WO2000078035A1

WO2000078035A1 - Method and apparatus for enabling a facsimile machine to send and receive e-mail

Info

Publication number: WO2000078035A1
Application number: PCT/US2000/016106
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael A. Meixler
Original assignee: Meixler Michael A
Priority date: 1999-06-11
Filing date: 2000-06-09
Publication date: 2000-12-21
Also published as: AU5482500A

Abstract

A system wherein a fax to e-mail incoming mail server (141) is receptive of incoming messages from an internet fax service (130). A fax to e-mail system server (140), connected to the fax to e-mail incoming mail server (141) is programmed to: convert each incoming fax to e-mail message and any appended documents to a format appropriate for facsimile machines, overlay the text of the incoming converted fax to e-mail message on an image file, process the incoming fax to e-mail to derive a telephone number for the recipient facsimile machine from the address of the incoming fax to e-mail message, and address the image file to the telephone number derived by the system server (140) for the recipient facsimile machine. An outgoing fax to e-mail server (142) receptive of the addressed image files generated by the fax to e-mail system server (140) transmits the formatted message to the facsimile machine telephone number via a communications network.

Description

Method and Apparatus for Enabling a Facsimile Machine to Send and Receive E-Mail

Cross Reference to Related Application

This is a non-provisional application of pending pπor provisional application Ser. No. 60/138,579, filed June 11, 1999. This provisional patent application is hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure.

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to methods of sending communications electronically. More specifically, the invention relates to methods of sending communications between a facsimile machine and other types of communication devices, and in particular other types of communication devices that send and receive electronic mail messages (e-mail)

Background of the Invention

Many businesses and individuals have facsimile (fax) machines as a normal part of their equipment for providing business communications. In addition, many fax machine owners do not have a means of connecting to the Internet such as a computer and an Internet Service Provider (ISP) Hence, it is desirable to provide a service that enables fax machine users to send messages to and receive messages from Internet users. The present invention includes a method of providing a service that enables fax machine users to send messages from their facsimile machines to e- mail receiving Internet users, and to receive e-mail messages from Internet users on their fax machines, without the use of a computer, peripheral equipment or an internet connection. The present invention also includes a system for providing this service.

A. Sending Messages from Facsimile Machines to E-mail Receiving Internet Users. There are many free and paid services (EFax.com™, JFax.com™) that enable internet users to receive messages from fax machine users via a dedicated fax number linked to the internet user's e-mail address. The message oπginates as a facsimile, and arrives in the recipient's e-mail as an attached image file. However these services require that the recipient of the message, the Internet user, is a registered user of the service, and therefore, these services do not allow the fax machine users to send messages to arbitrary internet-using recipients.

For example, in PCT Publication Number WO 99/06915, of Narasimhan, in which the Applicant is JFAX Communications, a source message server is configured to process a computer-readable message. A content processor creates a second message of content and format compatible with a receiver, which may be a pager. The second message is assigned a computer destination address by consulting a database which stores predefined filteπng and forwarding parameters for an account with the destination network address of the source message. Thus, the destination network e-mail address needs to be stored in the database before the computer-readable message can be forwarded to the message destination, precluding the capability of being able to send e-mails to arbitrary Internet using recipients. The need to store the address in this way is a disadvantage for the system disclosed there.

In U.S Patent No. 6,020,980, to Freeman, a facsimile device is disclosed coupled to a public telephone system. A network routing system, which includes a network switch for routing incoming facsimile transmissions to appropπate server devices, receives the facsimile transmissions. The facsimile transmissions are sent to specially designated telephone numbers. Upon receipt of a facsimile call, the network switch queπes a database such as a Network Control System (NCS) which performs a conventional number translation which translates the dialed number to a routing e-mail address for the message. Again, the destination network e-mail address needs to be stored in a look up table before the computer-readable message can be forwarded to the message destination, precluding the capability of being able to send e-mails to arbitrary internet using recipients, and being a disadvantage. U.S. Patent No. 4,837,798, to Cohen, et al. is directed to a unified messaging system for providing a single electronic mailbox for different types of messages, including voice mail, e-mail and facsimile transmissions Means are provided for mailbox owners to retπeve messages through vaπous means, however there is no ability to send e-mail messages to arbitrary Internet recipients.

U.S Patent No. 4,941,170, to Herbst, is directed to a facsimile transmission system for transmitting documents over telephone lines using an e-mail system between facsimile machines Herbst does not teach to convert an incoming facsimile message into a format for display on a computer monitor within an e-mail system, but simply teaches using the e-mail system as a means of stoπng and retransmitting facsimile messages between facsimile machines

U.S. Patent No. 6,025,931, to Bloomfield, is a facsimile to e-mail communication system but requires the use of a fax interface device to be added to the facsimile machine in order to provide the recipient e-mail address. The recipient's e-mail address is either input from a key pad on the fax interface device or is recalled from a memory in the fax interface device in order for the facsimile to e-mail communication system to deπve the destination e-mail address.

Consequently, the sender has to obtain the fax interface device, and add an additional component to his or her facsimile machine in order to use the system

Presently, the transmission of messages from facsimile systems to e-mail systems is cumbersome. A facsimile message sender needs to send the message to a service that has registered the e-mail address of the message recipient, or has to provide the e-mail address through a ancillary piece of equipment. The message recipient's e-mail address needs to be stored in a memory, look up table or database in order to be assigned to the message, or the sender has to dial in the e-mail address, or have the address stored in a special piece of equipment attached to the facsimile machine circuit. B. Receiving E-mail Messages from Internet Users on Facsimile Machines.

Many businesses have facsimile machines as a normal part of their equipment for providing business communications. With the introduction of inexpensive facsimile machines, now many homes also have facsimile machines. But many facsimile machine owners do not have a means of connecting to the Internet because they lack a computer and an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Hence it is desirable to provide a service that enables facsimile machine owners to also use their facsimile machines as a means for receiving electronic mail from Internet users.

Early in the development of the Internet, it was realized that the ability to transmit documents that originate from a personnel computer (PC) to a facsimile machine was an important function. One limitation was that many Internet service providers included that feature as part of their service at an additional cost above their regular service fee. Also, the complexity of using the electronic mail (e-mail) to facsimile machine feature made it difficult to use for less sophisticated computer users, limiting its effectiveness.

