Easy response system

Abstract

An easy response system for enabling a reply of yes or no to be made with the touch of a key or a voice reply to be made to electronic mail received at a portable telephone. A gateway unit 20 having an interface to Internet 1000 and an interface to a portable telephone network 2000 contains Internet communication means for transmitting and receiving electronic mail to and from a personal computer 10 , portable telephone filter means for converting electronic mail received from the personal computer into a format in which the electronic mail can be handled on a portable telephone 30 , reply mail preparation means for preparing reply mail to the personal computer 10 , and portable telephone data communication means for receiving key input on the portable telephone. The portable telephone contains gateway communication means for sending key input to the gateway unit, electronic mail display means, and key input means, and operation description means for converting the key input into the corresponding operation. A reply can be easily made to electronic mail through key input or a voice reply can be easily made to electronic mail.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An easy message response system comprising: 
 a gateway unit having a connection interface to the Internet and an interface to a portable telephone network for sending electronic mail from the Internet to a portable telephone in the portable telephone network and returning a reply from said portable telephone to a party transmitting the electronic mail,    said gateway unit comprising: 
 Internet communication means for transmitting and receiving electronic mail to and from a personal computer in the Internet;  
 portable telephone filter means for converting the electronic mail addressed to said portable telephone, received from said Internet communication means into a format for enabling the electronic mail to be displayed on said portable telephone and reply operation to the electronic mail to be performed on said portable telephone;  
 reply mail preparation means for preparing reply mail to the personal computer in the Internet in response to a reply made through key input on said portable telephone; and  
 portable telephone data communication means for transmitting the output result of said portable telephone filter means to said portable telephone and receiving an operation instruction given through key input on said portable telephone, and said portable telephone comprising: 
 gateway communication means for receiving the output data from said portable telephone filter means in said gateway unit and informing said gateway unit of the operation corresponding to the key input on said portable telephone;  
 portable telephone mail display means for displaying the output data received from said portable telephone filter means on a screen of said portable telephone;  
 key input means for accepting the key input on said portable telephone; and  
 operation description means for converting the key input through said key input means into the operation corresponding to information displayed by said portable telephone mail display means.  
 
   
     
     
         2 . An easy message response system comprising: 
 a gateway unit having a connection interface to the Internet and an interface to a portable telephone network for sending electronic mail from the Internet to a portable telephone in the portable telephone network and returning a reply from said portable telephone to a party transmitting the electronic mail,    said gateway unit comprising: 
 Internet communication means for transmitting and receiving electronic mail to and from a personal computer in the Internet;  
 portable telephone filter means for adding a reply menu for enabling an easy reply of yes or no to be made on said portable telephone to the electronic mail addressed to said portable telephone, received from said Internet communication means;  
 reply mail preparation means for preparing reply mail to the personal computer in the Internet in response to a reply menu selection result from said portable telephone; and  
 portable telephone data communication means for transmitting the electronic mail to which the reply menu is added to said portable telephone and receiving reply menu selection result from said portable telephone, and  
   said portable telephone comprising: 
 gateway communication means for receiving the output data containing the reply menu from said portable telephone filter means in said gateway unit and informing said gateway unit of the operation corresponding to the reply selection menu;  
 portable telephone mail display means for displaying the output data received from said portable telephone filter means on a screen of said portable telephone;  
 key input means for accepting the key input on said portable telephone; and  
 operation description means for converting the key input through said key input means into operation description corresponding to information displayed by said portable telephone mail display means.  
   
     
     
