Patent Publication Number: US-2023156128-A1

Title: Information processing apparatus, method of controlling information processing apparatus, and storage medium

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Field 
     The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus, a method of controlling the information processing apparatus, and a storage medium for transmitting scanned document images to a specific person via an information sharing service. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     Traditionally, there is a system scanning a document, attaching the scanned document to a message on email or an information-sharing service (for example, a chat application), and transmitting the scanned document directly. If the scanned document is transmitted as an email attachment, a destination address is inputted. If the scanned document is transmitted as a message in a chat application, a destination group (channel) is selected. 
     If the scanned document is transmitted in a system using the above chat application, anyone in the group can access the scanned document because the scanned document is transmitted to a specific group. 
     Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-22336 discloses that if a file is shared in a group to which a plurality of members belongs, a transmitter can give file sharing permission to members by authorizing the members to operate on the file. 
     However, the method of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-22336 does not disclose that the scanned document is transmitted to a specific user in the group. There is also a time constraint that the user cannot view the file until the viewing rights are approved for the user. 
     Therefore, the present disclosure makes it easy to specify that a scanned document is addressed to a specific user in a group when setting a group of destination of the scanned document. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus comprises a memory that stores instructions and a processor that executes the instructions to perform receiving a selection of a channel for a destination of a document image, obtaining information of users belonging to the channel for the destination from an information sharing service, displaying a button for each of the obtained information of users on a screen, and if the button is pressed, displaying a message including a user corresponding to the pressed button as a recipient on an input field of the screen, and transmitting the message inputted on the screen and the document image to the channel of the information sharing service. 
     Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    illustrates a diagram showing the overall configuration of the system of the present embodiment. 
         FIG.  2    illustrates a hardware configuration of an MFP. 
         FIG.  3    illustrates a hardware configuration of a client PC and an MFP cooperation service. 
         FIG.  4    illustrates a software configuration of the system of the present embodiment. 
         FIG.  5    illustrates a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing between each apparatus. 
         FIG.  6 A  illustrates an example of a screen displayed by the client PC. 
         FIG.  6 B  illustrates an example of a screen displayed by the client PC. 
         FIG.  7 A  illustrates an example of a screen displayed by the MFP 
         FIG.  7 B  illustrates an example of a screen displayed by the MFP. 
         FIG.  8    illustrates a processing related to the mention function performed by the MFP cooperation service in the system. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. 
     It should be noted that the following embodiment does not limit the invention claimed, and not all combinations of features described in the embodiment are essential to the means of solving the disclosure. 
       FIG.  1    illustrates the overall configuration of the present system. An image processing system includes an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral)  110 , a client PC  111 , an MFP cooperation service  120 , and a chat application  130  as an information sharing service. The MFP  110  and the client PC  111  are communicably connected via a LAN (Local Area Network) to a server providing various services on the internet. 
     The MFP  110  is a multifunction device with multiple functions such as a scanner and a printer, and is an example of an image processing apparatus. The client PC  111  executes an application that receives a requested service from the MFP cooperation service  120  running on the information processing apparatus. The MFP cooperation service  120  is an example of a service that has the function of storing image files scanned by the MFP  110  on its own server or transferring the scanned files to a service that can store files, such as other storage services. The chat application  130  that is an information sharing service, is a service that allows users to store files via the internet and obtain files via a web browser. 
     The image processing system in the present embodiment includes the MFP  110 , the client PC  111 , the MFP cooperation service  120 , and the chat application  130  but is not limited to. For example, the MFP  110  may also serve as the client PC  111  and the MFP cooperation service  120 . 
     Further, the MFP cooperation service  120  may be arranged in a server on a LAN rather than on the internet. The chat application  130  can also be replaced with a mail server or the like to transmit scanned images as attachments to emails. 
       FIG.  2    illustrates a hardware configuration of the MFP  110 . The MFP  110  includes a control unit  210 , an operation unit  220 , a printer  221 , a scanner  222 , and a modem  223 . The control unit  210  includes the following units  211  to  219  and controls the operation of the entire MFP  110 . A CPU  211  reads the control program stored in a ROM  212  to execute and control various functions of the MFP  110  such as scanning/printing/communication. A RAM  213  is used as a temporary storage area such as a main memory and a work area of the CPU  211 . In the present embodiment, one CPU  211  uses one memory (the RAM  213  or a HDD  214 ) to perform each of the processes described in a flowchart below, but this is not limited to the above. For example, multiple CPUs or multiple RAMs or HDDs may cooperate to execute each process. The HDD  214  is a mass storage unit that stores image data and various programs. 