United States Patent No. 5,896,504, "System Having Facsimile Devices

Receiving E-mails from Terminal Computers by Monitoring Mail Boxes Associated with the Devices in Predetermined Intervals to Detect Arrival of Mail," issued to Ichiji Shirake, is a computer system for directing e-mail to a plurality of facsimile machines. In this system, the administrative computer has a plurality of virtual mailboxes programmed into the computer, one for each facsimile machine on the system. The administrative computer periodically monitors each mailbox to detect the arrival of an e-mail message and when a message is detected, the message is transferred to the associated facsimile machine. As a disadvantage in this system, a virtual mailbox has to be established for each facsimile machine, meaning that each facsimile machine has to be registered with the system before e-mail can be sent to it. The prior art is rich with e-mail services for Internet users. There are many free and paid services such as JFax.com™, Efax.com™, FaxSav.com™, and Faxaway.com™, that enable Internet users to send a message to a facsimile machine by electronic mail. The message originates as an electronic mail message, and arrives at the recipient's facsimile machine as a facsimile message. This service is commonly known as "E-mail-to-Fax". However, these services require that the sender of the message also referred to hereinafter as the Internet user, is a registered user of the service, and therefore, these services do not allow facsimile machine users to receive e-mail messages from arbitrary Internet-using senders.

For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a method and system that can enable the transmission of documents from an arbitrary PC to a facsimile machine so that facsimile machine users may receive Internet e-mail using their facsimile machines from any arbitrary e-mail user, without the use of a computer or Internet connection. There is also a need for a method and system to enable facsimile machine owners to send messages to any arbitrary Internet user without the need for either to be registered with any service, and without the need to add any additional hardware to the facsimile machines. Such a system, once operating, would immediately provide connectivity between all the facsimile machines in the world and the Internet, without the need for the facsimile machine owners or the Internet users having to go through a registration process.

Objects and Aspects of the Invention

In this disclosure the terms fax machine and facsimile machine are used interchangeably to refer to apparatus for sending or receiving electronic documents over a wire or by wireless communications, and for converting the documents from electronic signals to human readable form, or from human readable form to electronic signals. The terms fax or facsimile are used interchangeably and refer to the transmission of graphic matter such as printing or graphic pictures by wire or wireless and its reproduction. Accordingly, one aspect of this invention to provide a service whereby fax machine users can send and receive messages between arbitrary Internet users, without the need for the Internet user to subscribe to an internet fax service, or the fax machine user to have a computer or internet connection.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a means for the facsimile message sender to send messages to any Internet user without the need to add any additional hardware that is connected to their facsimile machines.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a means of providing the

Internet-using recipient of the message with an option to select the type of image file used to contain the message from the fax machine using sender (i.e. TIFF, PDF, GIF, etc.).

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a means for the facsimile message sender to encode the e-mail address of the intended recipient on the outgoing message.

Another aspect of the present invention is to automatically attach a cover sheet to some or all of the documents transmitted over the system.

It is still a further aspect of the present invention to include paid advertising information on the cover sheet, or in other portions of the message thereby providing a means to provide revenue from the service.

Another aspect of the present invention is to categorize the business interests of advertisers and match them with the business categories of the document recipients, thereby providing maximum effectiveness for the advertisers.

For the transmission of messages from PCs to facsimile machines, a still further aspect of the present invention is to use a novel messaging address that encodes the telephone number of the destination facsimile machine within the address.

Another aspect of the present invention is to further provide a method for detecting the facsimile telephone number encoded in the e-mail address, and sending the message to the facsimile machine at that telephone number in an automated process.

It is a further aspect of this invention to provide a means for every facsimile machine in the deployed area to have an e-mail address for receiving messages from arbitrary Internet users. These e-mail addresses may be provided free of charge to the user, without the need for the facsimile machine user to pre-register for the service, thereby enabling arbitrary facsimile machine users in the deployed area to receive e-mail from arbitrary Internet users. The e-mail address is based on the facsimile machine telephone number in the form:

mailto: xxxxxxxxxxxx® y.com

where "xxxxxxxxxxxx" is the telephone number, and where, "y.com" is the domain name of the provider of the service.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus to allow a facsimile machine owner to optionally select a unique convenient e-mail address for use by the sender. An example of some unique and convenient addresses for receiving e-mail on facsimile machines, are: "Bill@intellifax.com" or "Suzy@intellifax.com", or "AjaxCorp@faxmachinesonline.com" and facsimile owners may obtain similar addresses by registering with the service, if they wish to.

Another aspect of the invention is to provide verification to the sender of the message that the message was delivered to the designated facsimile machine.

It is still another aspect of the present invention to maintain a record of message destination sites in order to derive statistics on the nature of the use of the system.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a means of geographically targeting the paid advertisements.

It is a further object of this invention to provide Internet users with a means for sending common types of attachments to facsimile machine-using recipients.

A further aspect of this invention is to derive statistics on the business interests of the document sender and document recipients through surveys or commercially available databases to target cover sheet advertisements, in order to derive the maximum added value for the messages, and to avoid useless and annoying advertising.

Still another aspect of the present invention is to maintain a record of messages transmitted, and to derive statistics of advertisements delivered, and to provide that information back to the advertisers.

A primary advantage of the present invention is that fax machines owners become immediately enabled to send and receive e-mail without the need for a computer or internet service provider.

Another advantage of the present invention, if deployed as a free service without the need for fax machine owners to register, is that every facsimile machine, anywhere in the world becomes immediately accessible from any computer connected to the Internet.

Another advantage is that as the Internet increases in size, the number of facsimile machines and the number of computers that can communicate increase proportionately, thereby increasing commerce and connectivity between people and businesses. Still another advantage of the present invention is that the Internet sender does not need to have any special software installed on the sending computer to direct a message or a document to any facsimile machine, anywhere in the world. Another advantage of the present invention is that it enables advertisers to derive maximum benefit from their advertising efforts by targeting only relevant potential customers by type of business, and the present invention has the additional advantage of providing advertisers information on advertisements delivered.

These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the invention, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

Summary of the Invention

A. Sending Messages from Facsimile Machines to E-mail Receiving

Internet Users.

In a preferred embodiment of the facsimile to e-mail part of the system, the sender has a facsimile machine connected to a transmission system, such as the telephone system. Other means of transmission such as wireless communications networks are also possible. When the sender wishes to send a message from the facsimile machine to a particular internet-using recipient, the sender specifies the e- mail address of the recipient on the coversheet of the message using a form with a specific location for the recipient's e-mail address. The user then faxes the message to a dedicated fax number associated with the facsimile to e-mail system.

When the facsimile to e-mail portion of the system receives the message faxed by the user to the facsimile to e-mail system's dedicated fax number, the system stores the incoming fax electronically as multi-page Tagged Image File Format, commonly referred to as a TIFF file. Other commonly used formats are also possible. The system then uses software to analyze the coversheet of the TIFF file to detect the intended recipient's e-mail address that was specified by the sender in a form with the specific location for recipient's e-mail address. Next, the system constructs an e-mail message to the intended recipient, and attaches the TIFF file. The e-mail message is then sent to the recipient, and a record of the transaction is logged in the system database for use in determining usage parameters and determining the volume of messages carried, determining the geographic area of the delivered messages from the area codes and the exchanges of the message delivered, maintaining a record of the number of messages that are carried as advertising for each advertiser; and sending a receipt to the internet-using senders when the facsimile machine receives the message.

