Method for specifying delivery information for electronic documents

A method for specifying delivery information for electronic documents in a networked environment having a plurality of destination nodes, the method comprising the steps:

• producing a representation of at least one of a plurality of recipients;
• associating the representation with a destination node on the network;
• displaying representation to a user;
• selecting at least one potential recipient from the plurality of potential recipients using the representation in order to form a plurality of selected recipients responsive to input from the user;
• performing a scanning operation of a document to form an electronic copy of the document;
• transmitting the electronic copy of the document to the plurality of selected recipients;
• incorporating the electronic copy of the document into a database belonging to each of the plurality of selected recipients;
• and
• unselectively archiving an electronic copy of each and every document processed by the above steps into an archival database without further input from the user, wherein the user need not be aware of the archiving step.

A computer program product for specifying delivery information for electronic documents comprising:

• code for displaying a representation of at least one of a plurality of potential recipients to a user;
• code for selecting at least one potential recipient from said plurality of potential recipients to form a plurality of selected recipients responsive to input from the user;
• code for performing a scanning operation of a document to form an electronic copy of the document;
• code for transmitting the electronic copy of the document to the plurality of selected recipients;
• and
• code for incorporating the electronic copy of the document into a database belonging to each of the plurality of selected recipients;
• and
• a computer readable storage medium for holding the codes.

An apparatus for specifying delivery information for electronic documents in a networked environment having a plurality of destination nodes, the apparatus comprising:

• at least one of a plurality of recipient computers, the recipient computers interconnected by a network;
• at least one of a plurality of image acquisition means, the image acquisition means interconnected to the recipient computers by the network, the recipient means operatively disposed to perform the following:
• producing a representation of at least one of a plurality of recipients;
• associating the representation with a destination node on the network;
• displaying representation to a user;
• selecting at least one potential recipient from the plurality of potential recipients using the representation in order to form a plurality of selected recipients responsive to input from the user;
• performing a scanning operation of a document to form an electronic copy of the document;
• transmitting the electronic copy of the document to the plurality of selected recipients;
• incorporating the electronic copy of the document into a database belonging to each of the plurality of selected recipients;
• and
• unselectively archiving an electronic copy of each and every document processed by the above steps into an archival database without further input from the user, wherein the user need not be aware of the archiving.