Supplementing facsimile image data
View Patent ↗The present disclosure provides supplemental data for facsimile image data representing an image of a document for transmission. The supplemental data can describe an aspect of the document, such as by uniquely identifying the document that the facsimile image data represents. The supplemental data can be provided with the image of the document, in a manner that will not essentially obscure the image of the document. The supplemental data can be in a machine readable form that identifies the document and that can be separate from the image of the document. The supplemental data permits facsimile transmitted documents to be processed automatically by facsimile connected systems.
1. A method for processing a document for facsimile transmission, the method comprising:
rendering facsimile image data representing an image of the document for facsimile transmission;
generating supplemental data that identifies the document, for facsimile transmission with the facsimile image data, the supplemental data permitting automated processing in connection with facsimile transmission of the supplemental data and facsimile image data based on identification of the document, the supplemental data being generated based on one or more parameters associated with the document or facsimile transmission of the facsimile image data representing the image of the document;
providing, in a manner that will not essentially obscure the image of the document, the supplemental data separately from the image of the document; and
facsimile transmitting the facsimile image data with the supplemental data.
2. The method of claim 1 in which the document is identified uniquely by the supplemental data.
3. The method of claim 1 in which the supplemental data is rendered as part of the facsimile image data for transmission.
4. The method of claim 1 in which the supplemental data is represented by a graphical element.
5. The method of claim 4 in which the graphical element comprises machine-readable indicia.
6. The method of claim 5 in which the machine-readable indicia comprises a bar code.
7. The method of claim 6 in which the bar code comprises a 1D bar code.
8. The method of claim 6 in which the bar code comprises a 2D bar code.
9. The method of claim 5 in which the machine-readable indicia comprises one or more glyphs.
10. The method of claim 5 in which the image of the document corresponds to an area that is bordered by areas that are not part of the image.
11. The method of claim 10 in which the border areas comprise a header or footer.
12. The method of claim 10 in which the border areas comprise a left margin or right margin.
13. The method of claim 5 in which the machine readable indicia is outside the image of the document.
14. The method of claim 1 in which the supplemental data is represented by characters rendered as part of the facsimile image data.
15. The method of claim 1 in which the supplemental data comprises a time when the facsimile image data is transmitted.
16. The method of claim 1 in which the supplemental data comprises a digital signature of an entity.
17. The method of claim 1 in which the supplemental data includes at least one of the following with respect to a sender of the facsimile data: name, facsimile number, telephone number.
18. The method of claim 1 in which the supplemental data includes at least one of the following with respect to a recipient of the facsimile data: name, facsimile number, telephone number.
19. The method of claim 1 in which the facsimile image data is transmitted by a facsimile device, and at least some of the supplemental data is provided by an application program that is not running on the facsimile device.
20. The method of claim 1 in which at least some of the supplemental data is provided by a facsimile device when the facsimile image data is transmitted.
21. The method of claim 1 also including storing the transmitted facsimile image data in a repository for use in processing the document after the facsimile image data has been transmitted.
22. The method of claim 21 in which at least a portion the supplemental data comprises an index key to locate stored information in the repository.
23. The method of claim 1 also including storing the supplemental data for use in processing the document after the facsimile image data has been transmitted.
24. The method of claim 23 in which at least a portion the supplemental data comprises an index key to locate the supplemental data in a database.
25. The method of claim 1 also including storing an electronic version of the document in a repository for use in processing the document after the facsimile image data has been transmitted.
26. The method of claim 25 in which at least a portion the supplemental data comprises an index key to locate the electronic version in the repository.
27. The method of claim 25 in which the electronic version comprises an image file.
28. The method of claim 25 also including storing structured data associated with content of the document in a repository for use in processing information in the document after the facsimile image data has been transmitted.
29. The method of claim 28 in which the structured data includes character information expressed in an editable format.
30. The method of claim 28 in which at least a portion the supplemental data comprises an index key to locate the structured data in the repository.
31. The method of claim 1 also including making available after the facsimile image data has been transmitted, at least one of an electronic version of the document, a copy of the transmitted facsimile image data, structured data associated with content of the document, and the supplemental data in a repository.
32. The method of claim 31 in which making available comprises responding to requests for service.
33. The method of claim 31 in which making available comprises delivering other than in response to a request.
34. A method for facsimile transmission of at least a portion of a document, the method comprising:
transmitting, via facsimile transmission, facsimile image data corresponding to images of two or more pages of the document;
generating supplemental data that distinctly identifies each of the two or more pages, the supplemental data permitting automated processing in connection with the transmitted facsimile image data based on the distinct identification of the two or more pages, the supplemental data being generated based on one or more parameters associated with the document or the facsimile transmission of the facsimile image data; and
transmitting, via facsimile transmission, in a manner that will not essentially obscure the images of the two or more pages, the supplemental data that distinctly identifies each of the two or more pages with the facsimile image data.
35. The method of claim 34 in which the distinct identification comprises a unique value.
36. The method of claim 35 in which the unique value is assigned to the document.
37. The method of claim 35 in which the unique value comprises a document number combined with a unique page number.
38. The method of claim 34 in which the supplemental data is represented by a graphical element.
39. The method of claim 38 in which the graphical element comprises machine-readable indicia.
40. The method of claim 38 in which the machine-readable indicia comprises one or more glyphs.
41. The method of claim 38 in which the machine-readable indicia comprises a bar code.
42. The method of claim 41 in which the bar code comprises a 1D bar code.
43. The method of claim 41 in which the bar code comprises a 2D bar code.
44. The method of claim 38 in which each image of each of the two or more pages of the document corresponds to an area that is bordered by areas that are not part of the image.
45. The method of claim 44 in which the graphical element is in a header or footer relative to the document image.
46. The method of claim 44 in which the border areas comprise a left margin or right margin.
47. The method of claim 34 in which the supplemental data is represented by characters rendered as part of the facsimile image data.