletes from the storage unit 36 ​​the first page image stored in the storage unit 36 ​​in association with the job log of the FAX transmission job executed immediately before (S304).

[0107] When the processing of S304 is completed, the job log management unit 37e notifies the fax job management unit 37b of the completion of deletion of the first page image stored in the memory unit 36 ​​in association with the job log of the fax transmission job executed immediately before (S305).

[0108] Upon receiving the notification in S305, the FAX job management section 37b reads out the image in multi-TIFF format and the FAX number that are stored in the storage section 36 in association with each other (S306).

[0109] When the processing of S306 is completed, the fax job management unit 37b instructs the communication control unit 37d to request the fax service system 20 to fax the multi-TIFF format image read in S306 to the fax number read in S306 (S307).

[0110] After completing the process of S307, the FAX system 10 executes the processes of S308 to S313, which are similar to the processes of S235 to S240.

[0111] Upon receiving the notification in S311 or S313, the FAX system 10 executes the processes of S241 to S247 shown in FIG.

[0112] For example, if the multi-TIFF format image acquired from the scan control unit 37c in S209 is an image of a total of five pages, and the pages on which the first fax transmission failed are the fourth and fifth pages, the first page image in S241 immediately after the first retry of fax transmission is the fourth page image in the multi-TIFF format image acquired from the scan control unit 37c in S209.

[0113] When the FAX job management unit 37b receives the notification in S244 or S247, it deletes the image in MultiTIFF format stored in the storage unit 36 ​​and the FAX number associated with this image from the storage unit 36 ​​(S314). That is, the FAX job management unit 37b deletes the image in MultiTIFF format and the FAX number saved in the storage unit 36 ​​in S250 (see FIG. 11 ) from the storage unit 36.

[0114] After the process of S314, the FAX system 10 executes the processes of S249 to S254 shown in FIG.

[0115] When the "Do not retry transmission" button 182 is pressed on the transmission retry screen 180 and a retry refusal instruction is input to the operation unit 31, the operation reception unit 37a causes the display unit 32 to display the completion screen 190 (see Figure 21) (S315).

[0116] As shown in FIG. 22, when the process of S252 (see FIG. 11), S254 (see FIG. 11), or S315 is completed, the operation acceptance unit 37a ends the operation shown in FIG.

[0117] FIG. 23 is a sequence diagram of the process when fax transmission is completed.

[0118] As shown in FIG. 23, when the "End" button 191 on the completion screen 190 is pressed and an end instruction is input to the operation unit 31, the operation reception unit 37a of the image forming device 30 instructs the fax job management unit 37b to end the fax transmission (S331).

[0119] When the fax job management unit 37b receives the instruction in S331, it instructs the job log management unit 37e to delete all first page images stored in the memory unit 36 ​​in association with the job log of the fax transmission job executed in accordance with the transmission execution instruction received immediately before by pressing the ``Start Transmission'' button 143 on the destination input screen 140 (S332).

[0120] When the job log management unit 37e receives the instruction in S332, it deletes from the memory unit 36 ​​all first page images stored in the memory unit 36 ​​in association with the job log of the fax transmission job executed immediately before the "Start Transmission" button 143 on the destination input screen 140 was pressed (S333).

[0121] When the processing of S333 is completed, the job log management unit 37e notifies the fax job management unit 37b of the completion of deletion of all first page images stored in the memory unit 36 ​​in association with the job log of the fax transmission job executed in accordance with the transmission execution instruction received immediately before by pressing the "Start Transmission" button 143 on the destination input screen 140 (S334).

[0122] Upon receiving the notification in S334, the FAX job management section 37b notifies the operation acceptance section 37a of the completion of the FAX transmission (S335).

[0123] Upon receiving the notification in S335, the operation reception unit 37a displays the menu screen 100 (see FIG. 3) on the display unit 32 (S336).

[0124] As shown in FIG. 23, when the operation acceptance unit 37a completes the process of S336, the operation shown in FIG. 23 ends.

[0125] FIG. 24 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the FAX system 10 when the job log is stored in the storage unit 36.

[0126] When the job log management unit 37e of the image forming apparatus 30 saves the job log in the storage unit 36 ​​in S243 or S246, it executes the operation shown in Fig. 24. As shown in Fig. 24, the job log management unit 37e instructs the communication control unit 37d to transmit the job log saved in the storage unit 36 ​​in S243 or S246 to the cloud service system 40 (S361).

[0127] When the communication control unit 37d receives the instruction in S361, it transmits the job log specified in the instruction in S361 to the cloud service system 40 (S362).

[0128] If the transmission in S362 fails, the communication control unit 37d repeatedly executes the process of S362 at specific time intervals, such as one minute, until the transmission in S362 is successful.

