Patent ID: 8230022

Claim:
An image communicating apparatus which is connected to a network capable of performing E-mail communication, comprising: a processor for executing computer-executable process steps, and a memory for storing computer-executable process steps executed by the processor, wherein the computer-executable process steps cause the processor to function as: a transmitting unit, constructed to send E-mail data accompanied by an image file; a receiving unit, constructed to receive E-mail data; a requesting unit, constructed to add information for requesting a message disposition notification (MDN) to the E-mail data to be sent to a receiver by the transmitting unit; a communication managing unit, constructed to manage transmission management information of the sent E-mail data; and a judging unit, constructed to judge whether or not the receiving unit received the MDN corresponding to the sent E-mail data, and judge whether or not transmission of the sent E-mail data to which the information for requesting the MDN was added succeeded, on the basis of information indicating how the sent E-mail data was processed in the receiver of the sent E-mail data included in the message disposition notification corresponding to the sent E-mail data, wherein, in a case where it is judged by the judging unit that the receiving unit received the MDN corresponding to the sent E-mail data, the communication managing unit sets information indicating whether or not transmission of the sent E-mail data succeeded to the transmission management information of the sent E-mail data on the basis of the judgment by the judging unit, in a case where it is judged by the judging unit that the receiving unit does not receive the MDN corresponding to the sent E-mail data, and in a case where a predetermined time does not elapse after the transmitting unit transmitted the sent E-mail data, the communication managing unit sets information for requesting the MDN to the transmission management information of the sent E-mail data, and in the case where it is judged by the judging unit that the receiving unit does not receive the MDN corresponding to the sent E-mail data, and in a case where the predetermined time elapses after the transmitting unit transmitted the sent E-mail data, the communication managing unit sets information indicating that the MDN was not received, to the transmission management information of the sent E-mail data; wherein the information included in the message disposition notification includes at least one status indicator out of a plurality of possible status indicators, and wherein certain of the possible status indicators are associated with success and certain other of the possible status indicators are associated with failure.