Patent ID: 7640360
Filing Date: 2009-12-29
Classification: H04M

Abstract:
1. A network system connecting a plurality of different types of user terminal devices and a network server via a known communication system, wherein each user terminal device comprises: means for retrieving information from a removable memory loaded into the terminal device, said removable memory storing user specific information and a group identification for identifying plural users of the user terminal device to form a specific group; means for transmitting said user specific information and information identifying said terminal device as specific information when said removable memory is loaded, wherein said information identifying said terminal device includes terminal type attributes and media type attributes corresponding to the type of terminal device; means for detecting an extraction of the removable memory from the terminal device based upon changes to an interface signal level from a logical high level to a logical low level; and means for transmitting an erasure request to the network server based on the detected extraction of the removable memory; and said network server comprises: means for receiving said specific information transmitted by said terminal devices; means for registering said user specific information and said information identifying said terminal device included in said specific information as registered information, wherein the registered information is erased in response to the erasure request transmitted by the terminal device when said removable memory is extracted from said terminal device; means for updating said registered information identifying said terminal device corresponding to said user specific information; means for identifying a second terminal device of the plurality of terminal devices, based on said updated information by said means for updating, currently being used by a user and for authenticating said user at the second terminal by referring to said registered information; means for transmitting to the authenticated user at the second terminal device currently being used by the authenticated user message arrival data when a removable memory of the user is inserted into the second terminal device currently being used by the authenticated user, wherein the message arrival data indicates message information addressed to an electronic mail address of the authenticated user and stored at the network server, wherein the message information arrived at the network server after a response by the network server to an erasure request transmitted by a first terminal device used by the authenticated user prior to the second terminal device currently being used by the authenticated user and before the updating of the registration information to identify the second terminal device as currently being used by the authenticated user; means for receiving a confirmation from the authenticated user requesting transmission, to the second terminal device currently being used by the authenticated user, of the message information indicated by the message arrival data; means for converting message information addressed to said authenticated user from a first data format incompatible with the type of said second terminal device currently being used by said user to a second data format compatible with the type of said second terminal device currently being used by said user based on said terminal type attributes and said media type attributes of said second terminal device currently being used by said user; and means for transmitting the converted message information to said second terminal device currently being used by said user; wherein, in response to said authenticated user (i) requesting, at the second terminal device currently being used by said authenticated user, the message information stored in the network server and indicated by the message arrival data transmitted from the network server and (ii) switching the removable memory of the user from being loaded into the first terminal device to being loaded into the second terminal device compatible with the second data format, before the message information is transmitted from the network server, the message information indicated by the message arrival data, if in the first data format, is converted to the second data format and is transmitted to the second terminal device.