[0129] If the transmission in S362 is successful, the cloud service system 40 stores the job log transmitted in S362 (S363).

[0130] The job log stored in the cloud service system 40 is used, for example, by a person in charge at the convenience store headquarters to tally up the monthly usage fees for fax transmissions at each convenience store.

[0131] When the process of S363 ends, the cloud service system 40 notifies the communication control unit 37d of the image forming apparatus 30 that the job log has been successfully stored (S364).

[0132] Upon receiving the notification in S364, the communication control unit 37d notifies the job log management unit 37e of the completion of transmission of the job log specified in the instruction in S361 to the cloud service system 40 (S365).

[0133] Upon receiving the notification in S365, the job log management unit 37e sets a deletion flag to the job log specified in the notification in S365 among the job logs stored in the storage unit 36 ​​(S366).

[0134] When the process of S366 is completed, the job log management unit 37e acquires the number of job logs for which the deletion flag is set and which are stored in the storage unit 36 ​​(S367).

[0135] When the processing of S367 is completed, if the number of job logs stored in memory unit 36 ​​for which the deletion flag is set, i.e., the number obtained in S367, is equal to or greater than a specific number, and if there is a first page image stored in memory unit 36 ​​associated with the oldest job log among the job logs stored in memory unit 36 ​​for which the deletion flag is set, job log management unit 37e deletes the oldest job log among the job logs stored in memory unit 36 ​​for which the deletion flag is set and the first page image stored in memory unit 36 ​​associated with this job log (S368).

[0136] When the processing of S367 is completed, if the number of job logs for which the deletion flag is set and stored in the memory unit 36, i.e., the number obtained in S367, is equal to or greater than a specific number, and if there is no first page image stored in the memory unit 36 ​​associated with the oldest job log among the job logs for which the deletion flag is set and stored in the memory unit 36 ​​(S369), the job log management unit 37e deletes the oldest job log among the job logs for which the deletion flag is set and stored in the memory unit 36.

[0137] As shown in FIG. 24, when the process of S368 or S369 is completed, the operation acceptance unit 37a ends the operation shown in FIG.

[0138] As described above, when the image forming device 30 prints the report with preview in S267, it deletes the first page image used to generate the report with preview from the storage unit 36 ​​(S304 and S333), thereby reducing the amount of pressure on the storage area of ​​the storage unit 36. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce security risks that arise when the first page image continues to remain in the image forming device 30.

[0139] When the image forming device 30 prints a report without a preview in S277, it deletes from the memory unit 36 ​​the first page image stored in the memory unit 36 ​​in association with the job log used to generate the report without a preview (S304 and S333), thereby reducing the amount of pressure on the storage area of ​​the memory unit 36 ​​and reducing the security risk caused by the first page image remaining in the image forming device 30.

[0140] When an instruction not to print a report of a fax transmission using a job log stored in storage unit 36 ​​is received by pressing "Do not print report" button 163 on previewable transmission completion screen 160 or pressing "Do not print report" button 172 on non-previewable transmission completion screen 170, image forming device 30 deletes the first page image stored in storage unit 36 ​​in association with this job log from storage unit 36 ​​(S304 and S333), thereby reducing the amount of pressure on the storage area of ​​storage unit 36. Furthermore, security risks arising from the first page image remaining in image forming device 30 can be reduced.

[0141] Even if the first page image is not deleted from storage unit 36 ​​by the processing of S304 or S333 because, for example, image forming apparatus 30 is turned off before the first page image is deleted from storage unit 36 ​​by the processing of S304 or S333, when deleting the job log from storage unit 36, image forming apparatus 30 deletes from storage unit 36 ​​the first page image stored in storage unit 36 ​​in association with this job log (S368), thereby reducing the amount of pressure on the storage area of ​​storage unit 36. Furthermore, security risks caused by the first page image remaining in image forming apparatus 30 can be reduced.

[0142] The image forming device 30 extracts the first page image from the page of the image to be transmitted by fax (S241) and stores the extracted first page image in the memory unit 36 ​​(S243) at a predetermined timing after the fax transmission is executed (S236). Therefore, the time from when the fax transmission is instructed to be executed to when the fax transmission is actually executed can be shortened compared to when the first page image from the page of the image to be transmitted by fax and stores the extracted first page image in the memory unit 36 ​​before the fax transmission is executed.

[0143] When transmitting images of multiple pages at once by fax, the image forming device 30 needs to scan each page one by one using the scanner 34, as in the processes of S201 to S207. However, if the image forming device 30 is equipped with an ADF (Auto Document Feeder), the image forming device 30 may use the ADF to scan multiple pages at once using the scanner 34. When using the ADF to scan multiple pages at once using the scanner 34, the image forming device 30 may execute the processes from S209 onwards without displaying the scan completion screen 130.

