Patent ID: 7616336

Claim:
A network facsimile system including a relaying sewer and a communication terminal connected through a network, the relaying sewer comprising: a facsimile communication system capable of receiving facsimile data representing an image transmitted from an origin station outside the network facsimile system; an image data creating system that creates image data based on the facsimile data received by the facsimile communication system, the communication terminal being capable of processing the image data; an information obtaining system that obtains information necessary for communicating with the communication terminal; and a relaying sewer side data communication system that transmits the image data created by the image data creating system to the communication terminal in accordance with data obtained with the information obtaining system, the communication terminal comprising: a communication terminal side data communication system that receives the image data transmitted from the relaying server side data communication system; and an image data processing system that carries out processing of the image data received by the communication terminal side data communication system to one of print the image data and store the image data in a memory, wherein the image is transmitted from the origin station outside the network facsimile system in accordance with a facsimile transmission protocol, wherein the image is transmitted from the relaying server to the communication terminal in accordance with a predetermined communication protocol, and wherein the relaying sewer includes a status setting system that sets an operational status of the network facsimile system to a receivable state where the communication terminal can receive the image through the relaying server when the communication terminal has become usable by a user of the communication terminal, and an inputting unit which permits a user of the relaying sewer to input information representing that a user of a communication terminal can use the communication terminal, and the relaying servers assigns an e-mail address to the communication terminal if the user of the relaying sewer input the information representing that the user of the communication terminal can use the communication terminal.