     An operation unit I/F  215  is an interface connecting the operation unit  220  and the control unit  210 . The operation unit  220  includes a touch panel, keyboard, and the like, and receives operations/inputs/instructions from the user. A printer I/F  216  is an interface connecting the printer  221  and the control unit  210 . The image data for printing is transferred from the control unit  210  to the printer  221  via the printer I/F  216  and printed on the recording medium. A scanner I/F  217  is an interface connecting the scanner  222  and the control unit  210 . The scanner  222  scans a document set on a document stage (not shown) or an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) to generate image data, which is input to a control unit  210  via the scanner I/F  217 . The MFP  110  can print out (copy) the image data generated by the scanner  222  using the printer  221 , and can also transmit files and emails. A modem I/F  218  is an interface connecting the modem  223  and the control unit  210 . The modem  223  performs facsimile communications of image data with a facsimile machine on a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). A network I/F  219  is an interface that connects the control unit  210  (MFP  110 ) to the LAN. The MFP  110  uses the network I/F  219  to transmit image data and information to each service on the internet and to receive various kinds of information. 
       FIG.  3    illustrates a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus operating as the client PC  111  and the MFP cooperation service  120 . The client PC  111  and MFP cooperation service  120  include a CPU  311 , a ROM  312 , a RAM  313 , an HDD  314 , and a network I/F  315 . The CPU  311  controls the entire operation by reading a control program stored in the ROM  312  and executing various processes. The RAM  313  is used as a temporary storage area such as a main memory and a work area of the CPU  311 . The HDD  314  is a mass storage unit that stores image data and various programs. The network I/F  315  is an interface for connecting the MFP cooperation service  120  to the internet. The MFP cooperation service  120  and the chat application  130  receive processing requests from other apparatuses (such as the MFP  110 ) via the network I/F  315  and transmit and receive various information. 
       FIG.  4    is a software configuration diagram of the image processing system according to the present embodiment. The MFP  110  is roughly divided into two units: a native function unit  410  and an additional function unit  420 . Each unit included in the native function unit  410  is standard in the MFP  110 , while the additional function unit  420  is an application additionally installed in the MFP  110 . The additional function unit  420  may be a Java®-based application and can easily add functions to the MFP  110 . Other additional applications not shown may be installed in the MFP  110 . 
     The native function unit  410  includes a scan execution unit  411  and an image data storage unit  412 . The additional function unit  420  includes a display control unit  421 , a scan instruction unit  422 , and a cooperation service request unit  423 . 
     The display control unit  421  displays a UI screen for receiving an operation by the user on a liquid crystal display unit having a touch panel function in the operation unit  220  of the MFP  110 . For example, the display control unit  421  displays UI screens such as screens for inputting authentication information to access the MFP cooperation service  120 , scan settings, starting scan operations, and a preview. The scan instruction unit  422  requests scan processing to the scan execution unit  411  together with scan settings according to the user instructions input via the UI screen. 
     The scan execution unit  411  receives a scan request including scan settings from the scan instruction unit  422 . The scan execution unit  411  scans an original document placed on a platen glass using the scanner  222  via the scanner I/F  217  according to the scan request to generate scan image data. The generated scanned image data is transmitted to the image data storage unit  412 . The scan execution unit  411  transmits a scan image identifier that uniquely indicates the saved scan image data to the scan instruction unit  422 . The scan image identifier may be a number, symbol, alphabet, and the like (not shown) for uniquely identifying the image scanned in the MFP  110 . The image data storage unit  412  stores the scanned image data received from the scan execution unit  411  in the HDD  214 . 
     The scan instruction unit  422  obtains scan image data corresponding to the scan image identifier received from the scan execution unit  411  from the image data storage unit  412 . The scan instruction unit  422  requests an instruction to perform processing on the obtained scan image data by the MFP cooperation service  120  to the cooperation service request unit  423 . 
     The cooperation service request unit  423  requests various processing to the MFP cooperation service  120 . For example, the cooperation service request unit  423  requests to log in, analyze a scanned image, or transmit a scanned image. protocols such as REST and SOAP may be used for interactions with the MFP cooperation service  120 , but other means of communications may be also used. 