[0144] 24, the job log management unit 37e executes the processes of S367 to S369 when the process of S366 is completed. However, the job log management unit 37e may execute the processes of S367 to S369 regardless of the timing of execution of the process of S366. For example, the job log management unit 37e may execute the processes of S367 to S369 periodically.

[0145] In the above, the job log is saved before the "Print Report with Preview" button or the "Print Report Without Preview" button is pressed. However, the job log may be saved after the "Print Report with Preview" button or the "Print Report Without Preview" button is pressed. For example, the image forming apparatus 30 may perform the operations shown in FIGS. 25 to 27 instead of the operations shown in FIGS. 15 to 17 without performing the processes of S241 to S248 and S314 in the above-described operations.

[0146] Fig. 25 is a sequence diagram of an example of the operation of the image forming apparatus 30 when a button is pressed on the transmission completion screen, which is different from the example shown in Fig. 15. Fig. 26 is a sequence diagram of "report printing with preview" shown in Fig. 25. Fig. 27 is a sequence diagram of "report printing without preview" shown in Fig. 25.

[0147] As shown in Figures 25 to 27, when the "Print report with preview" button is pressed on the transmission completion screen, the operation acceptance unit 37a of the image forming apparatus 30 notifies the FAX job management unit 37b to execute printing of a report with preview (S401).

[0148] When the process of S401 is completed, the image forming apparatus 30 executes the processes of S402 to S405 which are similar to the processes of S241 to S244.

[0149] Upon receiving the notification in S405, the FAX job management section 37b executes the process of S406, which is the same as the process of S248.

[0150] When the process of S406 is completed, the FAX job management unit 37b notifies the operation reception unit 37a of the completion of saving the job log (S407).

[0151] After completing the process of S407, the image forming apparatus 30 executes the processes of S261 to S269.

[0152] When the "Print report without preview" button is pressed on the transmission completion screen, the operation accepting unit 37a notifies the FAX job managing unit 37b of the execution of printing a report without preview (S411).

[0153] When the fax job management unit 37b receives the notification in S411, it instructs the communication control unit 37d in S234 and then instructs the job log management unit 37e to save the job log of the fax transmission job for which the results have been notified by the communication control unit 37d in S238 or S240 (S412).

[0154] When the job log management unit 37e receives the instruction in S412, it stores the job log specified in the instruction in S412 in the storage unit 36 ​​(S413).

[0155] When the process of S413 is completed, the job log management section 37e notifies the FAX job management section 37b of the completion of saving the job log (S414).

[0156] Upon receiving the notification in S414, the FAX job management section 37b executes the processes of S415 and S416, which are similar to the processes of S406 and S407.

[0157] After completing the process of S416, the image forming apparatus 30 executes the processes of S271 to S279.

[0158] When the "Do not print report" button is pressed on the transmission completion screen, the operation accepting unit 37a notifies the FAX job managing unit 37b that a report of the FAX transmission will not be printed (S421).

[0159] Upon receiving the notification in S421, the FAX job management section 37b executes the processes of S422 to S426 which are similar to the processes of S412 to S416.

[0160] When the operation reception unit 37a receives a notification at S269, S279 or S426, if the fax transmission of at least some of the pages of the image targeted for fax transmission executed immediately before has failed, the operation reception unit 37a displays a transmission retry screen 180 on the display unit 32 (S281).

[0161] When the operation reception unit 37a receives a notification in S269, S279 or S426, if the fax transmission of all pages of the image pages targeted for the immediately preceding fax transmission was successful, the operation reception unit 37a displays the completion screen 190 on the display unit 32 (S282).

[0162] In addition, when processing S406, S415, or S425 during a retry of fax transmission, the fax job management unit 37b does not delete the multi-TIFF format image stored in the memory unit 36 ​​from the memory unit 36, but deletes the multi-TIFF format image stored in the memory unit 36 ​​and the fax number associated with this image from the memory unit 36.

[0163] The image forming device 30 associates the job log and first page image of the fax transmission job with each other and stores them in the memory unit 36 ​​(S404) at a predetermined timing after the timing when the ``Print report with preview'' button 161 is pressed on the previewable transmission completion screen 160 to instruct printing of the report with preview for this job.This makes it possible to prevent unnecessary first page images from being stored in the memory unit 36, thereby reducing the amount of pressure on the memory area of ​​the memory unit 36 ​​and reducing security risks caused by the first page image remaining in the image forming device 30.

[0164] In the above, the image forming apparatus 30 transmits a fax to the fax receiver via the fax service system 20 (S235-S236). However, if the image forming apparatus 30 is provided with a fax communication unit 38 that is a fax device that performs fax communication via a telephone line as shown in Fig. 28, the image forming apparatus 30 may transmit a fax directly to the fax receiver without going through the fax service system 20.

