JP2001319153A - Charging system by operation unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means for making charging and operation to be appropriate by minute charging on a charging system in an information processing system where a user requests processing to a center by instructing it by the terminal picture operation. SOLUTION: An instruction operation means 1 operating an instruction for transmitting requesting processing contents to the center, a processing starting means 2 causing an information processor to start the processing based on the processing contents which are received and requested and a charging means 3 charging the user based on the processing contents at every request are installed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation unit billing system in an information processing system in which a user gives an instruction by operating a terminal screen to request processing from a center.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When processing is performed using a computer, charging for hardware resources conventionally used has been performed. For example, CPU time required for processing, memory amount,
The amount of the file, the processing time, the network connection time, ie, the service time, etc., are all charged for the resources used for the hardware. Also,
Billing for the value of the processing itself and the value of the information itself is also performed as a paid service in an information search service, an information providing service, and the like.

[0003] However, in a business form in which a developed system is operated and provided as a service instead of a system development business such as an application service provider and an outsourcing business, CPs are used.
The conventional charging method, in which the processing time differs depending on the performance of U and the congestion of computers and networks, is not useful. Therefore, there is a need for a method of strictly charging which functions are used and how much.

Recently, the value of software has been evaluated in detail, and a billing method for each software module used has been devised. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 8-6660 discloses a "charging method" in which a user is charged with the value of a software module used by software created by a user as a charging process in accordance with the value of existing software and its use status. The device to do this is shown. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-338696 “Billing system for software module” includes software for controlling hardware as a plurality of software modules, and as the hardware is used, the software modules that are There has been proposed a billing function for accumulating a usage fee according to the use value of each module when used.

[0005]

Generally, as a method for a terminal user to achieve a desired process, when a combination of a plurality of functions can be selected, the functions are sequentially selected on a screen of the terminal to perform the processing. It is operated to proceed with execution.
However, as described above, it is possible to charge in accordance with the use of hardware resources and software modules, but in an information processing system in which a user instructs by operating a terminal screen and requests a center to perform processing, There is a problem that it is not possible to perform more detailed accounting for each operation unit, which reflects the quality of the operation method, and a solution to the problem has been demanded.

In view of the above, the present invention provides means for charging each time a terminal user selects a process on a screen and instructs execution thereof, thereby realizing proper charging and proper operation. The purpose is to:

[0007]

The above-mentioned problem is solved by an operation unit billing system configured as described below in an information processing system in which a user instructs by operating a terminal screen and requests processing to a center.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an instruction operating means for operating an instruction to transmit the requested processing content to the center; and 2, a processing starting means for starting the processing in the information processing apparatus based on the received and requested processing content. And 3 is a charging unit that charges the user based on the processing content each time a request is made. 4 is a billing amount display means for displaying the amount of billing for each process requested by the user by operating the terminal screen, and 5 is preliminarily determining the elapsed time required for the requested process for each performance content for each performance rank. The charging unit 3 corrects the charging based on the evaluation result of the processing result evaluating unit 5.

[0010]

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a mode realized by a computer program executed on a computer used for general purposes such as a personal computer and a workstation will be described.

The operation unit charging system of the present invention is realized by executing a computer program on a computer including a processing device, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, an input / output device, and the like. The computer program is provided by being stored in a portable medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk or a CD-ROM, or in a main storage device or an auxiliary storage device of another computer connected to a network. The recording medium of the present invention corresponds to the portable medium, the main storage device, and the auxiliary storage device.

The provided computer program is loaded directly from the portable medium to the main storage device of the computer, or once copied or installed from the portable medium to the auxiliary storage device, and then loaded and executed in the main storage device. Also, when provided by being stored in another device connected to a network, it is also copied to an auxiliary storage device, loaded into a main storage device, and executed after receiving from another device via a network.

FIG. 2 shows an information processing system in which a center is composed of a complex computer system that executes processes in cooperation with each other and uses services such as data contents and application programs held by the center from terminals connected via a network. Is shown.

