Patent ID: 7533147

Claim:
A method for communicating electronic mail data from a sender to a receiver via a network, comprising the steps of: (a) recognizing a dial number of said receiver corresponding to destination address information attached to said electronic mail data; (b) converting on the sender said electronic mail data into an image form permitting facsimile communication, wherein said electronic mail data originates in an electronic mail format; wherein the converting comprises the step of determining a horizontal number of pixels and generating data by linking the data with the horizontal number in a vertical direction according to a specification based on ITU-T Recommendation T-30 and further comprises the step of generating data to be transmitted by using a mail body in which said electronic mail data are recognized to be a series of binary values, a header representing said image form, and a padding for linking the mail body and the header by adjusting line width of the horizontal numbers of pixels; (c) initiating a call to said receiver using said recognized dial number and transmitting said electronic mail data converted into said image form to the receiver by facsimile communication procedures, and (d) converting on the receiver said electronic mail data converted into said image form back into electronic mail data in the electronic mail format.