         3 . An easy message response system comprising: 
 a gateway unit having a connection interface to the Internet and an interface to a portable telephone network for sending electronic mail from the Internet to a portable telephone in the portable telephone network and returning a reply from said portable telephone to a party transmitting the electronic mail,    said gateway unit comprising: 
 Internet communication means for transmitting and receiving electronic mail to and from a personal computer in the Internet;  
 portable telephone filter means for converting the electronic mail addressed to said portable telephone, received from said Internet communication means into a data format in which a yes/no screen for enabling an easy reply to be made on said portable telephone to the electronic mail can be displayed together with corresponding function keys;  
 reply mail preparation means for preparing reply mail to the personal computer in the Internet in response to a function key selection result from said portable telephone; and  
 portable telephone data communication means for transmitting the electronic mail with the yes/no screen displayed at the position of the function keys and receiving function key selection result from said portable telephone, and  
   said portable telephone comprising: 
 gateway communication means for receiving the output data containing the yes/no screen display at the position of the function keys from said portable telephone filter means in said gateway unit and informing said gateway unit of the operation corresponding to the function key selection result;  
 portable telephone mail display means for displaying the output data received from said portable telephone filter means on a screen of said portable telephone;  
 key input means for accepting the key input on said portable telephone; and  
 operation description means for converting the key input through said key input means into operation description corresponding to information displayed by said portable telephone mail display means.  
   
     
     
         4 . An easy message response system comprising: 
 a gateway unit having a connection interface to the Internet, an interface to a portable telephone network, and an interface to a voice mail server for transmitting electronic mail from the Internet to a portable telephone in the portable telephone network and recording a reply message in said voice mail server from said portable telephone, wherein said gateway unit receives a voice file containing the recorded reply message from said voice mail server and returns reply mail to which the voice file is attached to a party transmitting the electronic mail,    said gateway unit comprising: 
 Internet communication means for transmitting and receiving electronic mail to and from a personal computer in the Internet;  
 portable telephone filter means for converting the electronic mail addressed to said portable telephone, received from said Internet communication means into a format for enabling the electronic mail to be displayed on said portable telephone and voice reply operation to be performed on said portable telephone for said voice mail server;  
 voice mail server communication means for receiving the voice file containing the recorded response message from said portable telephone and corresponding electronic mail information;  
 reply mail preparation means for preparing reply mail to which the voice file is attached to the personal computer in the Internet based on the voice file and the corresponding electronic mail information received from said voice mail server communication means; and  
 portable telephone data communication means for transmitting the output result of said portable telephone filter means to said portable telephone, and  
   said portable telephone comprising: 
 gateway communication means for receiving the output data from said portable telephone filter means in said gateway unit;  
 portable telephone mail display means for displaying the output data received from said portable telephone filter means on a screen of said portable telephone;  
 key input means for accepting the key input on said portable telephone; and  
 voice mail communication means for adding the corresponding electronic mail information, originating a call, and transmitting reply message as voice to said voice mail server if the key input on said key input means is a voice mail response, and  
   said voice mail server comprising: 
 portable telephone communication means for accepting the call originated from said portable telephone, transmitting a voice guidance for prompting a user of said portable telephone to record a voice reply message, and temporarily storing a voice reply message from said portable telephone as a voice file with the corresponding electronic mail information added at the call originating time as an index; and  
 gateway communication means for transmitting the voice file to said gateway unit together with the corresponding electronic mail information.  
   
     
     
         5 . An easy message response system comprising: 
 a gateway unit having a connection interface to the Internet and an interface to a portable telephone network for transmitting electronic mail from the Internet to a portable telephone in the portable telephone network and returning a voice reply message recorded on said portable telephone as an attached file to a party transmitting the electronic mail,    said gateway unit comprising: 
 Internet communication means for transmitting and receiving electronic mail to and from a personal computer in the Internet;  
 portable telephone filter means for converting the electronic mail addressed to said portable telephone, received from said Internet communication means into a format for enabling the electronic mail to be displayed on said portable telephone and voice reply operation to the electronic mail to be performed on said portable telephone;  
 reply mail preparation means for preparing reply mail to which the voice file containing the recorded reply message received from said portable telephone is attached; and  
 portable telephone data communication means for transmitting the output result of said portable telephone filter means to said portable telephone, and  
   said portable telephone comprising: 
 gateway communication means for receiving the output data from said portable telephone filter means in said gateway unit and transmitting the voice file containing the recorded reply message to said gateway unit;  
 portable telephone mail display means for displaying the output data received from said portable telephone filter means on a screen of said portable telephone;  
 key input means for accepting the key input on said portable telephone; and  
 voice recording means for inputting and recording a reply message as voice if the key input on said key input means is a voice mail response.  
   
