U.S. patent application number 08/968649 was filed with the patent office on 2001-08-16 for system and method for electronic and physical mass mailing.
Invention is credited to DANIELS, EDWARD P., KWANT, JOHN F., MITCHELL, PAUL H., RAHRIG, JOHN G., SCHUMACHER, KARL, WOODMAN, CLARE E..
Application Number | 20010014164 08/968649 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25514567 |
Filed Date | 2001-08-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010014164 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
DANIELS, EDWARD P. ; et
al. |
August 16, 2001 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELECTRONIC AND PHYSICAL MASS MAILING
Abstract
A printstream processor separates documents, e.g. in a
printstream or batch, into a physical delivery printstream and an
electronic delivery printstream based on delivery preferences
stored in a database. The documents in the physical delivery
printstream are printed and combined with physical inserts for
physical delivery, e.g. by the U.S. Postal Server. The documents in
the electronic delivery printstream are combined with electronic
inserts for electronic delivery, for example, via electronic mail,
facsimile, pager, or to a server on World Wide Web.
Inventors: |
DANIELS, EDWARD P.;
(TRUMBULL, CT) ; KWANT, JOHN F.; (TARRYTOWN,
NJ) ; MITCHELL, PAUL H.; (DANBURY, CT) ;
RAHRIG, JOHN G.; (STRATFORD, CT) ; SCHUMACHER,
KARL; (WESTPORT, CT) ; WOODMAN, CLARE E.;
(NORWALK, CT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CHRISTOPHER J CAPELLI
PITNEY BOWES INC
35 WATERVIEW DRIVE
P O BOX 3000
SHELTON
CT
06484
|
Family ID: |
25514567 |
Appl. No.: |
08/968649 |
Filed: |
November 12, 1997 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
382/101 ;
358/1.15 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/107 20130101;
H04L 51/066 20130101; H04L 51/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
382/101 ;
358/1.15 |
International
Class: |
G06K 009/00; B41J
001/00; B41B 001/00; B41F 001/00; G06K 001/00; G06F 015/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An electronic printstream delivery system, comprising: a
printstream processor for separating a plurality of documents into
a physical delivery printstream and an electronic delivery
printstream based on delivery preferences stored in a database; a
printer for printing the physical printstream to create a plurality
of printed documents; a physical inserter for generating physical
mail pieces, wherein each physical mail piece includes one of the
plurality of printed documents and at least some of the mail pieces
include respective physical inserts; an electronic inserter for
splitting the electronic delivery printstream into a plurality of
electronic documents and generating electronic mail pieces, wherein
each electronic mail piece includes one of the plurality of
electronic documents and at least some of the electronic mail
pieces include respective electronic inserts; and a message router
for delivering the electronic mail pieces.
1. The system of claim 1, further comprising a regeneration
processor for receiving piece status information from the message
router and for causing a physical mail piece to be generated,
corresponding to an electronic mail piece if the piece status
information of the electronic mail piece indicates that the
electronic mail piece has not been received.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein one of the electronic inserts is
an electronic copy of one of the physical inserts.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the message router is configured
to deliver electronic mail piece by one of a plurality of delivery
mechanisms in accord with a respective preference.
4. The system of claim 4, wherein the message router is configured
to deliver at least one of the electronic mail pieces to a World
Wide Web server and the electronic insert is a link to a page on
the World Wide Web.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the message router is configured
to deliver at least one of the electronic mail pieces via
electronic mail.
6. The system of claim 4, wherein the message router is configured
to deliver at least one of the electronic mail pieces to a
pager.
7. The system of claim 4, wherein the message router is configured
to deliver at least one of the electronic mail pieces to a
facsimile machine and the electronic insert is another
document.
8. The system of claim 4, wherein the message router is configured
to deliver at least one of the electronic mail pieces to a
printer.
9. The system of claim 4, wherein the message router is configured
to selectively deliver the electronic mail pieces to a web server,
an electronic mail address, a pager, a facsimile machine, and a
printer.
10. The system of claim 4, wherein the message router is configured
to send a notification message by another of the plurality of
delivery mechanisms.
