JP2003018303A - Electronic conference system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and an operating method therefor, with which a participant can take part in a conference efficiently for the participant while managing the schedules of the conference participant and a site. SOLUTION: The conference participation time zone of each of conference participants 11 is divided to time of staying in a designated area and time of staying out of the designated area and within the time of staying out of the designated area, the conference participant 11 takes part in a conference site 1 through the two-way communication of terminals 9 and 10 outside the relevant designated area and a terminal 7 inside the relevant designated area. Otherwise, the situation of the prescribed conference is received by broadcasting while utilizing the designated terminals 9 and 10 equipped with both functions of broadcasting receiving and two-way communication and when the participant is to take part in the prescribed conference, the functions of the relevant designated terminals 9 and 10 are switched so that two-way communication with the designated terminals 9 and 10 is performed directly or indirectly with the terminal 7 installed on the relevant conference site 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic conference system and a method thereof, and more particularly to an electronic conference system and a method thereof utilizing bidirectional communication and artificial satellites.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is internet communication called so-called chat, and there is a mechanism that allows participants to exchange opinions through their own terminals. In addition, participation in a program is also carried out at a venue of a broadcast program (including a broadcast station) during a program, by requesting, voting, presenting an opinion, etc. through a telephone, a facsimile, or a personal computer.

Further, as a system relating to a remote conference in which distant places are connected to each other, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2000-286843, 2000-924466 and 2000-92 are known.
217, 7-240914, 10
-271477 publication is mentioned.

[0004]

By the way, busy conference participants often hold several conferences per day, and the venues may be different from each other. In addition, the meeting itself may not proceed on time and may be delayed or advanced. In addition, depending on the content of the meeting, it may not be necessary to hold all the meeting time within the venue, and the proceedings may proceed even if you are not present at the venue except to speak or ask for a vote. There are good cases.

Considering these matters, a busy participant is required to manage the schedule of the conference and participate in the conference efficiently, but there has been no proposal to satisfy both of them.

Incidentally, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 2000-286843, 2000-924466, and 2000-92.
217, 7-240914, 10
Although all of the ones disclosed in the publication No. 271477 disclose the devising of the communication path, there has not been proposed a mechanism in which a large number of participants actively participate.

[0007] That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a system and an operating method thereof which allow a participant to efficiently participate in a conference while managing the schedule between the conference participant and the venue.

[0008]

According to the electronic conferencing system of the present invention, (1) the conference participation time zone of each person in a conference is divided into a designated area stay time and a designated area stay time, and designated outside the designated area. By connecting the terminal and the terminal installed in the designated area with the bidirectional communication means, the conference participants can communicate with the terminal in the designated area from the outside of the designated area during the stay time outside the designated area. Characterized by being able to participate in this conference, or (2) using a designated terminal that has both functions of receiving broadcast and two-way communication so that the pattern of a predetermined conference can be received by broadcast At the same time, when participating in a predetermined conference, the function of the designated terminal is switched so that two-way communication with the designated terminal is performed directly or indirectly with the terminal installed in the conference hall. . It is most preferable to have both the functions (1) and (2).

The electronic conferencing method of the present invention divides the meeting participation time zone of each person in the meeting into a designated area stay time and a designated area non-designated area stay time, and the conference attendee within the designated area stay time. Participating in the conference through bidirectional communication between an external designated terminal and a terminal within the designated area,
And / or using a designated terminal that has both functions of receiving broadcast and two-way communication, receiving the pattern of a predetermined conference by broadcasting, and switching the function of the designated terminal when participating in the predetermined conference, It is characterized in that bidirectional communication with the designated terminal is performed directly or indirectly with the terminal installed in the conference hall.

The member terminals inside and outside the designated area are directly
There is no need for bidirectional communication, but communication is via the management center. In addition, the conference participation fee is charged as the designated terminal is switched to the two-way communication, and the billing amount or the account withdrawal amount is notified through the terminal, and the conference participant stays outside the designated area. When appropriate, the call signal and the conference information are sent to the designated terminal of the conference participant, and the schedule of the conference participant on the day of the conference and the schedule of the conference are registered in advance in the computer of the management center to participate. Receiving the status change of the person's schedule and the time progress of the meeting from each terminal, rewriting each registration data, and transmitting the rewriting data or information including the data to the conference hall terminal and the designated terminal. Alternatively, the information transmitted from the computer of the management center includes the expected progress timetable of the conference and the required time required by the participant to attend the conference. , Conference hall estimated arrival time of the participants, it is desirable, characterized in that the addition of information selected from the group of current position information of the participants.

A terminal suitable for use in the present invention has a personal address and a group address, and can be transmitted and received as a group address in a broadcast mode.
In addition, the third mode allows direct communication between conference participants.