B. Sending Messages from E-mail Sending Internet Users to Facsimile Machines.

In a preferred embodiment of the e-mail-to-facsimile machine part of the new system disclosed here, every fax machine user of the system is automatically provided with an e-mail address. As is typical for Internet users, an Internet-using sender has a Personal Computer (PC) configured with an e-mail service provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). When the user wishes to send a message from the PC to a particular facsimile machine, the user formats the message, and in a location provided, the user appends the telephone number of the facsimile machine, to a system domain name, to which the message is to be directed. In this example of how the system operates, IntelliFax.com™ will be used as the domain name. The Internet Service Provider (ISP) of the PC owner directs the message to the IntelliFax.com™ system in the usual manner. The IntelliFax.com™ system reads the address and derives the destination telephone number appended to the system domain name. For example a typical address may be configured as "800-123- 5678@IntelliFax.com". The IntelliFax.com™ addresses the e-mail message to the telephone number assigned by the system for the destination fax machine. The system then converts the e-mail message, and any appended documents into a format appropriate for reception by a facsimile machine, automatically adds a cover sheet, and then directs the formatted facsimile message to the telephone number 800-123- 5678.

If the message is received immediately by the facsimile machine, an e-mail receipt is sent to the originating PC. If the facsimile machine is not available, the message is stored for later transmission. After a predetermine delay the system attempts to send the message again.

For convenience, fax machine owners can assign a unique name to each facsimile recipient such as Bill or Suzy, or AjaxCorp, thereby forming an address such as "Bill@IntelliFax.com", "Suzy@IntelliFax.com" or

"AjaxCorp@IntelliFax.com". In this case the fax machine owner would contact the IntelliFax.com™ system to store the corresponding facsimile machine unique name. The IntelliFax.com™ system would automatically detect the unique name and provide the corresponding facsimile telephone number.

The cover sheet of the message from the facsimile machine may contain advertising or the message may contain other material of a commercial nature, for which advertisers may pay a fee based on certain parameters, such as message volume or, ability of the system to target appropriate potential customers, or other benefits.

The system is capable of monitoring the area codes and exchanges of message delivered to facsimile machines, to derive statistics on geography of delivered messages in order to provide a means of geographically targeting the paid advertisements inserted in the messages.

Advertising may be added to messages sent from facsimile machines to Internet users for comparable for similar purposes.

The system is capable of maintaining a record of usage for each advertiser, and can issue a report to the advertiser periodically on the number of messages that carried the advertiser's message, how many were sent to each recipient and other detailed information that may have useful commercial purposes.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is an illustration of an end-to-end diagram depicting the path of a message that originates from a fax machine-using sender, through a fax to e-mail server constructed in accordance with, and embodying the principles of this invention, to an Internet using recipient.

Figure 2 depicts a logic flow diagram graphically illustrating the operation of the software running on the fax to e-mail server depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 3 depicts a logic flow diagram illustrating the method by which the system processes incoming fax to e-mail messages.

Figure 4 depicts an end-to-end diagram depicting the path of a message that originates from an Internet-using sender, through an e-mail to fax service to a facsimile machine using recipient.

Figure 5 depicts a logic flow diagram graphically illustrating the operation of the software running on the e-mail to fax server depicted in Figure 4.

Figure 6 depicts a logic flow diagram illustrating the method by which the system processes incoming e-mail to fax messages.

Figure 7 depicts a logic flow diagram illustrating how the system constructs an image file from the text of an incoming e-mail to fax message.

Figure 8 depicts a logic flow diagram that illustrates how the image file constructed according to Figure 7 is sent to the recipient's facsimile machine. Detailed Description of the Invention

The invention will be clearly understood by reference to the accompanying figures. Exemplary embodiments of the new system are disclosed in the following description.

Figures 1, 2 and 3, and item numbers from 100 through 390 refer to the Fax to e-mail portion of the system. Figures 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, and item numbers 400 through 820 refer to the e-mail to fax portion of the system. Also, the first digit of the item number corresponds to the same figure number for ease of reference.

Referring initially to Figure 1 of the drawing, a fax machine-using sender 100 specifies the e-mail address of the recipient on the first page of a fax to e-mail message 110, then faxes the message to the system's dedicated fax number, provided by a typical internet fax service 130. The fax to e-mail message 110 is sent over a telephone line. The message includes a form. In the preferred embodiment, this is done using a type of form (commonly used to encode answers on standardized tests), where the characters of the e-mail address are encoded by darkening individual cells in a matrix. An example of a highly suitable and preferred form is that marketed under the name Scan-Tron™.

The fax to e-mail system can use a typical paid Internet facsimile service 130 for receiving facsimiles. The fax to e-mail message 110 is received by the internet fax service 130, and is then forwarded by e-mail as an attached file to the system's POP3 incoming fax to e-mail mail server 141. The e-mail message is then fetched from the POP3 incoming fax to e-mail mail server 141 by fax to e-mail system server 140. The attached file, containing the original message, is then analyzed to determine the intended recipient's e-mail address. The attached file is then sent by e-mail via the outgoing SMTP fax to e-mail server 142 to the intended fax to e-mail recipient 150. Alternatively, the outgoing SMTP fax to e-mail server 142 Internet connection may also be provided by dedicated data lines, a cellular telephone link, Personal Communications System (PCS), microwave, cable or satellite networks as well as local area networks, or wide area networks.

The fax to e-mail Server 140 is typically a general purpose-computing platform. One possible configuration is an industry standard IBM™ compatible ISA computer having an Intel™ processor, a 2.5 gigabytes hard drive, a micro floppy drive, at least 32 megabytes of random access memory, and a 56 kilobits per second modem. Other computing platforms providing similar functions are also possible. The POP3 incoming fax to e-mail mail server 141 and the SMTP outgoing fax to e- mail mail server 142 are industry standard Microsoft Exchange™ mail servers. The Internet facsimile service 130 is a typical Internet facsimile service such as the ones provided by JFax.com™ or EFax.com™ which provides a dedicated fax number for receiving faxes from arbitrary fax machine users, and forwards incoming faxes to a specified e-mail address. The construction and operation of this platform, these mail servers, the Internet facsimile service and the connections between them, are well understood in the art.