11. A method of electronic printstream delivery, comprising the
steps of: separating a plurality of documents into a physical
delivery printstream and an electronic delivery printstream based
on stored delivery preferences; printing the physical printstream
to create a plurality of printed documents; generating physical
mail pieces, wherein each physical mail piece includes one of the
plurality of printed documents and at least some of the physical
mail pieces include respective physical inserts; splitting the
electronic delivery printstream into a plurality of electronic
documents; generating electronic mail pieces, wherein each
electronic mail piece includes one of the plurality of electronic
documents and at least some of the electronic mail pieces include
respective electronic inserts; and delivering the electronic mail
pieces.
12. The method of claim 12, further comprising the steps of:
receiving piece status information about an electronic mail piece;
and causing a physical mail piece to be generated, corresponding to
an electronic mail piece if the piece status information of the
electronic mail piece indicates that the electronic mail piece has
not been received.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of delivering the
electronic mail pieces includes delivering an electronic mail piece
by one of a plurality of delivery mechanisms.
14. The method of claim 14, wherein: the step of delivering an
electronic mail piece includes delivering the electronic mail piece
to a World Wide Web server; and the step of generating the
electronic mail pieces includes inserting a link to a page on the
World Wide Web in the electronic mail piece.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of delivering an
electronic mail piece includes delivering the electronic mail piece
via electronic mail.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of delivering an
electronic mail piece includes delivering the electronic mail piece
to a pager.
17. The method of claim 14, wherein: the step of delivering an
electronic mail piece includes delivering the electronic mail piece
to a facsimile machine; and the step of generating electronic mail
pieces includes the step of including another document with the
electronic mail piece.
18. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of delivering an
electronic mail piece includes delivering the electronic mail piece
to a printer.
19. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of delivering the
electronic mail pieces includes selectively delivering the
electronic mail pieces to a web server, an electronic mail address,
a pager, a facsimile machine, and a printer.
20. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of sending
a notification message by another of the plurality of delivery
mechanisms.
21. A method of mass mailing, comprising the steps of: receiving a
first batch of print images; determining whether or not each of the
print images is to be delivered physically or electronically based
on stored delivery preferences indicating the same; storing the
print images determined to be delivered physically in a second
batch; and storing the print images determined to be delivered
electronically in a third batch.
22. The method of claim 22, further comprising the steps of:
storing respective first records indicating a physical delivery
address for all the print images of the first batch; and storing
respective second records indicating an electronic delivery address
for all the print images of the third batch.
23. A software product bearing a sequence of computer executable
instructions, said sequence of instructions comprising instructions
for performing the steps of: receiving a first batch of print
images; determining whether or not each of the print images is to
be delivered physically or electronically based on stored delivery
preferences indicating the same; storing the print images
determined to be delivered physically in a second batch; and
storing the print images determined to be delivered electronically
in a third batch.
24. The software product of claim 24, further comprising
instructions for performing the steps of: storing respective first
records indicating a physical delivery address for all the print
images of the first batch; and storing respective second records
indicating an electronic delivery address for all the print images
of the third batch.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to mass mail delivery
mechanisms and, more particularly, to combined electronic and
physical delivery mechanisms.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] Many businesses currently send out mass mailings to their
customers or prospective customers. For example, a utility, e.g.
electric company, may send out hundreds of thousands of bills to
its customers every month. As another example, a company may wish
to send targeted marketing material, such as a sales letter, to
prospective customers on a mailing list. In either example, a
company may augment the bill or basic sales letter with additional
material called "inserts," for example, a brochure or a glossy
advertisement.
[0003] There currently exist computer systems, software, and
specialized peripherals for producing mass mailings for physical
delivery, e.g. through the U.S. Postal Service or by courier. With
the advent of new forms of electronic mail delivery, however, it is
becoming more desirable to augment existing mass mailing capability
with electronic delivery mechanisms, such as by electronic mail
(email), facsimile, pager, or publication to a page on the World
Wide Web. However, there are many reasons why it is difficult to
upgrade or replace these computers systems for electronic mail
delivery.
[0004] Often these computer systems are called "legacy" computer
systems because they are relatively old computer systems handed
down from previous generations of company management. These legacy
computer systems, however, are still effective and often control
processing vital to the company's business, e.g. bill production.
Such legacy systems for mass mailing document production typically
run on a mainframe computer and are complex and expensive.
Accordingly, companies are reluctant to modify, upgrade, or replace
these critical document generation applications.
[0005] Another reason why upgrading a business application is
difficult is that the business application is written by a
third-party developer with exclusive access to the source code and
unwilling or unable to upgrade the application. For example, the
business application may have been written by a company that has
gone out of business or discontinued support for that
application.