[0165] FIG. 28 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the image forming apparatus 30 that is different from the example shown in FIG.

[0166] The image forming device 30 shown in Figure 28 is similar in configuration to the image forming device 30 shown in Figure 2, except that it is equipped with a fax communication unit 38, and the fax transmission program 36b for fax transmission is replaced with the fax transmission program 36a (see Figure 2) and stored in the image forming device 30 shown in Figure 2.

[0167] By executing the fax transmission program 36b, the control unit 37 realizes an operation reception unit 37a, a scan control unit 37c, a job log management unit 37e, a report management unit 37f, and a print control unit 37g, a fax job management unit 37h that manages fax jobs, and a communication control unit 37i that controls communication with external devices. The fax job management unit 37h is similar to the fax job management unit 37b (see FIG. 2) except that it instructs the communication control unit 37i to send a fax rather than instructing the communication control unit 37i to request the fax service system 20 to send a fax. The communication control unit 37i is similar to the communication control unit 37d (see FIG. 2) except that it performs fax transmission itself using the fax communication unit 38 rather than requesting the fax service system 20 to send a fax.

[0168] In the above, the fax transmission system is configured with only one computer, which is an image forming device. However, the fax transmission system may be configured with multiple computers, for example, as shown in FIG.

[0169] FIG. 29 is a block diagram of a FAX transmission system 60 according to this embodiment.

[0170] 29 includes an image forming apparatus 30 and a computer 70 such as a PC (Personal Computer). At least a portion of the operations of the image forming apparatus 30 described above is performed by the computer 70. For example, communication between the fax transmitting system 60 and the fax service system 20 and cloud service system 40 is performed by the computer 70.

[0171] Various modifications and alterations to this invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention, and it should be understood that this invention is not limited to the illustrative embodiments set forth herein.

Claims

1. A system for sending faxes comprising a memory unit, a printing unit, and a control unit, wherein the control unit stores in the memory unit a job log of a fax sending job and a first page image, which is an image of the first page of pages in the job that were successfully sent by fax, in association with each other; when instructed to print a report with preview as a report of the fax sending that includes the first page image, generates the report with preview using the first page image and the job log that is associated with the first page image and stored in the memory unit, prints the generated report with preview by the printing unit; and when the report with preview has been printed, deletes the first page image used to generate the report with preview from the memory unit.

2. The fax transmission system of claim 1, wherein the control unit, when instructed to print a no-preview report as a fax transmission report that does not include the first page image, generates the no-preview report using the job log stored in the memory unit, prints the generated no-preview report by the printing unit, and, when the no-preview report has been printed, deletes from the memory unit the first page image stored in the memory unit in association with the job log used to generate the no-preview report.

3. The fax transmission system of claim 1, wherein the control unit deletes the first page image stored in the memory unit in association with the job log when instructed not to print a report of the fax transmission using the job log stored in the memory unit.

4. A fax transmission system as described in claim 1, wherein when the control unit deletes the job log from the memory unit, the control unit deletes from the memory unit the first page image stored in the memory unit in association with the job log.

5. The fax transmission system of claim 1, wherein the control unit associates the job log and the first page image of a fax transmission job with each other and stores them in the memory unit at a predetermined timing after an instruction is given to print the report with preview for the job.

6. A system for fax transmission as described in claim 1, wherein when the control unit receives a notification of a failed fax transmission, the control unit stores in the memory unit an image of the page of images to be transmitted by fax that failed to be transmitted, in association with the fax number of the destination of the fax transmission.

7. An image forming device comprising a memory unit, a printing unit, and a control unit, wherein the control unit stores in the memory unit a job log of a fax transmission job and a first page image as an image of the first page of pages in the job that were successfully transmitted by fax, in association with each other; when instructed to print a report with preview as a report of the fax transmission that includes the first page image, generates the report with preview using the first page image and the job log that is associated with the first page image and stored in the memory unit, prints the generated report with preview by the printing unit; and when the report with preview has been printed, deletes the first page image used to generate the report with preview from the memory unit.

8. A program for fax transmission executed by a computer having a memory unit and a printing unit, the program causing the computer to perform the following operations: associate a job log of a fax transmission job with a first page image as an image of the first page of pages successfully transmitted by fax in the job, and store them in the memory unit; when instructed to print a report with preview as a report of the fax transmission including the first page image, generate the report with preview using the first page image and the job log stored in the memory unit in association with the first page image, and print the generated report with preview by the printing unit; and when the report with preview has been printed, delete the first page image used to generate the report with preview from the memory unit.

Images