JP2003099569A - Conference management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conference management system enabling the smooth running of conferences through contacting members not present at a conference site at the time appointed for assembling, using the best pre-registered method of communication for each member not present. SOLUTION: Date and time of the conference, prospective participants and their contact information are registered (S201) prior to holding the conference. At the time appointed for assembling, members not present are determined (S202), the pre-registered method of communication is detected (S203) for each member not present, and the members not present are notified of and urged to attend the conference to be held (S204).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a conference management system having a conference management function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional conference system, a meeting organizer basically exists, and the organizer carries out the reservation and attendance management of the meeting. For example, when it is time to hold a meeting and there are no attendees scheduled to attend, the organizer of the meeting itself made a reminder to the absentee. Furthermore, it was up to the organizer to decide how to contact the participants.

Further, a conference management system having a conference management function and formed into a network system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-1.
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 94620. In this conference management system, after the conference information is registered in the conference management server connected to the network, the conference information and attendance confirmation are notified to the mobile information terminals of all the participants at the notification time. The mobile information terminal transmits the attendance response of the user to the conference management server. Here, information is re-notified every predetermined time until the conference start time has passed to the mobile information terminal of the user who has not responded to attendance for a certain period of time.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional conference management system, the organizer of the conference performs all the processes and procedures, and thus there is a problem that the burden on the organizer becomes large.

Further, in the conventional conference management system, attendance confirmation is transmitted to the portable information terminal owned by the participant at the notification time, and a response of attendance is received from the portable information terminal. At this time, even if all responded to attendance,
Not all participants will be present at the conference at the actual time. Therefore, there is a problem that the participants who are not present at the conference must be contacted again.

Further, if the participant does not return the attendance response, the attendance confirmation will continue to be sent until the meeting time, but in most cases, the participant does not carry the portable information terminal with him. , There was a problem that attendance could not be confirmed by the opening time. In other words, the conventional conference management system is a rational system in which it is necessary to contact the absentee again at the conference site at the actual conference time, even if the attendance confirmation of the participants is confirmed before the conference is held. It was hard to say.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned problems, and by contacting an absentee at a meeting time at an actual conference site using the best contact method registered in advance, It is an object of the present invention to provide a conference management system capable of smoothly proceeding with a conference.

[0008]

The meeting management system according to the present invention has the following characteristic features in order to achieve the above-mentioned object.

That is, the conference management system according to the present invention includes an input means for inputting at least one of video and audio, and a transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving at least one of video information and audio information fetched from the input means. In a conference management system equipped with, a conference management means for managing the conference by using the conference information including at least one of the date and time of the meeting and the meeting time, and the participant information including the contact information of the participant and the participant. The storage means for storing at least one of the notification means information including the contact method, the determination means for determining the presence or absence of the participant at the set time, and the participant determined to be absent by the determination means. And a notification means for notifying the holding of the conference.

Here, the determining means may be configured to determine the absentee based on whether or not the participant has registered attendance at the terminal by the meeting time.

Further, the storage means stores participant-specific video information as the participant information, and the judging means stores the participant video information fetched from the input means and the participant-specific video information. It can be configured to compare and recognize the video information to determine the absentee.

Further, the storage means stores voice information peculiar to the participant as the participant information, and the judging means stores the voice information of the participant fetched from the input means and the peculiar to the participant. It can be configured to compare and recognize the voice information to determine the absentee.

[0013] Further, it has a registration information reading means for reading the registration information of the ID card owned by the participant, and the storage means stores the registration information of the ID card owned by the participant as the participant information. Therefore, the determining means can be configured to compare and recognize the participant information and the registration information of the ID card read by the registration information reading means to determine the absentee.

Further, the notification means can be configured to notify the contact information contained in the participant information by using the contact method stored in the storage means.

Further, the notification means may be configured to automatically send a voice message prompting participation in a conference registered in advance to the telephone contact information of the absentee included in the participant information. You can

Further, the notification means may be configured to automatically send a message urging participation in a conference registered in advance to the mail address of the absentee registered in the participant information. it can.