[0006] Even if a company has access to the source code of its mass
mailing application, the company may not have the resources in
terms of time or programming staff to make the necessary
modifications for electronic mail delivery.
[0007] As an additional complication, electronic mail delivery may
take a variety of forms, e.g. email, facsimile, pager. Each
electronic delivery mechanism imposes restrictions on the nature of
inserts added to the mailing. For example, an alphanumeric pager
can only receive a small number of characters.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0008] There exists a need for adding capabilities of electronic
mail delivery to existing mass mailing systems. There is also a
need for handling inserts in a manner appropriate to the delivery
mechanism.
[0009] These and other needs are met by an electronic delivery
system and method in which a printstream processor separates
documents into a physical delivery printstream and an electronic
delivery printstream based on delivery preferences stored in a
database. A printer prints the physical delivery printstream to
create printed documents. A physical inserter generates physical
mail pieces including one of the printed documents and, for at
least some of the physical mail pieces, respective physical
inserts. An electronic inserter splits the electronic delivery
printstream into electronic documents and generates electronic mail
pieces. Each of the electronic mail pieces includes one of the
electronic documents and, for at least some of the electronic mail
pieces, an electronic insert. The electronic insert may be a link
to a World Wide Web site, a text attachment, a document, or an
electronic copy of a physical insert.
[0010] A message router delivers the electronic mail pieces via an
electronic delivery mechanism specified in the delivery
preferences, e.g. to a web server, an electronic mail address, a
pager, a facsimile machine, and a printer. Preferably, the message
router is configured to deliver an electronic mail piece by one
electronic delivery mechanism and a notification message by another
electronic delivery mechanism. The system may include a
regeneration processor for causing a physical mail piece to be
generated, corresponding to an electronic mail piece that has not
been delivered.
[0011] Another aspect of the invention is a method of mass mailing
in which a first batch of print images is received. The method
includes determining whether or not each print image is to be
delivered physically, in which case the print image is stored in a
second batch, or electronically, in which case the print image is
stored in a third batch. Preferably, first records indicating a
physical delivery address is stored for all the print images of the
first batch, and second records indicating an electronic delivery
address is stored for all the print images of the third batch.
[0012] The software aspects encompass media or carrier waves
bearing sequences of computer executable instructions for
performing the steps of the invention. A computer readable medium,
as used herein, may be any medium that can bear instructions or
code for performing a sequence of steps in a machine readable form,
such as a floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any
other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, an other optical medium, a RAM,
ROM, PROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, and any other memory chip or
cartridge. A carrier wave signal is any type of signal that may
carry digital information representative of the instructions or
code for performing a sequence of steps. Such a carrier wave may be
received via a network, over a modem, or as a radio-frequency or
infrared signal, or any other type of signal which a computer may
receive and decode.
[0013] Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the
present invention will be set forth in part in the detailed
description which follows, and in part will become apparent upon
examination or may be learned by practice of the invention. The
objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and
obtained by means of the instrumentality's and combinations
particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] The present invention is illustrated by way of example and
not by limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings,
wherein elements having the same reference numeral designations
represent like elements throughout and wherein:
[0015] FIG. 1 is a diagram of the printstream delivery architecture
according to an embodiment.
[0016] FIG. 2 is an input/output diagram of a printstream processor
according to an embodiment.
[0017] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the format of records of the
mail run datafile and of the electronic mail run datafile according
to an embodiment.
[0018] FIG. 4 is an input/output diagram of an electronic inserter
according to an embodiment.
[0019] FIG. 5 is an input/output diagram of a job setup process
according to an embodiment.
[0020] FIG. 6 is an input/output diagram of a regeneration
processor according to an embodiment.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[0021] A system and method of physical and electronic printstream
delivery are described. In the following description, for purposes
of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to
provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will
be apparent, however, that the present invention may be practiced
without these specific details. In other instances, well-known
structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to
avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.
PRINTSTREAM DELIVERY ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW
[0022] FIG. 1 depicts a printstream delivery architecture according
to an embodiment of the present invention. A user at a sender's
mainframe 100 submits to printstream processor 102 documents in a
printstream, addressing information in the form of delivery
preferences stored in a database, and control information
specifying, e.g., what inserts are to be included with each
document in the printstream.
[0023] A printstream may be a batch of documents or print images of
documents produced by a third-party or legacy business application.