That is, in this information processing system, when a user starts a business, the user adds and corrects the processing contents as needed for each necessary processing displayed on the screen of the terminal 10 and checks the processing contents, and then goes to a center for processing requests. Of the transmission of the message. In the business process, every time this instruction is operated, the center
The processing is performed by the computer assigned based on the requested processing content. The processing result is transmitted to the terminal, and the user confirms the processing status and repeats the next processing request in the same manner. In this way, the user confirms the end of all necessary processes and ends the business process.

Referring to FIG. 2, each terminal and center function will be described in accordance with the flow of the process how to charge each process of a request to the center for a business process performed by a user at such a terminal.

First, the terminal 10 is provided with an operation start unit 11 for checking the user's qualification at the start of the operation and performing a procedure for receiving the operation processing service of the center, and an operation end unit 14 for instructing the end of the operation.

In a connection environment with the center established in this way, the user requests the center for necessary processing while interacting with the screen. By the processing function selection unit 12, various processes required for business processing are displayed on the screen in the form of a list menu or icons, and are instructed by a pointer on the screen.

The business processing requesting unit 13 includes the processing function selecting unit 1
The user talks with the user about each process selected in step 2 to newly input or correct the detailed condition of the process content, and after confirmation, sends the process to the center to request the process. A selection menu of processing functions and details of processing contents and information on the amount of charging for each processing content can be received and obtained via the business processing unit 23 or the charging calculation unit 24 of the center.

Next, the flow of each function in the center will be described. The user authentication unit 21 authenticates the use qualification with reference to a user management table 22 that holds information for managing information for each user of a user who starts a business process corresponding to the business start unit 11 of the terminal. Things.

The business processing unit 23 refers to a processing function management table for each processing device, which is not shown in the figure, based on the content of the processing request transmitted when a business process is requested from the terminal 10, and stores the processing device and the processing program. This is to determine and execute the processing.

The business processing unit 23 stores the processing contents and the start time at the start of each processing, and stores the completion state of the processing and the time required for the processing at the end of the processing, and starts the accounting calculation unit 24 for each processing. I do.

The billing calculation unit 24 receives a notification from the business processing unit 23 when each processing is completed, searches a billing table 28 storing a billing value corresponding to the processing contents, and calculates a billing based on the processing contents. I do.

When the required performance rank option is specified as the processing content, the processing result evaluation unit 27 is started. The processing result evaluation unit 27 evaluates the processing result with reference to the reference processing time for each processing content held in the processing evaluation reference table 26 based on the stored processing content, processing completion state, and processing time.

This is to guarantee a reference processing time when the user instructs the processing contents to use a processing device having high processing performance instead of requiring a large amount of processing charges as an option. Evaluate the results. If the evaluation result is not within the reference time, the billing is adjusted.

The charge calculation unit 24 calculates the charge and, if necessary, corrects the charge based on the processing result evaluation.
5 is notified of the charge for the current process,
Is a user management table 2 for recording information for each user.
2 is recorded in a cumulative manner.

FIG. 3 is an example of a business processing request screen for explaining screens used by the processing function selecting unit 12 and the business processing requesting unit 13 according to the embodiment. FIG. 3A is a menu screen for selecting a processing function in the personnel information inquiry processing as an example of a screen for selecting a processing function after the start of business processing. When personnel information of an employee is required, there are various methods for obtaining the information.

When the employee number is known, if a processing function displayed as "employee number → employee information" is selected, personnel information of the employee can be immediately obtained by inputting the employee number.

When only the name is known, an instruction is given to use the "name → employee information" function and the process is started.

When the affiliation is known but the employee number and the name are not known, first, the affiliation of the affiliation is displayed in a list by "affiliation code → employee list", and the information found there is used again. You will get employee information. In addition, if you want to print instead of displaying it, you can use “affiliation code → print employee list”.
Instruct the menu.