The method by which the fax to e-mail system server 140 transfers messages received by facsimile to the recipient's e-mail addresses is described with reference to FIG 2. After Start 200, a non-terminating loop repeatedly queries the POP3 incoming fax to e-mail server 141 at step 205. Step 210 is a decision point. If no new message has arrived the fax to e-mail system waits a predetermined period of time 207, and then returns to step 205. If a new message has arrived, the system transitions to step 212 to process the message as shown in FIG. 3, then transitions back to step 205.

The method by which the IntelliFax.com™ fax to e-mail server system 140 processes incoming messages that have arrived is described with reference to FIG. 3. The incoming message process sequence begins at step 300 if a new message has arrived in step 212. At step 310, the system fetches one new message from the POP3 incoming fax to e-mail server 141. At step 320, the fax to e-mail system determines if the incoming message contains a forwarded facsimile message. If no forwarded facsimile message is attached, processing ceases and the message is forwarded to the dead letter bin 330, where it is eventually discarded. If the message contains a forwarded facsimile message in an attached file from the Internet fax service 130, the attached image file is temporarily stored on the system's hard disk as per step 340. Next, the image file containing the faxed message is analyzed to determine the e-mail address of the intended recipient in step 350. In the preferred embodiment, the e-mail address has been encoded in a Scan-Tron™ form. The 'Teleform Elite™' software package, designed to analyze such forms, provided by Cardiff, Inc. is used to analyze the e-mail address encoded in the form by the sender. The decoded characters are written to a temporary text file on the fax to e-mail server's hard disk. The fax to e-mail server system 140 then reads the text file to resolve the e-mail address of the intended recipient. Other means of encoding and decoding the recipient include, but are not limited to optical character recognition, bar coding, and manual data entry. At step 350, the fax to e-mail system server analyzes the first page of the image file to attempt to resolve the encoded e-mail address to determine if the e-mail address can be resolved. Step 360 is another decision point. If the e-mail address was resolved at step 350, the system then sends the image file that was stored in step 340 to the intended recipient with the attached image file in step 380. If, for any reason the intended recipient's e-mail address could not be resolved in step 350, the system issues a warning to the sender at step 370. Next, the system logs a record of the transaction in the fax to e-mail system database at step 385. The system logs a record of the transaction in the fax to e- mail system database for billing purposes, and archiving purposes, such determining usage parameters and determining the volume of messages carried, determining the geographic area of the delivered messages from the area codes and the exchanges of the message delivered, maintaining a record of the number of messages that are carried as advertising for each advertiser; and sending a receipt to the facsimile senders when the e-mail user receives the message. The sequence ends at step 390, and the system reverts to waiting for a new message to arrive by returning to step 205 of Figure 2. Additionally, paid advertisements may be included in the messages processed by the system.

Referring initially to Figure 4 of the drawing, shown at 440 therein is an e- mail to fax system server constructed in accordance with and embodying the principles of this invention. The e-mail to fax system server is connected to the Internet, and has access to incoming e-mail via the e-mail to fax POP3 incoming mail server 441, and can send outgoing e-mail via the outgoing e-mail to fax SMTP mail server 442. The system also employs a typical paid Internet facsimile service 445 used for sending facsimiles. The server 440 runs software that executes instructions as per Figure 5 on a general purpose-computing platform.

In a highly preferred configuration of the present invention, the general purpose computing platform is an industry standard IBM™ compatible ISA computer having a Pentium™ processor, a 2.5 gigabytes hard drive, a 3 inch floppy drive, 32 megabytes of random access memory, and a 56 kilobits per second modem. Other computing platforms providing similar functions are also acceptable for use with the present invention. The POP3 incoming e-mail to fax mail server 441 and the SMTP outgoing e-mail to fax mail server 442 are industry standard Microsoft Exchange™ mail servers, although others can be used. The Internet facsimile service 445 is a typical Internet facsimile service such as the ones provided by JFax.com™ or EFax.com™ which can be used to send a facsimile to a particular facsimile number via e-mail by encoding the destination facsimile number in the e- mail address. The construction and operation of this platform, these mail servers, the Internet facsimile service and the connections between them, are well understood in the art.

The e-mail to fax server 440 operates basically as follows. The POP3 incoming e-mail to fax server 441 is configured to route all incoming mail to any username with a particular Internet domain name to a single POP3 e-mail account. In the context of the domain name IntelliFax.com™, e-mail to any username at "intellifax.com" is routed to a single POP3 e-mail account.

Still referring to Figure 4, the Internet using e-mail to fax sender 100, creates an e-mail to fax message 410 to which an address of the form destination@intellifax.com is attached, which is then sent on an Internet connection. Message 410 is directed by the user's Internet Service Provider to the e-mail to fax POP3 incoming mail server 441. Alternatively, the Internet connection may also be provided by other communications networks such as dedicated data lines, a cellular telephone link, Personal Communications System, Microwave, Cable or Satellite networks. The e-mail to fax message 410 is fetched from the e-mail to fax POP3 incoming mail server 441 by e-mail to fax system server 440. The message is converted within the IntelliFax.com™ e-mail to fax system server 440 to a facsimile format message, and is transmitted on a public switched telephone network 450, such as those provided by a local or regional telephone operating company to the subscriber's facsimile machine 460. The converted message may be transmitted to the subscriber's facsimile machine by other communications links other than public telephone systems in other implementations of this invention. Using the above configuration of system components, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for facsimile owners to receive e-mail on their facsimile machine machines.

The method by which the IntelliFax.com™ e-mail to fax system server 440 system transfers received e-mail messages to a facsimile machine is described with reference to FIG 5. After step 500, Start, a non-terminating loop repeatedly queries the incoming e-mail to fax system server 440 at step 505. At step 510 if no new e- mail message has arrived, the e-mail to fax system waits a predetermined period of time 507 and then returns to step 505. If a new message has arrived, the system transitions to step 512 to process the e-mail to fax message as shown in FIG 6, then transitions back to step 505.