For example, a billing system may produce a batch of bills that are
to be printed and sent to each customer. By employing a printstream
processor 102 as a post processor with supplemental addressing and
control information outside of the business application that
produced the printstream, the functionality of the business
application can be extended without change to the business
application.
[0024] Printstream processor 102 splits the submitted printstream
into one of two printstreams based on the addressing information in
the delivery preferences. One printstream is a physical delivery
printstream, in which the documents are to be delivered, as
specified in the addressing information, to a physical address via
a physical delivery mechanism, for example, the U.S. Postal Service
or a courier service. The other printstream is an electronic
delivery printstream, in which the documents are to be delivered
via an electronic delivery mechanism, e.g. the electronic mail or
facsimile, as specified in the delivery preferences. Printstream
processor 102 may encrypt the documents with a content encryption
processor 108.
[0025] The physical delivery printstream is sent from the
printstream processor 102 to a printer 104 where the documents in
the physical delivery printstream are printed on a tangible medium
such as paper. The printed documents are sent to a physical
inserter 106 where they are processed into physical mail pieces.
For example, a physical mail piece may contain a properly addressed
envelope with the proper postage and stuffed with the printed
document. In addition, the envelope may include additional printed
matter, called physical inserts, selected according to criteria in
the control information. The physical mail pieces are then ready
for delivery by traditional means, e.g. through the U.S. Postal
Service.
[0026] The electronic delivery printstream is sent to an electronic
inserter 110, which separates out the individual documents in the
electronic delivery printstream and combines the document with the
appropriate electronic insert based on the control information to
produce an electronic mail piece. Moreover, the nature of the
electronic insert is tailored to the particular electronic delivery
mechanism specified in the addressing information. For example, an
insert for a facsimile delivery is another document faxed along
with the individual document. As another example, delivery to a
World Wide Web site involves an insert which is a link specifying
the URL (Uniform Resource Location) of another page on the World
Wide Web.
[0027] The separate electronic mail pieces are sent to message
router 112 for delivery to the delivery mechanism specified in the
addressing information, e.g. to a web server 116, electronic mail
address, pager, facsimile machine, or a networked printer. The
message router 112 is configured to send a separate notification
via another delivery mechanism. For example, message router 112 may
deliver an electronic mail piece to a web server 116 and send the
recipient a generic fax that informs the recipient of the delivery
to the web server 116. In addition, message router 112 may encrypt
or otherwise provide for security of the outgoing electronic mail
piece via security module 114.
[0028] If the electronic mail piece is not delivered after a
certain length of time, the message router 112 generates and sends
a "failed to process" or "failed to deliver" message to
status/regeneration processor 118, which (depending on the users
configured system, which system is configurable) may cause a
physical version of the undelivered electronic mail piece to be
produced by printer 104 and physical inserter 106 and delivery by
physical means.
PRINTSTREAM PROCESSOR
[0029] Exemplary input and output of printstream processor 102 is
illustrated in FIG. 2. A user at a mainframe may submit to the
printstream processor 102 a job "A" comprising 300,000 documents in
a raw printstream 200. This raw printstream 200 may be the output
of a legacy application executing on the mainframe. The printstream
processor 102 may be an application executing on the same mainframe
or an application executing on another computer, e.g. a workstation
or PC, networked to the mainframe.
[0030] The printstream processor 102 utilizes a customer database
202 of delivery preferences that indicate how each document for
each recipient is to be delivered, e.g. physically, by fax, etc.
Control information 204 is also input to printstream processor 102
to specify processing instructions, for example, which inserts are
to be included and whether to presort the documents.
[0031] Printstream processor 102 separates the raw printstream into
two printstreams, one for physical delivery and another for
electronic delivery. In the example depicted in FIG. 2, printstream
processor 102 separates raw printstream 200 into a physical
delivery printstream 210 comprising 260,000 documents. Physical
delivery printstream 210 is sent to printer 104 for the next step
in the physical delivery process. The other printstream is
electronic delivery printstream 224 comprising the remaining 40,000
documents of the raw printstream 200. Electronic delivery
printstream 224 is sent to electronic inserter 110 for the next
step in the electronic delivery process.