These are the procedures used when performing normal business processing. However, there may be various combinations of user's operation methods and operation procedures depending on the tasks, system functions, operation information, knowledge, and skill levels of each user.

That is, since the information cannot be obtained, individual information is obtained after obtaining the entire information unnecessarily, or
In some cases, an operation such as repeated printing is performed to keep a record. On the other hand, when a skilled user or a person works efficiently with care, a combination of operations for obtaining a result as soon as possible is used.

Further, from the viewpoint of not only work efficiency but also resource saving, there is a request from companies and society to shorten the processing time and suppress printing as much as possible, and a good business processing operation is desired.

Therefore, a numeral enclosed in a square is displayed at the head of the menu item on the screen shown in FIG. This indicates the amount charged for each processing request. The user is expected to be able to reduce the cost required for the processing by selecting the processing that is as cheap as possible while paying attention to the amount of the charge.

The number representing the charge is not limited to the absolute amount but may be a relative number. Further, the amount of the charge may be indicated by the size of a figure indicating the size, by a color like a signal, or simply indicating the order of the amount of the charge.

The business processing requested to the center includes the functions frequently used as shown here, the processing which is not used much but has a certain amount of processing, or the processing which uses an advanced technique. I do. The latter processing requires a lot of computer resources for processing, and application programs that perform advanced processing are rarely used but need to collect high development costs. Since proper billing is required, a menu displaying such billing information is effective for effective use.

FIG. 3B shows that after selecting a processing function, in particular, when requesting a large-scale processing or an advanced processing to the center, a more detailed processing content is instructed before transmitting the processing request to the center. The example of a screen is shown. That is, this is an example of a screen used in the business process requesting unit 13.

Here, a case will be described in which “XX total processing” is specified in detail. When performing the process of totalizing the information stored in the business files of the center, there are times when the time restrictions are severe, but there is a case where there is some allowance and the normal processing time can be enough.

The center is provided with a plurality of information processing devices, and executes a process by allocating an appropriate processing device according to the processing content of each business process. Normally, information processing devices are automatically assigned according to the characteristics of each process, but this assignment can be changed as desired by the user.

When urgent processing is required when a user makes a request, a processing rank selection screen for designating assignment of a high-performance processing apparatus is displayed as shown in FIG. 3B. Is done. Here, performance rank A,
The performance rank B can be selected. The number in the circle at the top of each menu item indicates the amount of charge for each process. The display with these numbers may be various absolute displays or relative displays as described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the table. (A) is a user management table, and for each user who can request processing from the terminal to the center, a user ID and a password to be confirmed at the time of connection with the center when starting a business, and each time processing is performed. Has a cumulative usage fee item for accumulating and storing the usage fee for each process.

(B) is a billing table. A business process ID indicating the content of the process for each requested process to be executed is stored in association with a usage unit price charged each time the process is used. The business process ID is also capable of distinguishing between specification of detailed processing specifications and rank specification of a processing device.

(C) is a processing evaluation criterion table. If the requested processing is unsuccessful, the usage fee cannot be charged as the price of the processing, but it indicates the contents of the business processing, especially when the rank of the processing device is specified and the time is limited. In order to guarantee the processing time for each business processing ID, a reference processing time is determined. When the performance rank is instructed, a contract is made in advance to pay a penalty if the reference time is exceeded.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the accounting process.
The operation of the accounting process will be described according to the steps of the flowchart with reference to the above table.

After starting the work, the user uses the screen to instruct necessary individual work processing and requests the center to perform the processing. In step S50, the contents of the received processing request from the user (processing ID, user ID, processing start time, performance rank) are stored. In step S51, a processing device is allocated based on the processing request, and application processing is started.

When the processing is completed, it is determined in step S52 whether or not the processing result is normal based on a processing completion code or the like. In the case of abnormal termination, an abnormal termination process in step S60 is performed.

If the processing has been completed normally, in step S53, the processing time is calculated from the current time and the start time and stored.