Further, the notifying means uses the contact method of the absentee registered in the ID card for the contact information of the absentee registered in the ID card to participate in the pre-registered conference. Can be configured to be automatically sent.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a conference management system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example in which the conference management system according to the present invention is applied to a video conference system. As shown in FIG. 1, the video conference system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes an image processing unit 4 including a communication line 1, a line interface 2, a data transmitting / receiving unit 3, an image encoding unit 5 and an image decoding unit 6, Camera 7, video input unit 8, transmission image memory 9, reception image memory 10, video output unit 11, monitor 12, notification processing unit 13, presence / absence determination unit 14, reservation control unit 15, system control unit 16, absence message. Storage unit 17, attendance registration unit 18, reservation information storage unit 19, date and time control unit 20, operation unit 21, voice processing unit 22,
And a handset 23.

The image data transmitting / receiving operation in the video conference system according to this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, in the video conference system according to the present embodiment, input / output audio information / image information is transmitted through a communication line 1 via a line interface 2. The data transmission / reception unit 3 performs demultiplexing control on the transmitted / received audio / image signals. After the image information is input from the communication line 1, the image decoding unit 6 of the image processing unit 4 performs the decoding process and the compression process, and the transmitted information is expanded to obtain the received image memory 10 Accumulated in.

The image data stored in the received image memory 10 is converted into an analog video signal by the video output section 11 and then converted into an analog video signal.
A-converted, adjusted to an appropriate level, and displayed on the monitor 12. Further, during image data transmission, the analog video signal output from the camera 7 is adjusted to an appropriate level by the video input unit 8, and
The data is D / D converted into digital data, which is stored in the transmission image memory 9.

The image data stored in the transmission image memory 9 is subjected to image compression processing and encoding processing by the image encoding section 5 of the image processing section 4 to become a digital image information signal, which is multiplexed by the data transmission / reception section 3. Be converted. Then, it is transmitted to the other terminal by the communication line 1 through the line interface 2.

The voice data separated by the data transmitting / receiving unit 3 is expanded by the voice processing unit 22 and reproduced by the handset 23. At the same time, the voice signal input from the handset 23 is subjected to compression processing by the voice processing unit 22, multiplexed with the image data etc. by the data transmission / reception unit 3, and the line interface 2
Via the communication line 1 to the other terminal.

The system controller 16 controls these series of operations. In addition, the video conference system includes an operation unit 21.
It is operated by input from. The operation unit 21 is composed of, for example, a remote controller and a keyboard. Further, the notification processing unit 13, the presence / absence determination unit 14, the reservation control unit 15, the system control unit 16, the absence message storage unit 17, the attendance registration unit 18, the reservation information storage unit 19, the date / time control unit 20, and the operation unit 21. Is a part for realizing a conference management function and an absentee notification function in the video conference system according to the present embodiment.

Next, the operation of the conference management function in the video conference system according to this embodiment will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the conference management function in the video conference system according to this embodiment.
In the video conference system according to the present embodiment, first, as the conference reservation process (S201), in the reservation control unit 15, the conference information input from the operation unit 21 is registered as the reservation setting information 31 in the reservation information storage unit 19, Make reservation settings. The reservation information storage unit 19 stores a plurality of pieces of meeting information about the meeting, and each meeting information is composed of a meeting name, a date and time of the meeting, a meeting time, and participant information (participant name and contact information).

The conference information is input and registered by the user using a form as shown in FIG. 3, for example. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the user uses, as the conference information, the conference name 301, the date / time 302, the place 30
3, the set time 304, and the message 305 are input. Further, the participant name 306, the contact method 307, and the contact information 308 are input as the participant information. Contact method 3
07 selects either the telephone or the mail.

Here, as shown in FIG. 4, an ID signal receiving section 40 for reading the registration information of the ID card is provided,
The ID signal receiving unit 40 may be configured to read the participant information included in the ID card and automatically register the participant information. Although the operation unit 21 shown in FIG. 1 is not shown in the block diagram shown in FIG.
The operation unit 21 may be provided together with the ID signal receiving unit 40.

Next, presence / absence determination processing of FIG. 2 (S202)
At the meeting time 3 registered in the reservation information storage unit 19 at
At 04 (see FIG. 3), the process for transmitting the set time detection signal 32 from the date / time control unit 20 to the presence / absence determination unit 14 is performed. At this time, conference participants A, B, C
The presence status is confirmed.