[0032] Printstream processor 102 also produces two datafiles, mail
run datafile 220 and electronic mail run datafile 222. Mail run
datafile 220 contains one record for every document in the original
raw printstream 200. The contents of each record in mail run
datafile 220 is illustrated in FIG. 3. Each mail run datafile 220
record includes a piece identifier 300, which may specify the sort
order of the documents. In addition, each record may contain one or
two insert selections 302 and 304, which specify the insert(s) that
may be included with the respective document. For example, an
insert selection 302 for a physical mail piece may be a brochure
describing a ski resort in Vermont. The mail run datafile 220
record also includes such physical delivery information as a ZIP
code 306, an account identifier 308, a name 310, an address 312,
and a number of pages 314 for the document. The mail run datafile
220 is used by the printer 104 and physical inserter 106 for
generating physical mail pieces with the selected inserts and the
proper physical mail address.
[0033] If a mail piece is to be delivered by electronic means, as
specified in the customer database 202 of delivery preferences, the
printstream processor 200 creates a record in the electronic mail
run datafile 222 in parallel to the mail run datafile 220. Thus,
the tenth record in electronic mail run datafile 222 corresponds to
the tenth electronic mail piece in electronic delivery printstream
224. Each of the electronic mail run datafile 222 records contain a
piece identifier 300, in order to match up with the corresponding
record in the mail run datafile 220. The records also contain
electronic delivery information derived from the customer database
202 such as a Web address or URL 316, a pager telephone number 318,
and a fax number 320. In addition, the records contain delivery and
notification preferences 322 and 324, to specify which delivery
option is to be given priority. As described in more detail
hereinafter, the electronic delivery information in records of the
electronic mail run datafile 222 is attached to the respective
electronic mail piece by electronic inserter 110 for delivery by
message router 112.
[0034] Although mail run datafile 220 contains information mainly
for physical delivery, all documents to be delivered electronically
have a corresponding entry in mail run datafile 220 in case the
mail piece has to be delivered physically. Electronic mail pieces
may require physical delivery, via regeneration processor 118
described in more detail hereinafter, if the electronic delivery
mechanisms do not successfully deliver the electronic mail piece.
For example, electronic mail piece 235 in FIG. 3 has a record in
both mail run datafile 220 and electronic mail run datafile
222.
ELECTRONIC INSERTER
[0035] As depicted in FIG. 4, electronic inserter 110 splits the
electronic delivery printstream 224 into individual electronic mail
pieces and packages them with an insert appropriate for the
electronic delivery mechanism specified for the electronic mail
pieces. Electronic inserter 110 is preferably a computer software
application, which may be executed on the same computer as the
printstream processor 102 or another computer on the same
network.
[0036] FIG. 4 depicts three electronic mail pieces 404, 406, and
408, which may be produced by electronic inserter 110. Each
electronic mail piece, e.g. piece 404, comprises a document 410
obtained from electronic delivery printstream 224, which was split
from raw printstream 200 by printstream processor 102. The
electronic mail piece also includes electronic mail data
instructions 412 derived from the corresponding record in the
electronic mail run datafile 222, and insert instructions 404
derived from job setup file 402.
[0037] Inserts for each batch of mail are defined by a job setup.
For example, a record in the mail run datafile 220 may call for
insert 1, which may be targeted marketing material for ski
vacations in Vermont. In the physical inserter 106 a stack of
brochures about ski resorts in Vermont may be loaded for insertion.
In the case of the electronic inserter 110, for a particular batch
of mail, the insert needs to be developed in a format appropriate
for each delivery mechanism.
[0038] Accordingly, the job setup for this batch of mail, e.g. job
setup file 402, contains a set of templates and inserts for each
delivery mechanism. The job setup for the web server delivery
mechanism may specify the URL of a home page for a Vermont ski
resort. If the delivery mechanism is electronic mail, the
corresponding insert may specify a text memo to be attached to an
electronic mail message. It is possible for a job setup to specify
no appropriate insert for a specific delivery mechanism, e.g. fax.
It is noted that templates may specify logos and standard
information to be included in each document. Job setups may also
specify "hotlinks," which are inserts with no corresponding
physical counterparts, for example, a corporate logo on a corporate
web page.
[0039] Job setups can also specify a generic notification message
for each delivery mechanism available for notification. For
example, a fax may be sent to a recipient, informing the recipient
that a web page includes his latest statement, for example a
monthly billing statement. Generic notification messages are not
personalized, and so can be predefined for an entire job or batch
of mail pieces.