When the performance rank is instructed and the processing is requested, it is determined in step S54 and step S55.
Then, the processing evaluation reference table is searched by the processing ID, and the reference processing time is calculated. As a result, if the processing time takes longer than the reference processing time in step S56, the charge is set to a predetermined minimum amount as a penalty.

If it is determined in step S54 that the performance rank has not been specified, and if the processing has been completed within the reference time even when the performance rank has been specified, a normal charge is calculated in step S57. The charge is calculated by searching the charge table with the process ID of the completed business process, calculating the charge of the current process, and in step S58, the user I in the user management table is searched.
The charge is accumulated in the accumulated usage fee corresponding to D.

As described above, every time the terminal operates the screen and requests the center to perform the processing, the corresponding charge is calculated and the charge is accumulated, so that the detailed charge can be performed. In terms of the operation of the center provided, fair and proper billing can be performed from a business standpoint.

Although the above embodiment has been described with reference to a system including a terminal and a center connected by a network, the system may include a processing device and a terminal in the same center. Further, the billing is performed for the processing on the center side, but the billing may be performed for the processing in the terminal-side processing device. That is, in this case, billing is performed every time an object displayed on the screen of the terminal is operated, and an effect of increasing the efficiency of operation in smaller operation units can be obtained.

[0051]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the user can reduce the charge by eliminating useless operations, or can process the same function with less charge by knowing the amount of charge. Can be requested. Furthermore, it is possible to select a processing function that requires a different processing time according to the urgency of the processing to obtain processing performance commensurate with the charging, and to set a proper charging even when the expected processing capacity cannot be obtained. It is adjusted to become. In this way, appropriate charging is performed in accordance with the processing functions and performance details of the processing instructed and used by the user, and the terminal operation is performed by reducing the charging by the user's efforts. Become
There is an industrial effect of improving productivity and reducing system resources.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 3] Example of business process request screen

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a table.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a billing process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Instruction operation means 2 Processing starting means 3 Billing means 4 Billing amount display means 5 Processing result evaluation means

Claims (7)

[Claims] An information processing system in which a user instructs a center by operating a terminal screen and requests a center to perform processing, an instruction operating means for operating an instruction to transmit the requested processing content to the center, An operation unit charging system, comprising: a process activation unit that activates a process in an information processing apparatus based on a process content; and a charging unit that charges a user based on the process content each time a request is made. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the instruction operation means includes the requested performance rank in the requested processing content, and the processing activation means selects an information processing apparatus based on the required performance rank and activates the processing. The operation unit billing system according to claim 1. 3. A processing result evaluation means for evaluating the elapsed time required for the requested processing by comparing it with a reference time previously determined for each processing content for each performance rank, and further comprising a processing result evaluation means. 3. The operation unit charging system according to claim 2, wherein the charging is corrected based on the evaluation result of the result evaluation means. 4. A charge amount display means for displaying the amount of charge for each process requested by a user by operating a terminal screen.
The operation unit charging system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: 5. A recording medium in which a program of a terminal for which a user instructs by a terminal screen operation and requests a center to perform processing is recorded, wherein a computer is operated by a terminal screen operation and requested. A computer-readable recording medium that records a program for functioning as a charge amount display means for displaying the amount of charge on the computer; and an instruction operation means for operating an instruction to transmit the requested processing content to the center. 6. A recording medium storing a program of an information processing apparatus for executing a requested process by instructing a user by operating a terminal screen, wherein the computer receives a program based on contents of the requested process. A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for causing the information processing apparatus to function as a process starting unit that starts a process, a charging unit that charges a user based on the content of the process each time a request is made. 7. An operation unit billing method in an information processing system in which a user instructs by a terminal screen operation and requests a center to perform processing, wherein the terminal transmits processing contents instructed by the terminal screen operation to the center. An operation unit charging method, wherein a request is made, a center activates processing of the information processing apparatus based on the received and requested processing content, and charges a user each time requested, based on the processing content.