     The MFP cooperation service  120  has a request control unit  431 , an image processing unit  432 , a cloud storage access unit  433 , a data management unit  434 , and a display control unit  435 . 
     The request control unit  431  waits in a state of being able to receive a request from an external apparatus. If the request control unit  431  receives a processing request, the request control unit  431  instructs the processing to the image processing unit  432 , the cloud storage access unit  433 , and the data management unit  434  according to the processing request. 
     The image processing unit  432  performs character area analysis, an OCR (Optical Character Recognition), similar form determination (to be described later in the process of step S 510  in  FIG.  5   ), image recognition processing, and image processing such as image rotation, tilt correction, and the like. 
     The cloud storage access unit  433  performs a processing request to the chat application  130 . Cloud services releases various interfaces for storing files in the chat application  130  and obtaining stored files by typically using protocols like REST and SOAP. The cloud storage access unit  433  operates the chat application  130  using the published chat application interface. 
     The data management unit  434  holds user information, various setting data, and the like managed by the MFP cooperation service  120 . 
     In response to a request from a web browser operating on other terminals (not shown) such as a PC or mobile connected via the internet, the display control unit  435  returns screen configuration information (HTML, CSS, etc.) necessary for displaying a screen. The users can check user information registered in the MFP cooperation service  120  via the screen displayed in the web browser and change settings for scanning. 
     Although an example of a configuration in which the additional function unit  420  is installed in the MFP  110  has been described in  FIG.  4   , the present disclosure is not limited to this configuration, and the client PC  111  may include the function of the additional function unit  420 . 
       FIG.  5    illustrates a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing between apparatuses if the document image scanned by the MFP  110  is digitized as a file and transmitted to the chat application  130 . Here, interactions between the apparatuses are focused on. In  FIG.  5   , the MFP  110  and the client PC  111  interact with the MFP cooperation service  120 . 
     The MFP  110  displays a main screen on the touch panel with buttons for executing each function under normal conditions. 
     By installing an additional application (hereafter referred to as “a scanning application”) on the MFP  110  to transmit scanned documents to the chat application  130 , a button to use the application’s functions appears on the main screen of the MFP  110 . In response to pressing this button, the MFP  110  displays a screen for transmitting document images such as scanned forms to the chat application  130  on the main screen, and the processing shown in the sequence in  FIG.  5    is performed. 
     In the following, information indicating that it is addressed to a designated user is referred to as a mention, and the function of adding the mention to a message to which a scanned document image is attached when transmitting the message is referred to as a mention function. A button that instructs the scanning application to add the mention to the message to which the scanned document image is attached is called a mention button. 
     In step S 501 , the MFP  110  displays a login screen for inputting authentication information for accessing the MFP cooperation service  120 . 
     In step S 502 , the user performs a login operation, and the MFP  110  transmits a login user name and a password to the MFP cooperation service  120 . 
     In step S 503 , the MFP cooperation service  120  verifies whether the user name and password included in the login request are correct or not. If the user name and password are correct, the MFP cooperation service  120  returns an access token to the MFP  110 . The various requests from the MFP  110  to the MFP cooperation service  120  thereafter are requested together with this access token, and the user requesting the process can be identified by this information. The method of user authentication is generally performed using well-known techniques (Basic authentication, Digest authentication, authorization using OAuth, and the like). 
     If the login processing is completed, the MFP  110  displays a scan setting screen in step S 504 . The user makes settings for scanning a document, places a form sheet to be scanned on the platen glass or ADF, and presses a button for starting the scanning. 
     In step S 505 . the MFP  110  scans the form sheet to generate image data that digitizes the form sheet. 
     Then, in step S 506 , the MFP  110  transmits an analysis request of the scanned image data to the MFP cooperation service  120  along with the image data generated by the scanning processing. The MFP cooperation service  120  stores the scanned image data in the HDD of the MFP cooperation service  120  until the MFP cooperation service  120  transmits the scanned image data to the chat application  130 . 
     Upon receiving the analysis request of the scanned image data, the MFP cooperation service  120  starts image analysis in the image processing unit  432  of the MFP cooperation service  120  in step S 507 . Then, without waiting for the completion of the image analysis processing, the MFP cooperation service  120  returns “processld” to the MFP  110 . The “processld” is an identifier uniquely indicating the image analysis processing requested by the MFP cooperation service  120 . 