The method by which the IntelliFax.com™ e-mail to fax system server 440 processes the incoming e-mail to fax messages to derive the facsimile number is described with reference to FIG 6. At step 600, the e-mail to fax system proceeds to process the e-mail to fax message. At step 610, the system fetches one new e-mail to fax message. The new e-mail message that has been received by the system may be of the form "username@IntelliFax.com", in which the username indicates a particular subscriber, and IntelliFax.com is a domain name. For example, the username might be the string "BillR", or "SusanK". In that case, the message address associated with that particular message would be in the form "BillR@IntelliFax.com", or "SusanK@IntelliFax.com". BillR is a subscriber of the IntelliFax.com™ system, whose facsimile machine telephone number is in the e- mail to fax Server system database. At step 620 the e-mail to fax system parses the string containing the message recipient name to get the username. This is done by first finding the position of the "@" symbol in the recipient name, then extracting the portion of the recipient name to the left of the "@" symbol. At step 630 the system determines whether the username is a facsimile number, based on whether or not the username consists entirely of numeric characters. If so, the system skips to step 680. If the result of step 630 is that the username is not a facsimile number, then the system transitions to step 640, where the system queries the e-mail to fax system user database to find a record for this user. The e-mail to fax system transitions to step 650 where it determines if a record was found. If no record is found, then the system transitions to step 660 where the system discards the message. If a record for the user is found in step 650 then the system gets the facsimile number associated with the user as per the user's record in step 670. In step 680 the system constructs an image from the text of the message as shown in FIG 7. In step 690 a facsimile is sent to the recipient's facsimile machine as described in Fig 8. In step 695, the system logs a record of each transaction in the e-mail to fax system usage database for billing purposes, and archiving purposes, such as determining usage parameters, determining the volume of messages carried, determining the geographic area of the delivered messages from the area codes and the exchanges of the message delivered, maintaining a record of the number of messages that are carried as advertising for each advertiser; and sending a receipt to the internet-using senders when the facsimile machine receives the message. The incoming e-mail to fax process ends at step 698 where the system returns to step 502 to query the incoming e-mail to fax server to determine if is new message has arrived.

The method by which the IntelliFax.com™ incoming e-mail to fax system constructs 440 an image file of the incoming messages is described with reference to FIG 7. The present invention uses a form called a Tagged Image File Format, commonly referred to as a TIFF file, although other commonly used formats are also possible. At step 710 the e-mail to fax system determines whether advertisements are to be included with the message, according to user's record in the system database. If advertisements are not to be included in the message, then the system creates an image file and overlays the text of the incoming message on the image file at step 730, then transitions to step 760. If advertisements are to be included in the message, then the system creates an image file and overlays the text of the incoming message on the image file at step 720, leaving space for advertisements on the page(s) of the image file. At step 740, the system selects the advertisement(s) to be included in the message using industry-standard advertisement-selection algorithms, such as those implemented in the software package "Ad Juggler™, by Digital Nation™, Inc. At step 750, the system overlays the advertisements on the image file. Step 760 is the end of the series of steps by which the system processes the incoming e-mail to fax messages, and the e-mail to fax system transitions to step 690 to send the message.

The method by which the IntelliFax.com™ e-mail to fax Server 440 system transmits the image file by facsimile to the recipient's facsimile machine is described with reference to FIG 8. A typical Internet facsimile service is used to transmit the facsimile. In the present invention, the service provided by JFAX.com, Inc. ™ is preferably used, although other Internet facsimile services or dedicated facsimile servers could be used. The e-mail to fax system sequences from step 690 to step 800, start. From 800 the system transitions to step 810. At step 810, the e- mail to fax system composes an e-mail message addressed to

"recipientfacsimlenumber@jfaxsend.com",

attaches the image file to the e-mail, and sends the e-mail.

In the present invention, the e-mail to fax system server 440 and the fax to e- mail system server 141 that execute the instructions depicted in FIGS 4,5,6,7 and 8 can be constructed using the following operating system, programming languages, programming tools, components, software, and database, although other resources could be used The mam programs are wπtten using Microsoft™ Visual Basic 5 0 and each runs on a personal computer with the Windows 98 operating system A Microsoft™ Access 97 database is used to store system data For retπeving mail from the e-mail to fax POP3 incoming mail servers, the Mabry Mail component, from Mabry, Inc ™ is used For sending outgoing mail through the outgoing e-mail to fax SMTP mail servers, the Microsoft™ MAPI components are used, in conjunction with Windows™ Messaging For constructing and annotating TIFF image files, the Kodak™ image admin and image edit components are used Although not specifically shown in the system block diagram the system may maintain a record of each transaction in a record transaction database for billing purposes using techniques well known in the art

Further explanation beyond the detailed descπption in this specification of the hardware and software components of "Method and Apparatus for Enabling a Facsimile Machine to Send and Receive E-mail" is deemed unnecessary, as it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art

While the embodiment of the present invention disclosed herein is a preferred form, other embodiments of the present invention will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art in view of this disclosure Therefore it will be understood that vaπations and modifications can be effected withm the scope and spiπt of the present invention, and such vaπations and modifications are intended to be withm the scope of the claimed invention, and that the scope of the present invention should only be limited by the claims below Furthermore, the equivalents of all means-plus-function or step-plus-function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, mateπal, or acts for performing the function as specifically claimed, as would be understood by persons skilled in the art of this disclosure, without suggesting that any of the structure, mateπal, or acts are more obvious by virtue of their association with other elements

Claims

I claim:

1. A system for facsimile machine users to send and receive e-mail comprising:

a) at least one fax to e-mail system server, receptive of incoming fax to e-mail messages from at least one incoming fax to e-mail mail server and responsive to at least one outgoing fax to e-mail server, each fax to e-mail system server comprising;

means for converting each incoming fax to e-mail message and any appended documents to an image file format appropriate for facsimile machine reception,

means for overlaying the text of each incoming converted fax to e- mail message on a corresponding image file,

means for processing each incoming fax to e-mail message to derive a telephone number for the recipient facsimile machine from the incoming fax to e-mail message address,

means for addressing the corresponding image file to the telephone number derived by the system server for the recipient facsimile machine, and

means for sending the formatted message to the address of the intended fax to e-mail recipient, and

b) at least one e-mail to fax system server, the e-mail to fax system server receptive of incoming e-mail to fax messages from at least one incoming e- mail to fax mail server, and responsive to at least one outgoing e-mail to fax mail server, each incoming message comprised of a forwarded message and an encoded e-mail address, each e-mail to fax system server comprising:

means for fetching the incoming e-mail to fax messages from at least one incoming e-mail to fax mail server,

means for deriving the facsimile number,

means for converting the incoming e-mail to fax messages, to a facsimile format, and

means for transmitting the converted the incoming e-mail to fax messages to at least one outgoing e-mail to fax mail server.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the means for processing each incoming fax to e-mail message further comprises:

means for fetching each new fax to e-mail message from the fax to e-mail incoming mail server;

means for determining if each incoming fax to e-mail message contains a forwarded facsimile message with an attached image file;

means for temporarily storing each attached image file in a system storage means;

means for analyzing each incoming fax to e-mail message to determine the e- mail address of the recipient;

means for decoding the e-mail address characters;

means for writing the decoded characters to a temporary text file in the system server storage means;

means for reading the text file to resolve the e-mail address of the intended recipient; and

means for sending the stored image file to the intended recipient.