Incidentally, the present invention was obtained by studying the following ideas in contrast to the conventionally proposed teleconference system. That is, (1) Participation in the present application means that the participants can substantially grasp the content of the conference, not simply sending and receiving a facial image. In other words, the participants can receive all the desired conference information that they need. In addition, they are given the opportunity to ask necessary questions and the opportunity to vote. Then, a mechanism that enables these actions from any place in the service target area of the satellite is obtained. (2) In the present invention, it is more important to give the participants an opportunity to speak rather than the center monitoring the participants' reception screens. (3) In the first place, the present invention provides a mechanism for enabling substantially progress when there are a large number of participants regardless of whether it is a multi-satellite or a single-satellite.

[0013]

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

FIG. 1 is an image diagram of the entire system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A computer terminal 7 with a display, which also serves as a receiving terminal for satellite broadcasting and satellite communication, is placed in the conference hall 1 to be participated. The terminal 7 is cable-connected to the transmission / reception equipment 4 of the conference hall 1. Further, there is a management center 2 separately from the conference hall 1, and a computer terminal 6 with a display, which also serves as a receiving terminal for satellite broadcasting and satellite communication, is installed in this management center 2 as well. The computer in the management center) is connected to the transmission / reception equipment 3 of the management center 2 by a cable. This management center 2 has a plurality of conference organizers or venue managers as members, and therefore, there are a plurality of conferences or venues that the management center 2 manages every day. However, in the drawings of this embodiment, there is one venue for simplification. I have to. The terminal 7 and the transmission / reception equipment 4 at the venue may be fixed facilities at the venue, but it is of course possible to move together with the organizer. The computer terminal 7 in the conference hall 1 is used by the moderator, facilitator, assistants thereof, or the secretariat. The computer terminals 6 and 7 also serve as transmission / reception terminals for the satellite 5.

By the way, the prospective participant 11 who has not arrived at the venue is a terminal 1 capable of receiving broadcasts and two-way communication via satellite.
0 (a mobile terminal held by a person who is a conference participant) is being carried. Such a prospective participant is a moving body 8 such as a car (for example, a car as a means for the conference participants to move).
However, in this case, the vehicle-mounted device terminal 9 also functions as a terminal for a so-called car navigation system or a terminal for ITS (it can be removed from the car and moved with a person, or brought into a conference room). (Possible), the same function as the terminal 10 is added, that is, the function capable of receiving broadcasting and bidirectional communication via a satellite is added. These prospective participants may be direct members who use the system, or may be those who have loaned the terminal from the sponsor side or the venue side.
Naturally, there are multiple people. The location of the prospective participant 11 does not matter.

Between the artificial satellite 5 and the terminal 10, and between the satellite 5 and the terminal 9, the state of the conference hall can be received by broadcasting, and the two-way communication can be switched when the conference is attended. The management center 2 services the target conference and the target person by contract, but of course it is possible to manage multiple conferences. Further, although the satellite is used in this example, it is not necessary to use the satellite if the broadcasting and the bidirectional communication can be used together.

Each of the terminals 6, 7, 9 and 10 transmits and receives radio waves via the artificial satellite 5. As a means that can be used for both broadcasting and communication and is capable of two-way communication via an artificial satellite as described above, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-349
There is a satellite utilization system described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 96. In this satellite utilization system, three or more satellites are placed in different elliptical orbits for each satellite, and each satellite is rotated so that each apogee comes to the service area, for example, in the sky direction of Japan,
Therefore, the service in the service target area is covered for 24 hours. Moreover, since the satellite is located at a high elevation angle and the apogee of the satellite's elliptical orbit is above the service area, it is possible to transmit and receive without being affected by the shadow of the building. Will be covered.

It is conceivable that the terminals 9 and 10 are free and unregistered only by receiving broadcasts outdoors. At this time, regarding the use of the terminal in the conference hall 1, a reception fee is charged in the form of a conference participation fee. In the case of participation in communication, even a small amount of membership fee should be collected, and the communication function of the terminals 9 and 10 enables questions, votes, and the like. When using the outdoor terminals 9 and 10 in the room 1,
It is desirable to devise a circuit so that positive feedback amplification of the signal does not occur.