[0040] Referring to FIG. 5, job setups may be defined by a job
setup process 520 (not shown in FIG. 1). The job setup process is
an interactive application that allows a user to select templates
and inserts for each delivery mechanism from a library. For
example, electronic mail library 500 includes templates for
formatting electronic mail messages. Fax library 502 may include
templates and inserts as text files and text attachments to be sent
along with a fax. Web library 504 includes the inserts in the form
of URLs (web page addresses), PDF (Postscript Display Format, a
portable display standard), or HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language)
files, which are common on the World Wide Web. Thus, the job setup
process 520 prompts the user for templates, HTML files, text
attachments, e.g. through a dialog box or a form for each
electronic delivery mechanism. The job setup process 520 records
and enables editing of the user's selections of templates and
inserts for each electronic delivery mechanism. The output of the
job setup process 520 is a job setup file, e.g. job setup file 402
and job setup file 518.
[0041] Referring back to FIG. 4, electronic inserter 110 applies
job setup file 402 to a batch of mail pieces in the electronic
delivery printstream 224 for producing electronic mail pieces 404,
406, and 408 with the appropriate insert instructions, e.g. insert
instructions 414. The electronic inserter 110 also reads out
corresponding records from electronic mail run datafile 222 for
generating the application electronic delivery information 412 in
each electronic mail piece. Furthermore, the electronic inserter
110 stores status information about each electronic mail piece in
interlock file 400. Each electronic mail piece is placed on a
server executing message router 112, which may be a separate server
from the mail server upon which the electronic inserter 110 is
executed.
MESSAGE ROUTING
[0042] The message router 112 detects that a new electronic mail
piece has been received from the electronic inserter 110. The
message router 112 decodes the delivery preference data 322 and
324, which was derived from the corresponding record in electronic
mail run datafile 222 and appended to the electronic mail piece as
electronic mail delivery instructions 412 by electronic inserter
110. Message router 112 sends the electronic mail piece to an
output server subsystem 113 (shown in FIG. 1) for actual delivery.
For example, if web server 116 is specified by the first delivery
preference 322, the output server subsystem 113 sends the
electronic mail piece to web server 116. The system may be
configured to wait for a preset amount of time, e.g. four days, for
the recipient to access the web page where the electronic mail
piece was delivered. If the recipient has not accessed the web page
in the preset amount of time, the electronic mail piece is
considered not be delivered. For other delivery mechanisms, the
delivery failure may be detected more directly, e.g., in the case
of a busy signal for a fax number.
[0043] If the electronic mail piece is not delivered according to
the delivery mechanism specified in the first delivery preference
322, the corresponding document is processed according to the
second delivery preference 324 until all the delivery preferences
have been exhausted. Status for each electronic mail piece is
reported to status/regeneration processor 118 and stored in the
interlock file 400. It is important for the message router 112 to
be provided with a complete electronic delivery package, that is an
electronic mail piece with insert instructions 414 for each
electronic delivery mechanism, because the electronic mail piece
may be in process for many days after the electronic inserter 110
has processed the entire batch. For example, the message router 112
may have to wait days for the Web server 116 to be accessed before
utilizing the second delivery option.
[0044] The message router 112 communicates with the electronic
inserter 110 through message files. For example, a separate
downloaded configuration file (not shown) may specify whether to
stop processing or ignore when an attachment file is missing. There
is also communication for indicating that error conditions have
been fixed and that the message router 112 should restart
processing if stopped.
STATUS/REGENERATION PROCESSOR
[0045] The interlock file 400 is used for checking document status
and determining which electronic mail pieces need to be regenerated
if all the electronic delivery mechanisms have proved unsuccessful.
In particular, the status/regeneration processor 118, which may be
a program executing on mail server 600 in FIG. 6, scans the
interlock file 400 for documents whose status indicates that
regeneration is necessary. For physical mail pieces this may occur
because the physical inserter 106 generated a bad insert, e.g. an
insert jammed. For electronic mail pieces, regeneration maybe
necessary for those electronic mail pieces that have not been
successfully delivered.
[0046] Accordingly, the regeneration processor 118 outputs a
"regen" file 602 containing the piece identifiers 300 of the
documents needed to be regenerated, printed by printer 104, and
processed by physical inserter 106.
[0047] While the present invention has been described in connection
with what is presently considered to be the most practical and
preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is
not limited to the disclosed embodiment, but, on the contrary, is
intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements
included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
* * * * *