     In step S 508 , the image processing unit  432  first analyzes a character area existing in the image as an image analysis processing. Then, in step S 509 , character recognition processing is performed on all character areas. 
     In step S 510 , the arrangement information of the character area in the form is used to compare the arrangement information of the image data scanned in the past with the arrangement information of the image data scanned this time. Based on the comparison, it is determined whether the image data with the arrangement of the similar character area is scanned. This process is called similar form determination. If there is an image data similar to a scanned image data in the past based on the similar form determination, an input information for the form is returned as an analysis result. On the other hand, if there is no image data similar to the scanned image data in the past, the MFP cooperation service  120  stores information about the character area of the entire scanned image data and information indicating that the scanned image data is not scanned in the past. Further, the MFP cooperation service  120  returns information indicating that the scanned image data is not learned as an analysis result. The information of the scanned image data in the past used in the determination is stored and accumulated by the processing of step S 516  described later. 
     In step S 511 , the MFP  110  uses the “processId” received in the response of step S 506  to confirm the processing status of the image analysis indicated by the “processId” periodically (for example, every several hundred to several milliseconds or so) with the MFP cooperation service  120 . Although omitted in the figure, the processing in step S 511  is continued until a response of image processing completion by the MFP cooperation service  120  can be obtained (until the timing in step S 512 ). If the MFP cooperation service  120  receives the request to confirm the processing status in step S 511 , the MFP cooperation service  120  confirms the processing status indicated by “processId” and returns the response. 
     The response includes a string indicating the current processing status of the MFP cooperation service  120  in “status” information. For example, if “status” information is “processing”, the response indicates that the processing is being performed by the MFP cooperation service  120 . If “status” information is “completed”, the response indicates that the processing is being completed. It should be noted that the MFP cooperation service  120  may return other statuses such as “failed” if the processing has failed. The response at the completion of processing (if “status” information is “completed”) includes information such as the result of analyzing the scanned image data and scan settings along with the status. 
     If the completion of processing is detected in step S 512 . in step S 513 , the result information is obtained from the URL where the result information included in the response is stored. If the result is obtained from the request control unit  431  of the MFP cooperation service  120 , the MFP  110  displays a message indicating that the scanning processing is complete on the screen of the MFP  110 , and the process returns to the scan setting screen display in step S 504 . 
     The user then sets a file name for the scanned document on the client PC. 
     If there are a plurality of forms to be scanned, the user can cause the MFP  110  to repeatedly scan a plurality of the forms (repeating the process from steps S 504  to S 513 ) before setting the file name for the scanned document on the client PC. In a case where a setting for dividing scanned images by a predetermined number of pages is instructed before scanning, the MFP  110  can also scan a plurality of forms at once and divide the images of the scanned forms by the predetermined number of pages into multiple documents. In a case where a setting for dividing scanned images by dividers is instructed, the MFP  110  can also scan a plurality of forms with dividers inserted between each of the plurality of forms at once and divide the images of the scanned forms into multiple documents with the dividers. 
     In step S 514 , the user selects a destination channel to transmit the scanned document on the client PC  111 .  FIGS.  6 A and  6 B  (hereinafter collectively referred to as  FIG.  6   ) illustrate screens for selecting the destination channel in the MFP  110 .  FIGS.  7 A and  7 B  (hereinafter collectively referred to as  FIG.  7   ) illustrate screens for selecting the destination channel in the client PC  111 . Details will be discussed later. 
     In step S 515 , the client PC  111  requests information of the user belonging to the destination channel selected in step S 514  to the MFP cooperation service  120 . 
     In order to respond to the request in step S 516 , the MFP cooperation service  120  requests user information related to the channel to the chat application  130 . The client PC  111  then receives user information on the destination channel. 
     The client PC  111  displays a mention button of the user on the screen based on the user information of the channel obtained on the client PC  111  in step S 517 . This mention button is described in detail later in  FIGS.  6  and  7   . 
     In step S 518 , the client PC  111  transmits a request for learning the information of the character area used to set the file name to the MFP cooperation service  120 . The MFP cooperation service  120  receives the request for learning, to request the image processing unit  432  to learn the form via the request control unit  431 . 
     In step S 519 , the request control unit  431  stores the information of the character area of the entire image data and the input information of the character area used by the user for the file name received in step S 517  in association with the channel, and returns to the client PC  111  that the storage has been successful. 