When a participant c is absent from the conference room 1,
The management center 2 needs a callable state and information. When participant c is outside conference room 1, it is necessary to distinguish between participant c and non-participant d, and it is free of charge for privileges such as voting, giving opinions, and browsing materials. This may also be the annual fee collection or the collection from the conference organizer.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the basic concept of the virtual electronic conference. The virtual electronic conference 12a is a virtual conference that is virtually built on a computer in the management center to manage both the actual venue and the participants outside the venue as a unit during the conference time. It has a structure that a meeting is established even if there are people who are not present, and consists of a schedule management 12b and a utility 12c. The schedule management 12b is a schedule management 12d for individual participants of the conference, a schedule management 12e for the conference itself, a schedule change notification and re-setup 12f, and a conference operation (switching electronic devices).
It consists of 12 g. Regarding the schedule management 12d of an individual, the start time of the core time, the conference time, and the travel time of the individual is input to the computer and transmitted to the prospective participants via the terminal.
(12h). The core time of the participant is the time to attend the conference room of the conference, and is a part or all of the conference time. The travel time is the time required to reach the venue, which is calculated by calculating the transportation method, traffic congestion, travel speed, and distance to the venue. Therefore, the prospective participants can manage the schedule in time for the meeting by the core time of the conference, and can notify the meeting by communication in case of delay. The schedule change notification and the re-arrangement 12f inform the prospective participants of the conference delay 12i and the attendees' late / early leave information 12j to the venue terminal. Further, in the conference operation 12g, the MM wireless communication is utilized 12k to manage the announcement time period, the inquiry time period, the voting time period, and the management information providing time period. To enable.

It should be noted that, in the figure, those without a frame relate to time (zone), under block 12d are individual time classifications, and under block 12k are communication operation time classifications. Further, the MM is not a simple voice or data, but includes visual and video data, that is, multimedia.

The conference operation (switching of electronic device) block 12g mainly focuses on switching of electronic devices (electronic / communication devices). There are both individual and meeting schedules, and changing them is especially difficult. Further, in order to realize it, it is necessary to appropriately switch the electronic / communication device.

This example has the following advantages. Conventionally, the person must be present at the conference hall, and the key person is busy, so the time for attending the conference is strict.If you are late or miss the course, you cannot see the flow of the conference and cannot participate in important decisions. . According to this example, it is possible to deal with the participants while they are moving, so that the meeting time can be substantially extended to increase the degree of freedom and the activity efficiency of the company.
Conventionally, the electronic conference was performed by dividing the venue into two or three, but in this example, the virtual conference can be attended even outside the conference hall, so that the degree of freedom is greatly expanded. For example,
It eliminates the presence conditions of the person for the meeting to be established, expands the degree of freedom of time adjustment due to busyness, and allows participation in important decisions outside the venue. In order to hold a good conference, it is necessary to bring together excellent and suitable participants c. A good participant usually needs to attend many conferences, often in a case where the timing is lost. Since there is quite a lot of time involved in moving, the effective use of this time improves the quality of the conference and increases the satisfaction of the participants.
Also, if the meeting is held only indoors, it becomes monotonous, and it may cause a drowsiness, etc. However, since it is possible to move the body during pre- and post-time, it is possible to refresh the mood. In addition, if a conference and an exhibition are installed side by side, the density is high,
You can spend time. Further, the travel time can be effectively utilized even in a conference in a remote place.

By the way, the reason why the term "virtual" is used in this example is that the concept of the venue is changed in this example, whereas in the meetings so far, one or more specific venues are the same place in the same time zone. . That is, participants share the time, but the location does not matter depending on the time.

Since broadcasting and communication coexist in the system of the present invention, selection (switching) of a broadcast address and a communication address becomes important. Therefore, this point will be described below. The switching will be described. Addresses include individual and group addresses (→ conference number image)
There is. This is because the individual two-way delivery information and the group one-way delivery information are mixed. However, the number of group addresses is significantly smaller than the number of individual addresses. First, the distribution is (1)
There are methods of delivering to all areas, (2) delivering only to target areas, and (3) delivering only specific terminals after establishing a bidirectional communication path. On the other hand, the receiving terminal has (a) a method of selecting an address for each data, and (b) a method of receiving all information after establishing a communication path. In the conference support system, the combination of (1) and (a) is rational.

In this method, the terminal becomes busy with the address check. The load of the base station becomes busy with communication relays for the number of broadcast channels, and there is a time when the base station (the address of the base station) is monopolized for the conference for the purpose of transmission, but there is an advantage that the whole logic is simple. is there. However, in this example,
The method (1) (a) is one example, and there is no problem even if it is realized by another method such as (2) (a). In addition, since the channel selection logic of the terminal requires an address check in any case, there is no great difference in the complexity of (a) and (b).

Here, the schedule change will be described. One aspect of virtual electronic conferencing is the management and support of conference and participant schedules. Especially important points for practical use are VIP, presenter, etc.
The point is that the post time is set and reset. The resetting is a point that the meeting progress time is delayed and the schedule change support is caused by the late arrival of the participants. For the virtual conference participants, the schedule will be divided into the core and the pre- and post-cores before and after the core. Each person specifies the core time depending on the busy state of each person and the degree of work focus. The remaining time is the pre and post time. In core time, it is used for presentation time and discussion time. The pre- and post-time consists of listening time, raising hand time, and question (answer) time.