     
     
         6 . An easy message response system comprising: 
 a gateway unit having a connection interface to the Internet, an interface to a portable telephone network, and an interface to a voice mail server for transmitting electronic mail from the Internet to a portable telephone in the portable telephone network and recording a reply message in said voice mail server from said portable telephone, wherein said gateway unit receives a voice file containing the recorded reply message from said voice mail server and returns the voice file as an attached file to a party transmitting the electronic mail or preparing a reply message in response to the operation from said portable telephone and returning the reply message to the party transmitting the electronic mail,    said gateway unit comprising: 
 Internet communication means for transmitting and receiving electronic mail to and from a personal computer in the Internet;  
 portable telephone filter means for converting the electronic mail addressed to said portable telephone, received from said Internet communication means into a format for enabling the electronic mail to be displayed on said portable telephone and reply operation to be performed on said portable telephone or a format for enabling voice reply operation to be performed on said portable telephone for said voice mail server;  
 voice mail server communication means for receiving the voice file containing the recorded response message from said portable telephone and corresponding electronic mail information;  
 reply mail preparation means for preparing reply mail to which the voice file is attached to the personal computer in the Internet based on the voice file and the corresponding electronic mail information received from said voice mail server communication means or preparing reply mail to the personal computer in the Internet in response to a reply made through key input on said portable telephone; and  
 portable telephone data communication means for transmitting the output result of said portable telephone filter means to said portable telephone,  
   said portable telephone comprising: 
 gateway communication means for receiving the output data from said portable telephone filter means in said gateway unit and informing said gateway unit of the operation corresponding to the key input on said portable telephone;  
 portable telephone mail display means for displaying the output data received from said portable telephone filter means on a screen of said portable telephone;  
 key input means for accepting the key input on said portable telephone;  
 operation description means for converting the key input through said key input means into the operation corresponding to information displayed by said portable telephone mail display means; and  
 voice mail communication means for adding the corresponding electronic mail information, originating a call, and transmitting reply message as voice to said voice mail server if said operation description means indicates a voice mail response, and  
   said voice mail server comprising: 
 portable telephone communication means for accepting the call originated from said portable telephone, transmitting a voice guidance for prompting a user of said portable telephone to record a voice reply message, and temporarily storing a voice reply message from said portable telephone as a voice file with the corresponding electronic mail information added at the call originating time as an index; and  
 gateway communication means for transmitting the voice file to said gateway unit together with the corresponding electronic mail information.  
   
     
     
         7 . An easy message response system comprising: 
 a gateway unit having a connection interface to the Internet and an interface to a portable telephone network for transmitting electronic mail from the Internet to a portable telephone in the portable telephone network and returning a voice reply message recorded on said portable telephone as an attached file to a party transmitting the electronic mail or preparing a reply message in response to the operation from said portable telephone and returning the reply message to the party transmitting the electronic mail,    said gateway unit comprising: 
 Internet communication means for transmitting and receiving electronic mail to and from a personal computer in the Internet;  
 portable telephone filter means for converting the electronic mail addressed to said portable telephone, received from said Internet communication means into a format for enabling the electronic mail to be displayed on said portable telephone and reply operation to be performed on said portable telephone or a format for enabling voice reply operation to be performed on said portable telephone;  
 reply mail preparation means for preparing reply mail to which the voice file containing the recorded reply message received from said portable telephone is attached or preparing reply mail to the personal computer in the Internet in response to a reply made through key input on said portable telephone; and  
 portable telephone data communication means for transmitting the output result of said portable telephone filter means to said portable telephone, and  
   said portable telephone comprising: 
 gateway communication means for receiving the output data from said portable telephone filter means in said gateway unit and transmitting the voice file containing the recorded reply message to said gateway unit or informing said gateway unit of the operation corresponding to the key input on said portable telephone;  
 portable telephone mail display means for displaying the output data received from said portable telephone filter means on a screen of said portable telephone;  
 key input means for accepting the key input on said portable telephone; operation description means for converting the key input through said key input means into the corresponding operation based on information displayed by said portable telephone mail display means; and  
 voice recording means for inputting and recording reply message as voice if said operation description means indicates a voice mail response.