Here, as a method of judging presence / absence, there is a method of judging presence / absence by the attendees who gathered at the meeting place themselves input attendance information into the terminal and register it in the attendance registration section 18. . For example, the contents of the attendance registration unit 18 are
As shown in FIG. 5, in the presence confirmation table, the participant name 50
1, contact 502, status 503, and attendance registration 504
Set the item. Then, the attendees gathered at the meeting place operate this terminal to change the state 503, which is absent by default, to the presence by checking the attendance registration 504. By performing such processing, the participants themselves register for attendance by the set time, so that attendance registration can be performed reliably.

Further, the image of the conference room is projected by the camera 7 which is the image input means, the image captured from the camera 7 is analyzed to judge the participants in the conference room, and the attendance registration 504 shown in FIG. 5 is performed. It can also be configured to check. By performing such processing, the camera 7
Since the presence / absence can be determined based on the image data input by, it is possible to save the trouble of registering for attendance.

Further, the voice of the conference room is taken in by the handset 23 which is a voice input means, the voice data is analyzed, the participants in the conference room are judged, and the attendance registration 504 shown in FIG. 5 is checked. It can also be configured as follows.
By performing such a process, presence / absence can be determined based on the voice data input by the handset 23, and thus the labor for attendance registration can be saved.

Further, the information of the ID card owned by the conference participant is received by the ID signal receiving unit 40 (see FIG. 4) and compared with the contents registered in the reservation information storage unit 19 to join the conference. Attendance registration 5 shown in Figure 5
It can also be configured to check 04. By performing such a process, it is possible to register the participant information based on the information stored in the ID card and to determine the presence / absence, so that it is possible to save time both in advance registration and attendance registration. it can. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the attendance statuses of the participants A, B, and C are: A: present, B: absent,
C: The absence is determined, and the result is registered in the attendance registration unit 18.

Next, returning to the description of the operation, in the contact method detection process (S203), the notification processing unit 13 determines whether the attendance registration unit 18 registered based on the result determined by the presence / absence determination unit 14. The content is compared with the contact method 307 (see FIG. 3) stored in the reservation information storage unit 19 to detect the absentee contact method. In the example shown in FIG. 3, A, C: telephone, and B: mail are detected.

Next, in the absentee contact processing (S204), the notification processing unit 13 reads a message according to the contact method of each absentee from the out-of-office message storage unit 17, and sends a message to B by mail. Send, A, C
A message message is sent to the telephone, and the process ends (S205).

Here, when a message is notified to the absentee, the message is notified to each absentee using the contact method of the participant information registered in the conference information shown in FIG. . By performing such processing, the means for notifying the absentee of the message can be registered in advance, so that the message can be notified by using the most suitable means for each absentee.

Alternatively, the message may be notified to the absentee by transmitting a voice message, which prompts participation in a conference registered in advance in the absence message storage unit 17, by telephone. By performing such processing, it is possible to automatically send a voice message registered in advance to the absentee, so that it is not necessary for other participants to notify the absentee, which saves labor. Can contribute to.

Further, by transmitting a text message that prompts participation in a conference registered in the absence message storage unit 17 in advance by using the mail transmission / reception function of the mobile phone,
It may be configured to notify the absentee of the message.
By performing such processing, it is possible to automatically send a message registered in advance to the absentee, so that it is not necessary for other participants to notify the absentee. It can contribute to labor saving.

The contact method of the absentee registered in the ID card is urged to participate in the conference registered in advance in the absence message storage unit 17 by using the contact method registered in the ID card. The message may be notified to the absentee by sending the message. By performing such a process, it is possible to automatically send a message to the contact registered in the ID card for the absentee, so that the contact can be registered or other participants can be absent. It is possible to contribute to labor saving because it is not necessary to notify.

Next, referring to FIG. 6, in the case where the image of the conference room is projected by the camera 7 which is the image input means, and the image captured from the camera 7 is analyzed to judge the participants in the conference room. The operation of will be described.

