Network facsimile apparatus and channel selecting method
View Patent ↗The present invention selects a channel to be used in facsimile-transmitting image information included in e-mail subjected to relay request in accordance with channel selection information included in said e-mail.
1. A facsimile apparatus comprising:
a facsimile communication section which has a plurality of network channels to be used in facsimile communication;
an e-mail communication section which transmits/receives e-mail;
a channel selection information table which stores a plurality of said network channels and channel selection information corresponding to each of the plurality of said network channels; and
a channel selecting section which specifies said network channel to be used with reference to said channel selection information table based on said channel selection information, when an e-mail, which includes said channel selection information and dialing information of a transmission destination, is received,
wherein said facsimile communication section uses said specified network channel to transmit image information of said received e-mail to a transmission destination designated by said dialing information by facsimile,
wherein, when said channel selection information table has no channel selection information extracted from said received e-mail, said apparatus provides a notification, indicating that said channel selection information is improper, to a sender of said received e-mail.
2. A facsimile apparatus comprising:
a facsimile communication section which has a plurality of network channels to be used in facsimile communication;
an e-mail communication section which transmits/receives e-mail;
a channel selection information table which stores a plurality of said network channels and channel selection information corresponding to each of the plurality of said network channels; and
a channel selecting section which specifies said network channel to be used with reference to said channel selection information table based on said channel selection information, when an e-mail, which includes said channel selection information and dialing information of a transmission destination, is received,
wherein said facsimile communication section uses said specified network channel to transmit image information of said received e-mail to a transmission destination designated by said dialing information by facsimile,
wherein when neither said channel selection information nor said dialing information is in said received e-mail, said facsimile apparatus prints information of said received e-mail.
3. A facsimile apparatus comprising:
a facsimile communication section which has a plurality of network channels to be used in facsimile communication;
an e-mail communication section which transmits/receives e-mail;
a channel selection information table which stores a plurality of said network channels and channel selection information corresponding to each of the plurality of said network channels; and
a channel selecting section which specifies said network channel to be used with reference to said channel selection information table based on said channel selection information, when an e-mail, which includes said channel selection information and dialing information of a transmission destination, is received,
wherein said facsimile communication section uses said specified network channel to transmit image information of said received e-mail to a transmission destination designated by said dialing information by facsimile,
wherein a content of said channel selection information table is updated by information input from a panel control section.
4. A facsimile apparatus having a plurality of communication channels, at least one of the communication channels being connected to a LAN, the facsimile apparatus comprising:
a controller configured to detect receipt of an e-mail, to which image data is attached, via at least the communication channel connected to the LAN, the e-mail including a predetermined password, the predetermined password indicating relay of the attached image data to another facsimile apparatus, the predetermined password further indicating a communication channel to be utilized for relay of the attached image data to the another facsimile apparatus; and
the controller, when the received e-mail includes the predetermined password, being further configured to select, based on the predetermined password, a communication channel for relay of the attached image data to the another facsimile apparatus, to convert the attached image data into facsimile data, and to relay the converted facsimile data to the another facsimile apparatus via the selected communication channel, based on the predetermined password.
5. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising a table configured to store, for each of a plurality of passwords, information indicating a communication channel for relay of the attached image data to the another facsimile apparatus, wherein, when the received e-mail includes the predetermined password, the controller searches the table for information corresponding to the predetermined password, and selects the communication channel for relay of the attached image data to the another facsimile apparatus, based on the corresponding information.
6. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein when the table does not contain information corresponding to the predetermined password, the controller transmits an e-mail to a transmitter of the received e-mail, the e-mail notifying the transmitter that the predetermined password indicates an improper communication channel for relay of the attached image data to the another facsimile apparatus.
7. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising a panel configured to input information indicating a communication channel for relay of the attached image data to the another facsimile apparatus, whereby the table is capable of being updated regarding the information indicating a communication channel for relay of the attached image data to the another facsimile apparatus, by the panel.
8. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein another one of the plurality of communication channels is configured to be connected to one of a PSTN and an ISDN.
9. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the password is included in a header of the received e-mail.
10. A channel selecting method in a facsimile apparatus, the facsimile apparatus having a plurality of communication channels, at least one of the communication channels being connected to a LAN, the channel selecting method comprising:
receiving an e-mail, to which image data is attached, via the communication channel connected to the LAN, the e-mail including a predetermined password, the predetermined password indicating relay of the attached image data to another facsimile apparatus, the predetermined password further indicating which communication channel is to be utilized for relaying the attached image data to the another facsimile apparatus;
selecting a communication channel for relay of the attached image data to another facsimile apparatus, based on the predetermined password;
converting the attached image data into facsimile data; and
relaying the converted facsimile data to the another facsimile apparatus via the selected communication channel, based on the predetermined password.