Fax message system

A receiving station for causing at least a FAX message received via a telephone system to be routed from a receiving station through a multinode computer network to a prespecified network location, each said FAX message being received as a result of a telephone call initiated via the telephone system by a sender dialing a telephone number which enables the telephone call to be routed to the receiving station, said telephone number also being sufficient to indicate a network location to which the FAX message is to be routed from the receiving station, said telephone number being carried through the telephone system in the form of a telephone address signal as part of the call initiation process by which a telephone connection to the receiving station is established, said telephone call being directed to the receiving station, based on the telephone address signal, said receiving station comprising

• a message receiver for answering the telephone call, receiving the telephone address signal, and, when the call has been established, receiving the FAX message via the telephone system,
• storage for storing network location information which associates network locations with telephone address signals,
• said receiving station being arranged to route the received FAX message in accordance with the stored network location based on the telephone address signal.

A stand alone FAX receiving station comprising a telephone jack for connection to a DID telephone trunk, a line for connection to a port of a digital processor, a telephone interface connected to the telephone jack, and a DID facility and a FAX facility both connected between the telephone jack and the line.

A method for enabling information included in a telephone call that has been received by a computer network to be routed to a selected node of said computer network, comprising

• receiving a telephone address signal which was generated and passed through a telephone system as part of a call initiation process by which a telephone connection to the network was established for said telephone call, said telephone address signal both enabling said call to be routed to said network and indicating the identity of said selected node,
• converting said telephone address signal to a network address corresponding to the selected node, and
• automatically forwarding said information within said network to said selected node based on said network address signal.

A receiving station for causing a message received via a telephone system to be subjected to a prespecified action, each said message being received as a result of a telephone call initiated via the telephone system by a sender dialing a telephone number which enables the telephone call to be routed to the receiving station, said telephone number also being sufficient to indicate the prescribed action to which the message is to be subjected at the receiving station, said telephone number being carried through the telephone address signal as part of the call initiation process by which a telephone connection to the receiving station is established, said telephone call being directed to the receiving station based on the telephone address signal, said receiving station comprising:

• a message receiver, on a circuit board for insertion in the backplane of a personal computer, for receiving the telephone address signal, and, when the call has been established, receiving the message via the telephone system, and
• storage for storing action information which associated with telephone address signal, prespecified actions to be taken with respect to received messages corresponding to said telephone address signals,
• said message receiver being arranged to handle the received message in accordance with the prespecified action based on the telephone address signal.