3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one subscriber database containing a plurality of facsimile machine telephone number records, each having a corresponding unique convenient e-mail address for use by each sender; and a means for finding each unique record for each corresponding facsimile machine.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the fax to e-mail system server is also in communication with at least one system database for logging a record of each transaction.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the incoming fax to e-mail message address has been encoded in a form by darkening cells in a matrix further comprising means for analyzing each incoming fax to email message to determining the e-mail address using the Teleform Elite™ software package.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the means for deriving the facsimile number of each incoming e-mail to fax message further comprises:

means for parsing a string of the form "username @domainname" containing the message recipient name to derive the username,

means for determining if the username consists entirely of numeric characters, and

means for querying the subscriber database to find a record having the user's facsimile number corresponding to the username if the username does not consist entirely of numeric characters.

7. The e-mail to fax system server of claim 1, wherein the means for converting the incoming e-mail to fax messages, to a facsimile format further comprises:

means for determining whether advertisements are to be included with each message;

means for creating an image file corresponding to each incoming e-mail to fax message, the image file having space for advertisements; and

means for overlaying the text of each incoming e-mail to fax message on each image file.

8. The e-mail to fax system server of claim 1, wherein the means for transmitting an image file of each incoming e-mail to fax message further comprises:

means for composing an e-mail message addressed to the recipient's facsimile number concatenated to the "@ " symbol which precedes the domain name of an outgoing e-mail to fax mail server; and

means for attaching the image file to the e-mail message.

9. The fax to e-mail system server of claim 2, further comprising means for issuing a warning to the sending the e-mail address if the recipient could not be determined.

10. The system of claim 2, wherein the means for analyzing each incoming fax to e-mail address uses the Teleform Elite™ software package.

11. The system for facsimile machine users to send and receive e-mail of claim 4, further comprising a means for logging a record of each transaction in at least one database.

12. The fax to e-mail system server of claim 4, further comprising:

means for adding a cover sheet to each fax to e-mail facsimile message;

means for determining the volume of messages;

means for determining the geographic area of the delivered messages from the area codes and the exchanges of the message delivered;

means for monitoring the area codes and exchanges of messages delivered;

means for maintaining a record of the number of messages that are carried as advertising for each advertiser in the system database; and

means for sending a receipt to facsimile machine users when the e-mil is delivered.

13. Each subscriber database of claim 3, further comprising a means for providing unique, easy to remember e-mail addresses to fax machine recipients for receiving e-mail on their fax machines from Internet users.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

means for storing each e-mail to facsimile message for later transmission if the facsimile machine is not available;

means for maintaining a record of the number of messages that are carried as advertising for each advertiser; and

means for attempting to send an undelivered message again, after a predetermined delay.

15. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

means to store advertising information relative to each subscriber;

means to provide advertising information for each subscriber, and

means for adding advertising to the cover sheets.

16. The system of claim 1 for providing a service to fax machine users that enables the fax machine users to send messages to, or receive messages from arbitrary Internet e-mail users, by providing facsimile machine users an e- mail address based on their fax number without the need for either the facsimile user or the arbitrary Internet e-mail user to register for a service.

17. The system of claim 15 further comprising a method for generating business revenue from paid advertisements placed on the messages that are transferred through the service.

18. The system of claim 16, further comprising a method for generating business revenue from paid advertisements placed on the messages that are transferred through the service.

19. A system for facsimile machine users to send e-mail comprising:

at least one fax to e-mail system server, receptive of incoming fax to e-mail messages from at least one incoming fax to e-mail mail server and responsive to at least one outgoing fax to e-mail server, each fax to e-mail system server comprising;

means for converting each incoming fax to e-mail message and any appended documents to an image file format appropriate for facsimile machine reception;

means for overlaying the text of each incoming converted fax to e- mail message on a corresponding image file;

means for processing each incoming fax to e-mail message to derive a telephone number for the recipient facsimile machine from the incoming fax to e-mail message address, and

means for addressing the corresponding image file to the telephone number derived by the system server for the recipient facsimile machine;

means for sending the formatted message to the address of the intended fax to e-mail recipient.

20. A system for facsimile machine users to receive e-mail comprising:

at least one e-mail to fax system server, the e-mail to fax system server receptive of incoming e-mail to fax messages from at least one incoming e- mail to fax mail server, and responsive to at least one outgoing e-mail to fax mail server, each incoming message comprised of a forwarded message and an encoded e-mail address, each e-mail to fax system server comprising:

means for fetching the incoming e-mail to fax messages from at least one incoming e-mail to fax mail server; means for deriving the facsimile number;

21. A system for facsimile machine users to send and receive e-mail comprising:

a) at least one fax to e-mail system server, receptive of incoming fax to e-mail messages from at least one POP3 incoming fax to e-mail in server and responsive to at least one outgoing SMTP fax to e-mail server, each fax to e- mail system server comprising:

a fax to e-mail general purpose-computing platform comprised of at least one fax to e-mail computer, each fax to e-mail computer having a processor, a hard drive, a floppy drive, a random access memory, and a modem, and

each fax to e-mail general purpose-computing platform equipped with a Teleform Elite™ software package.

b) at least one e-mail to fax system server, each e-mail to fax system server receptive of incoming e-mail to fax messages from at least one POP3 incoming e-mail to fax mail server, and responsive to at least one SMTP outgoing e-mail to fax mail server, each e-mail to fax system server comprising:

an e-mail to fax general purpose-computing platform comprised of at least one e-mail to fax computer, each computer having a processor, a hard drive, a floppy drive, a random access memory, and a modem, and each e-mail to fax general purpose-computing platform equipped with a Mabry™ Mail component software package, a Windows™ messaging software package, and a Kodak™ image admin and image edit software capability.

22. A method for enabling facsimile machine users to send and receive e-mail comprising the steps of:

a) converting each incoming fax to e-mail message and any appended documents to an image file format appropriate for facsimile machine reception;

overlaying the text of each incoming converted fax to e-mail message on a corresponding image file;

processing each incoming fax to e-mail message to derive a telephone number for the recipient facsimile machine from the incoming fax to e-mail message address;

addressing the corresponding image file to the telephone number derived by the system server for the recipient facsimile machine; and

sending the formatted message to the address of the intended fax to e- mail recipient, and

b) fetching the incoming e-mail to fax messages from at least one incoming e-mail to fax mail server,

deriving the facsimile number;

converting the incoming e-mail to fax messages, to a facsimile format; and

transmitting the converted incoming e-mail to fax messages to at least one outgoing e-mail to fax mail server.