     In step S 520 , the MFP  110  transmits information such as the scanned image data and the file name to be set after the scanned image data are filed to the MFP cooperation service  120 . If the MFP cooperation service  120  receives the request, the MFP cooperation service  120  starts file generation processing and returns to the client PC  111  that the request has been received successfully. If the client PC  111  receives the response of the transmission, the client PC  111  terminates the processing and deletes the transmitted form from the list. 
     In step S 521 , the MFP cooperation service  120  obtains information on the file format to be transmitted to the chat application  130  from the scan settings registered in the MFP cooperation service  120  to generate a file from the scanned image data based on the scan settings. Then, the file generated in step S 521  is set to the file name received in step S 520 , and a message with a mention indicating the information of the destination is transmitted to the chat application  130 . 
       FIGS.  6 A and  6 B  illustrate an example of the screen displayed by the client PC  111 .  FIG.  6 A  illustrates a screen for selecting the destination channel displayed after scanning. A destination channel selection screen  600  in  FIG.  6 A  includes a channel expansion button  601 , a channel selection button  602 , a scroll bar  603  and a next button  604 . If the channel expansion button  601  is pressed, sub-channels included in the channel are expanded. If the channel selection button  602  is pressed, the destination channel for transmitting the scanned document can be selected. If the next button  604  is pressed, a message input screen  605  is displayed. 
       FIG.  6 B  illustrates the message input screen  605  displayed after the next button  604  is pressed in the destination channel selection screen  600 . The message input screen  605  includes a message input field  606 , a mention display field  607 , an OCR selection button  608 . a mention button selection field  609 . a back button  610 , and a transmit button  611 . If the message input field  606  is pressed, the user can freely input a message, and the mention display field  607  displays a user name that serves as a mention function. By pressing the OCR selection button  608 , the text described in the scanned document can be extracted by OCR processing, and the extracted text can be directly posted to the message input field  606 . By pressing the mention button displayed in the mention button selection field  609 , the name of the selected user is displayed in the message input field  606 , and the selected user acts as a mention in the chat application  130 . If an operator presses the mention button, the color of that button changes so the operator can see visually that the selected user name has already been typed in the message. If the back button  610  is pressed, the screen returns to the destination channel selection screen  600 . If the transmit button  611  is pressed, the message or the mention object inputted for the scanned document is learned and the scanned document is transmitted. Details of the number of displayed mention buttons and user names are described in detail in the flowchart of  FIG.  8   . 
       FIGS.  7 A and  7 B  illustrate an example of the screen displayed by the MFP  110 .  FIG.  7 A  illustrates a screen for selecting the destination channel that is displayed after scanning. 
     A destination channel selection screen  700  in  FIG.  7 A  includes a channel search filter  701 , a channel selection button  702 , a cancel button  703 , and a next button  704 . If the channel search filter  701  is pressed down, a pull-down menu is expanded to select one of indexes to search for a user’s desired channel. By selecting a channel with the channel selection button  702 , the destination channel for transmitting the scanned document can be selected. If the cancel button  703  is pressed, the displayed screen returns to a home screen in MFP  110 . If the next button  704  is pressed, a message input screen  705  is displayed (details will be described later). 
       FIG.  7 B  illustrates the message input screen  705  displayed after the next button  704  is pressed in the destination channel selection screen  700 . The message input screen  705  includes a subject input field  706 , a message input field  707 , a mention display field  708 , a mention button selection field  709 , a back button  710 , and a transmit button  711 . The subject input field  706  and the message input field  707  can be freely input by the user on the MFP  110 . The mention display field  708  reflects the name selected by the user in the mention button selection field  709  and serves as a mention. If the operator presses a mention button, the color of that button changes so the operator can see visually that selected user name has already been typed in the message. If the back button  710  is pressed, the screen returns to the destination channel selection screen  700 . If the transmit button  711  is pressed, the message or the mention object inputted for the scanned document is learned and the scanned document is transmitted. As in  FIG.  6   , details of the number of displayed mention buttons and user names are described in detail in the flowchart of  FIG.  8   . 
       FIG.  8    illustrates a flowchart showing details of the mention function performed by the MFP cooperation service  120  in the present system. This flowchart shows the process from selecting the destination channel of step S 514  in the MFP  110  or the client PC  111  to transmitting the scanned document in step S 520  of  FIG.  5   . The following flow is realized by the CPU  311  of the server running MFP cooperation service  120  deploys the program to RAM  313  and executes the program. 