In the method of judging participants using the video input means, as shown in FIG. 6, first, an image registration process (S60) is performed.
In 1), the conference reservation process (S201 shown in FIG. 2))
As an image is input from the camera 7 (S602), the reservation information storage unit 19 is associated with the participant name (S603), and the conference reservation process is completed (S604).
Here, the procedure of the processing in the image registration processing (S601) may be drawn from the database registered in advance.

When the conference reservation process is completed (S604),
It is determined whether or not the meeting time has come (S605), and presence / absence determination is performed (S606). Here, the number of determination targets is set to the number of participants, and the maximum number regarded as an input image is set to the number of participants (S607). Then, the presence / absence of an input image is determined (S608), and if there is no input image from the camera 7, the process ends (S615).

On the other hand, if there is an input image, attendee image recognition processing (S609) is performed. Subsequently, the image associated with the participant name in S603 is compared with the image recognized as the attendee image in S609 (S61).
0), it is determined whether the two images match (S61).
1). If the two images do not match, S6
At 10, the comparison with other registered images is performed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the two images match, attendance registration is performed (S612), and "1" is subtracted from the number of determination targets (S6).
13).

Subsequently, the number of judgment objects is judged (S61
4) If the number of determination targets is “0”, all the participants are present, and the process ends (S615). On the other hand, when the number of determination targets is not “0”, the presence / absence of an input image is newly determined (S608), and finally the process ends (S615).

Next, referring to FIG. 7, an operation in which the voice in the conference room is captured by the handset 23 which is a voice input means, the voice data is analyzed, and the participant in the conference room is determined. Will be explained. In the method of determining the participants using the voice input means, as shown in FIG. 7, first, in the voice registration process (S701), the conference reservation process (S shown in FIG. 2).
201), voice input is performed from the handset 23 (S7).
02), the reservation information storage section 19 is associated with the participant name (S703), and the conference reservation process is completed (S703).
704). Here, the procedure of the processing in the voice registration processing (S701) may be derived from a database registered in advance.

When the conference reservation process is completed (S704),
It is determined whether or not the meeting time has come (S705), and presence / absence determination is performed (S706). Here, the number of determination targets is set to the number of participants, and the maximum number regarded as the input voice is set to the number of participants (S707). Then, the presence / absence of an input voice is determined (S708), and if there is no input voice from the handset 23, the process ends (S715).

On the other hand, when there is an input voice, attendee voice recognition processing (S709) is performed. Subsequently, the voice associated with the participant name in S703 is compared with the voice recognized as the attendee voice in S709 (S71).
0), it is determined whether the two voices match (S71).
1). If the two voices do not match, S7
At 10, the comparison with other registered voices is performed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the two voices match, attendance registration is performed (S712), and "1" is subtracted from the number of determination targets (S7).
13).

Subsequently, the number of judgment objects is judged (S71
4) If the determination target number is "0", all the participants are present, and the process ends (S715). On the other hand, when the number of determination targets is not “0”, the presence / absence of an input voice is newly determined (S708), and finally the process ends (S715).

Next, referring to FIG. 8, the information of the ID card owned by the conference participant is received by the ID signal receiving unit 40 and compared with the contents registered in the reservation information storage unit 19. The operation of determining a participant will be described below. In the method of determining the participant using the information of the ID card, as shown in FIG. 8, first, in the step (S801) of the participant information registration process, the ID signal receiving unit is used as the conference reservation process (S201 shown in FIG. 2). 40 receives a signal from the ID card (S802), and associates the reservation information storage unit 19 with the participant name (S80).
3), the conference reservation process is completed (S804).

When the conference reservation process is completed (S804),
It is determined whether or not the meeting time has come (S805), and presence / absence determination is performed (S806). Here, the number of determination targets is set to the number of participants, and the maximum number regarded as the reception information is set to the number of participants (S807). Then, the presence / absence of a reception signal is determined (S808), and if there is no reception signal from the ID signal receiving unit 40, the process ends (S815).

On the other hand, if there is a received signal, the received data reading process (S809) is performed. Then, S80
Information associated with the participant name in S3, S809
The information read as attendee information in step S810 is compared (S810), and it is determined whether the two pieces of information match (S).
811). Here, if the two pieces of information do not match,
In S810, comparison with other registration information is performed. On the other hand, when it is determined that the two pieces of information match, attendance registration is performed (S812), and "1" is subtracted from the number of determination targets (S813).