23 The method according to claim 22, wherein the steps for processing each incoming fax to e-mail message further compπses.

fetching each new fax to e-mail message from the fax to e-mail incoming mail server;

determining if each incoming fax to e-mail message contains a forwarded facsimile message with an attached image file;

temporaπly stoπng each attached image file in a system storage means;

analyzing each incoming fax to e-mail message to determine the e-mail address of the recipient;

decoding the e-mail address characters;

wπting the decoded characters to a temporary text file in the system server storage means,

reading the text file to resolve the e-mail address of the intended recipient, and;

sending the stored image file to the intended recipient.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the step of analyzing each incoming fax to e-mail message to determine the e-mail address of the recipient further compπses'

parsing a stπng of the form "username @domaιnname" containing the message recipient name to deπve the username;

determining if the username consists entirely of numeπc characters; and

querying a first database to find a record having the user's facsimile number corresponding to the username if the username does not consist entirely of numeπc characters.

25. The method according to claim 22, wherein the step of converting each incoming fax to e-mail message and any appended documents to an image file format appropπate for facsimile machine reception further compπses the steps of:

determining whether advertisements are to be included with each message;

creating an image file corresponding to each incoming e-mail to fax message, the image file having space for advertisements; and

overlaying the text of each incoming e-mail to fax message on each image file.

26 The method claim 23, wherein the step of transmitting the image file of each incoming e-mail to fax message further compπses the steps of

composing an e-mail message addressed to the recipient's facsimile number concatenated to the "@" symbol which precedes the domain name of an outgoing e-mail to fax mail server; and attaching the image file to the e-mail message.

27. A method for facsimile machine users to send e-mail comprising the steps of:

converting each incoming fax to e-mail message and any appended documents to an image file format appropriate for facsimile machine reception;

processing each incoming fax to e-mail message to derive a telephone number for the recipient facsimile machine from the incoming fax to e-mail message address; ;

sending the formatted message to the address of the intended fax to e- mail recipient.

28. A method for facsimile machine users to receive e-mail comprising the steps of: fetching the incoming e-mail to fax messages from at least one incoming e-mail to fax mail server;

deriving the facsimile number;

converting the incoming e-mail to fax messages, to a facsimile format; and

transmitting the converted the incoming e-mail to fax messages to at least one outgoing e-mail to fax mail server.

AMENDED CLAIMS

[received by the International Bureau on 16 November 2000 (16.1 1.00); original claims 1-5. 9-12, 14, 15. 17-19 and 21-27 amended; remaining claims unchanged (12 pages)]

[ ) A system for facsimile machine users and Internet e-mail users to exchange messages comprising:

a) at least one fax to e-mail system server, having an fax to e-mail operating system, each fax to e-mail system server receptive of facsimile messages from at least one incoming fax to e-mail Internet mail server, and responsive to at least one outgoing fax to E-mail internet mail server, each fax to E-mail system server comprising:

means for periodically querying each incoming fax to e-mail Internet mail server to determine if new messages have arrived:

means for fetching each new message from the incoming fax to e-mail Internet mail server:

means for determining if the incoming message contains a forwarded facsimile message in an attached file;

means for storing the incoming forwarded facsimile message as an image file:

means for analyzing the first page of the stored image files contained in the forwarded facsimile message, to determine the recipient e-mail address, and

means for sending the stored image file to the outgoing fax to e-mail Internet mail server, using the recipient e-mail address, and

b) at least one e-mail to fax system server, having a e-mail to fax operating system. each e-mail to fax system server receptive of e-mail messages from at least one incoming e-mail to fax Internet mail server, and responsive to at least one outgoing e-mail to fax internet mail server, each e-mail to fax system server comprising: means for periodically querying each incoming e-mail to fax Internet mail server to determine if new messages have arrived:

means for fetching each new e-mail message from the incoming e-mail to fax Internet mail server;

means for constructing an image file from the text of each incoming e-mail message;

means for deriving the fax number associated with each incoming e-mail message:

means for converting each incoming e-mail message 10 a facsimile formal;

means for adding a cover sheet, and

means for transmitting each converted incoming e-mail message to at least one outgoing e-mail fax mail server.

2) The system of claim 1, wherein the means for processing each incoming fax to e-mail message further comprises:

means for analyzing the first page of the attached image file to decode the e-mail address characters;

means for reading the text file to resolve the e-mail address of the intended recipient; and means for sending the stored image file to the intended recipient.

3 ) The e-mail to fax system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one subscriber database containing a plurality of facsimile machine telephone number records, each having a corresponding unique convenient e-mail address for use by each e-mail sender: and a means for finding each unique record for each corresponding facsimile machine.

4) The system of claim 1 , wherein each fax to e-mail system server is further comprised of a fax to e-mail system database for recording each transaction, and each fax to E-mail system server is programmed to record each transaction into the fax to e-mail system database, and each e-mail to fax system server is further comprised of an e-mail to fax system database for recording of each transaction, and the e-mail to fax system server is programmed to record each transaction in the e-mail to fax system database.

5) The system of claim 2, wherein the incoming fax to e-mail message address has been encoded in a form by darkening cells in a matrix further comprising means for analyzing each incoming fax to e-mail message to determine the e-mail address using the Teleform Elite™ software package.

6) The system according to claim 1. wherein the means for deriving the facsimile number for each incoming e-mail to fax message further comprises:

means for parsing a string of the form "username@domainname" containing the message recipient name to derive the username.

means for querying the subscriber database to find a record having the user's facsimile number corresponding to the username if the username does not consist entirely of numeric characters. 7) The e-mail to fax system of claim 1 , wherein the means for converting the incoming e- mail to fax messages, to a facsimile format further comprises:

-) means for creating an image file corresponding to each incoming e-mail to fax message, the image file having space for advertisements, and means for overlaying the text of each incoming e-mail to fax message on each image file.

0 8) The e-mail to fax system server of claim 1 , wherein the means for transmitting an image file for each incoming e-mail to fax message further comprises:

means for composing an e-maii message addressed to the recipient's facsimile number concatenated to the "@" symbol which precedes the domain name of an outgoing e-maii 5 to fax mail server; and

means for attaching the image file to the e-mail message.

9. The fax to e-mail system of claim 2, further comprising means for issuing a warning to 0 the sender if the recipient could not be determined.

10. The system of claim 2, wherein the means for analyzing each incoming fax to e-mail address uses optical character recognition., bar code reading, or manual data entry.

5 1 1. The system of claim 2. wherein the means for analyzing each incoming fax to e-mail address uses bar code reading, or manual data entry.

12. The fax to e-mail system of claim 4, further comprising:

0 means for determining the volume of messages: means for determining the geographic area of the delivered messages from the area codes and exchanges of the messages delivered;

means for monitoring he area codes and exchanges of messages delivered:

means for maintaining a record of the number of messages that are carried as advertising in the system database: and

means for sending a receipt to the facsimile senders when the e-mail is delivered.

14. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

means for maintaining a record of the number of messages that are carried as advertising: and

1 . The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a means to store advertising information relative to each subscriber;

means to provide advertising information for each subscriber, and

means for adding advertising to the cover sheets.

16. The system of claim 1 for providing a service to fax machine users that enables fax machine users to send messages to, or receive messages from arbitrary Internet e-mail users, by providing facsimile machine users an e-mail address based on their fax number without the need for either the facsimile user or the arbitrary Internet e-mail user to register for a service.

17. The system of claim 15 further comprising a means for generating business revenue from paid advertisements placed on the messages that are transferred through the system.

18. The system of claim 16 further comprising a means for generating business revenue from paid advertisements placed on the messages that are transferred through the system.

19. A system for facsimile machine users and Internet e-mail users to exchange messages comprising:

at least one fax to e-mail system server, receptive of incoming fax to e-mail mail server and responsive to at least one outgoing fax to e-mail mail server, each fax to e-mail system server comprising:

means for converting each incoming fax to e-mail message and any appended documents to an image file format appropriate for e-mail reception:

means for overlaying the text of each incoming converted fax to e-mail message on a corresponding image tile;

means for processing each incoming fax to e-mail message to derive an e-mail address for the e-mail recipient from the incoming fax to e-mail message address:

means for addressing the corresponding image file to the e-mail address derived by the system for the e-mail recipient, and means for sending the formatted message to the address of the intended fax to e- mail recipient.

20. A system for facsimile machine users to receive e-mail comprising:

at least one e-mail to fax system server, the e-mail to fax system server receptive of incoming e-mail to fax messages from at least one incoming e-mail to fax mail server, and responsive to at least one outgoing e-mail to fax mail server, each incoming message composed of a forwarded message and an encoded e-mail address, each e-mail to fax system server comprising:

means for fetching the incoming e-mail to fax messages from ai least one incoming e-mail to fax mail server;

means for deriving the facsimile number;

means for converting the incoming e-mail to fax messages, to a facsimile format. and

means for transmitting the converted incoming e-mail to fax messages to at least one outgoing e-mail to fax mail server.

21. A system for facsimile machine users and Internet e-mail users to exchange messages comprising:

a) at least one fax to e-mail system server, receptive of incoming fax to e-mail messages from at least one POP3 incoming fax to e-mail server and responsive to at least one outgoing SMPT fax to e-mail server, each fax to e-mail system server comprising:

a fax to e-mail general purpose-computing platform comprised of at least one fax to c- mail computer, each fax to e-mail computer having a processor, a hard drive, a floppy drive, a random access memory, and a modem, and

each fax to e-mail general purpose computing platform equipped with a Teleform Elite™ software package, and

b) at least one e-mail to fax system server, each e-mail to fax system server receptive of incoming e-mail to fax messages from at least one POP3 incoming e-mail to fax mail server, and responsive to at least one SMTP outgoing e-mail to fax mail server, each e- mail to fax system server comprising:

an e-mail to fax general purpose-computing platform comprised of at least one e-maii to fax computer having a a processor, a hard drive, a floppy drive, a random access memory, and a modem, and

each e-mail to fax general purpose-computing platform equipped with a Mabry™ Mail component software package, a Windows™ messaging software package, and a Kodak™ image admin and image edit software capability.

22. A method for enabling facsimile machine users and Internet e-mail users to exchange messages comprising the steps of:

a) converting each incoming fax to e-mail message and any appended documents to an image file format appropriate for e-mail reception;

processing each incoming fax to e-mail message to derive an e-mail address for the e- mail recipient from the incoming fax to e-mail message address; addressing the corresponding image file to the e-mail address derived by the system for the e-mail recipient., and

sending the formatted message to the address of the intended fax to e-mail recipient, and

D b) fetching the incoming e-mail to fax messages from at least one incoming e-mail to fax mail server;

deriving the facsimile number; 0 converting the incoming e-mail to fax messages, to a facsimile format, and

transmitting the converted incoming e-mail to fax messages to at least one outgoing e- mail to fax mail server. 5

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the steps for processing each incoming fax to e-mail message further comprises the steps of:

fetching each new message from the incoming fax to e-mail Internet mail server; 0 determining if each incoming message contains a forwarded facsimile message in an attached file;

temporarily storing the incoming forwarded facsimile message in a system storage 5 means;

0 decoding the e-mail address characters; writing the decoded characters to a temporary text file in the system server storage means;

reading the text file to resolve the intended recipient, and

transmitting the stored image file to the intended recipient.

24. The method according to claim 22, wherein the step of analyzing each incoming e-mail to fax message to determine the facsimile number of the recipient further comprises:

parsing a string of the form "username@domaiπname" containing the message recipient name to derive the username;

determining if the username consists entirely of numeric characters: and

querying a first database to find a record having the user's facsimile number corresponding to the username if the username does not consist entirely of numeric characters.

25. The method according to claim 22. wherein the step of converting each incoming e-mail to fax message and any appended documents to an image file format appropriate for facsimile machine reception further comprises the steps of:

determining whether advertisements are to be included with each message;

overlaying the text of each incoming e-mail to fax message on each image file.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the step of transmitting the image tile of each incoming fax to e-mail message further comprises the steps of;

composing an e-mail message addressed to the recipient's facsimile concatenated to the "@" symbol which precedes the domain name of an outgoing e-mail to fax mail server, and

attaching the image file to the e-mail message.

converting each incoming fax to e-maii message and any appended documents to an image file format appropriate for e-mail reception;

overlaying the text of each incoming converted fax to e-mail message on a corresponding image file:

processing each incoming fax to e-mail message to derive an e-mail address for the e-mail recipient from the incoming fax to e-mail message address;

addressing the corresponding image file to the e-mail address denved by the system for the e-mail recipient, and

sending the formatted message to the address of the intended fax to e-mail recipient.

28. A method for facsimile machine users to receive e-mail comprising the steps of:

fetching the incoming e-mail to fax messages from at least one incoming e-mail to fax mail server:

deriving the facsimile number; converting the incoming e-mail to fax messages, to a facsimile format; and

Statement Under Article 19

The changes to the claims in the current amendment are made to correct obvious errors in the originally filed application. For example, in claim 19 as originally filed; on original page 27, lines 3 to 5, the claim recites:

"means for converting each incoming fax to e-mail message and any appended documents to an image file format appropriate for facsimile reception,"

The obvious error in this claim is that since the message is "fax to e-mail", the message and appended files must be converted to e-mail format, not facsimile format. This error has been corrected by amending the claim to recite that the message and appended documents are converted to e-mail format.

The changes to the claims in the current amendment are also made to more clearly define the claimed invention. All of the changes made in the current amendment find support in the specification as originally filed. Thus, the current amendments add no new matter to the application.