     First, in step S 801 , the CPU  311  receives, from the MFP  110  or the client PC  111 , the selection of a channel of the chat application  130  to transmit the scanned documents by the user via the screen (shown in  FIGS.  6 A or  7 A ). 
     Then, in step S 802 , the CPU  311  obtains information on the destination channel via the API of the chat application  130 . Specifically. the CPU  311  obtains information such as the names of users belonging to the channel and the number of users belonging to the channel. 
     In step S 803 , the CPU  311  determines whether more than a predetermined number of users belong to the channel. The predetermined number here refers to a number as many as the MFP  110  or the client PC  111  can display the mention buttons ( 609 ,  709 ) in the UI screen ( 605 .  705 ) of the MFP  110  or the client PC  111 . The user can decide the predetermined number of users. For example, in the message input screens  605  and  705  of  FIG.  6 B  and  FIG.  7 B , it is determined whether seven or more users belong to the channel. In this example, a mention button for mentions to the channel itself are also counted as one of the mention buttons displayed in the UI screen of the MFP  110  or the client PC  111 . 
     If it is determined that the predetermined number of users or more belong to the channel (Yes in step S 803 ), the process proceeds to step S 804 . On the other hand, the process proceeds to step S 805  if it is not determined that the predetermined number of users or more belong to the channel (No in step S 803 ). 
     At step S 804 , the CPU  311  extracts only the predetermined number of users who are closely related to the operator and the process proceeds to step S 805 . For example, the users closely related to the operator may be the users frequently talking to the operator via the chat application  130 . 
     In step S 805 , the CPU  311  displays the names of the users belonging to the channel or the users extracted in step S 804  as mention buttons ( 609 ,  709 ) on the screen of the MFP  110  or the client PC  111 . 
     Next, in step S 806 , the CPU  311  determines whether the image data is a scanned document having the same type as the document image data previously learned in step S 518  of  FIG.  5    in the destination channel received in step S 801 . If it is determined that the image data of the scanned document is the same type as the learned document image data (Yes in step S 806 ), the process proceeds to step S 807 . On the other hand, the process proceeds to step S  809  if it is not determined that the image data of the scanned document is the same type as the learned document image data (No in step S 806 ). It is determined that the image data has the same type as the learned document image data if the arrangement of the character areas in the image data is same as or similar to the character areas in the learned document image data. 
     In step S 807 , the CPU  311  determines whether the destination channel includes learned and mentioned users. If it is determined that there are learned users (Yes in step S 807 ), the process proceeds to step S 808 . On the other hand, the process proceeds to step S 810  if it is not determined that there are learned users (No in step S 807 ). 
     In step S 808 , the learned message is inputted into the message input field ( 606 ,  707 ) of the message input screen ( 605  shown in  FIGS.  6 B or  705    shown in  FIG.  7 B ), and the learned mention button is displayed in the pressed state in the mention button selection field ( 609 .  709 ). A user name selected with the mention button is also automatically inputted in the mention display field ( 607 ,  708 ). 
     In step S 807 , if it is determined that there is no previously mentioned user (No in step S 807 ), the screen of a default state with no input is displayed on the message input screen ( 605 ,  705 ). 
     If it is determined that the scanned document is an unlearned document in step S 806 , the screen of the default state is displayed on the message input screen  605  and the CPU  311  waits for the operator to press the mention button. The same arrangement is applied to the message input screen  705   
     In step S 809 , the information (message, mention button) inputted by the user is stored, the input contents are stored in the MFP cooperation service  120  (step S 519 ), and the process proceeds to step S 810 . 
     In step S 810 , the input contents are learned for the scanned document. Even if the input contents have already been learned, in a case where the operator has pressed a different message or different mention button again, the learned input contents are overwritten. 
     Finally, if the CPU  311  detects that a transmit button ( 611 ,  711 ) is pressed in step S 811 , the CPU  311  transmits a message to the chat application  130  with the mention, which is information to be specified as a destination on the scanned document. 
     According to this disclosure, when setting a group of recipients of scanned documents, information indicating that the documents are addressed to a user in the group can be easily attached. The operator then smoothly transmits the scanned document to a specific user, allowing the recipient to view the document without delay. 
     Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). The computer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions. The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™). a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like. 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions. 
     This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-186022, filed Nov. 15, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.