Next, the number of judgment objects is judged (S81
4) If the number of judgment targets is "0", all the participants are present, and the process ends (S815). On the other hand, if the number of determination targets is not “0”, the presence / absence of a received signal is newly determined (S808), and the process finally ends (S815).

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the conference management system according to the present invention is applied to the video conference system has been described. However, the conference management system according to the present invention is not limited to this, and a voice conference system or general Needless to say, it can be applied to the conference management system of.

[0053]

As described above, according to the conference management system of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. That is, in the conference management system according to the present invention, at least one of the participant information including the contact information of the participant and the notification means information including the method of contacting the participant is stored and then determined by the determination means at a predetermined time. The presence / absence of a participant is determined, and a message urging the participant to participate is determined by the notification means. Therefore,
It is possible to contact the absentee at the actual meeting place at the meeting time using the best contact method registered in advance, and all the participants can smoothly proceed with the meeting when the meeting is held.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example when a conference management system according to the present invention is applied to a video conference system.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of a conference management function in the video conference system.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a conference information input screen.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another example in which the conference management system according to the present invention is applied to a video conference system.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of an enrollment confirmation input screen.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of absentee determination processing.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing another example of absentee determination processing.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing yet another example of absentee determination processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 communication line 2 line interface 3 data transceiver 4 Image processing section 5 Image coding unit 6 Image decoding unit 7 camera 8 Video input section 9 Transmission image memory 10 Received image memory 11 Video output section 12 monitors 13 Notification processing unit 14 Presence / Absence Judgment Section 15 Reservation control section 16 System control unit 17 Out-of-office message storage 18 Attendance Registration Department 19 Reservation information storage 20 Date and time control section 21 Operation part 22 Voice processing unit 23 Handset 31 Reservation setting information 32 Set time detection signal 40 ID signal receiver 301 Meeting name 302 Date and time 303 venue 304 Meeting time 305 messages 306 participants 307 Contact method 308 Contact 501 participant name 502 Contact 503 state 504 Attendance registration

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A conference management system comprising: an input unit for inputting at least one of video and audio; and a transmitting and receiving unit for transmitting and receiving at least one of video information and audio information fetched from the input unit. Meeting management means for managing the meeting by using the meeting information including at least one of the date and time of the event and the meeting time, and the participant information including the contact information of the participant and the notification means information including the contact method to the participant. Storage means for storing at least one, determination means for determining the presence / absence of a participant at a meeting time, and for notifying a participant held by the determination means that a conference is held A conference management system having a notification means. 2. The conference management system according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines an absentee based on whether or not a participant has registered attendance at a terminal by the meeting time. 3. The storage means stores participant-specific video information as the participant information, and the determination means stores the participant video information captured from the input means and the participant-specific video information. The conference management system according to claim 1, wherein the absentee is determined by comparing and recognizing the video information. 4. The storage means stores participant-specific voice information as the participant information, and the determining means stores the participant's voice information taken in by the input means and the participant-specific voice information. The conference management system according to claim 1, wherein the absentee is determined by comparing and recognizing the voice information. 5. A registration information reading means for reading the registration information of the ID card owned by the participant is provided, and the storage means stores the registration information of the ID card owned by the participant as the participant information. 2. The conference management according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines the absentee by comparing and recognizing the participant information and the registration information of the ID card read by the registration information reading unit. system. 6. The conference management system according to claim 1, wherein the notifying unit notifies the contact information contained in the participant information by using the contact method stored in the storage unit. 7. The notification means automatically transmits a voice message prompting participation in a conference registered in advance to the telephone contact of the absentee included in the participant information. The conference management system according to claim 1. 8. The notification means automatically sends a message urging participation in a pre-registered conference to a mail address of an absentee registered in the participant information. The conference management system according to item 1. 9. The notification means uses the contact method of the absentee registered in the ID card to participate in the conference registered in advance, using the contact method of the absentee registered in the ID card. 6. The conference management system according to claim 5, wherein a message prompting is automatically transmitted.