Next, from the viewpoint of information communication, as shown in FIG. 1, the configuration is as follows: the recommended satellite system 5, the conference hall 1, the mobile transceivers 9 and 10, the participants 11 (for convenience of explanation, the specific person is c
And the management center 2. The presenter and the questioner enter information such as voice and charts, and input this information to the management center 2
Will be transmitted to the participants via broadcasting. The presenter may be participant c and the questioner may be participant c. The management center 2 allocates channels by the moderator's decision (selection and approval) so that there is always one information input person.
The interrogator interrupts from the venue or the mobile transceivers 9 and 10 at the timing of raising his hand. Also, regarding the aggregation result,
The result will be broadcast during the management information notification time zone. Excluding the moderator, participants will act as proposers, listeners, voters, respondents, and questioners. If the recommended satellite system is used for a mobile transceiver, it can be shared both on the move and in the venue.

By the way, a situation where a large number of information inputs come in is a voting procedure. In this case, a mechanism is provided for collecting information on each person by polling. From this point of view, the time zone of communication channel operation is any of the announcement time zone, the question time zone, the question interruption acceptance allowable time, the voting time zone, and the management information notification time zone. These conditions are scheduled but subject to extended time and unavoidable changes.

The management information provision time is made at the time of vote counting, schedule change, and office communication schedule. All additions, changes and extensions will be approved by the moderator. The reason for the change was due to the arrival delay or cancellation of the presenter / VIP. If the schedule is fluid, it may be necessary to decide on a change even though it has not been finalized. To add a vote,
It will be added depending on the result of Q & A and the moderator's judgment.

Regarding the schedule change, the process flow is summarized as follows. One of the causes of the schedule change is (1) the VIP, the presenter and the moderator are late, and (2) a new motive for voting. Including significant delays,
When the schedule is changed, each person, especially the VIP, the presenter's core time, and the post time delimiter are changed.
This will be based on the offer from VIP, the presenter. For general participants, the core post can be decided by the person himself and does not affect the whole. By the way, when arranging the operation of the communication channel, it is important to switch the speaking microphone and start accepting votes.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the communication system of the virtual electronic conference room, which includes the management center 13a, the venue 13b, and the outdoor 13c.
(That is, the locations of prospective participants and the transmitting / receiving terminals in the mobile)
And are connected in the relationship shown in this figure. That is, the terminal 13d in the venue is connected to the outdoor antenna 13h in addition to the indoor antenna 13g in the venue.
Similarly, in addition to the indoor antenna 13g in the venue, it is also connected to the outdoor antenna 13h. In this way, the broadcast receiving unit 13f is configured by each antenna and each terminal. Regarding transmission, means 13j such as using a fixed terminal or a microphone may be used in the hall, and using an outdoor communication device 13 outdoors.
The means of k is mentioned, and the communication unit 13i is configured by both.

The block 13k also shares the antenna for broadcasting and communication. It is particularly suitable for the system recommended by the above-mentioned super elliptical satellite. In this figure, indoor blocks
The meaning that 13d and the outdoor block 13e cross the antennas 13g and 13h with a broken line means that there may be this cross relationship in some cases. For example, PHS and cellular are used. In addition, there are conditions such as high halls for satellite systems.

FIG. 4 shows a flow of support for participation by prospective participants in the conference. The start 14a is a state before participation in the conference. Here, the notice of holding the conference is received (14b), and the conference participants set the pre, core, and post times in consideration of the place and time of the conference before and after the individual conference day (14c). The person set here may be the participant himself or a representative such as a secretary or an agent. The range of the place and the core time is the range that is currently used, that is, the range that is input by the computer by the so-called scheduler, but in the example of the present invention, the pre-time and the post-time, that is, the non-attendable time zone, is also input. .

Individual participants may be unable to meet the set time due to force majeure such as traffic congestion and meetings before and after.
Therefore, it is determined whether or not the time has been changed (14d), and if there is no choice but to change the time, a schedule change notification 14e is given, and if there is no time change, it is confirmed as it is whether participation from outside the venue is possible (14f). The decision block 14d is made by the participant to the management center, and the change notification 14
Participants perform e on the management center, but the manager decides whether or not to change it. Therefore, if the change is permitted, the administrator side needs to reschedule. In addition, the decision block 14f needs to be informed of the participation permission from the conference manager, and the start time is set so that the time can be used. If it is possible to participate from outside the venue, it will be attended as it is from outside the venue (14h). If it is not possible, it will be decided whether or not to attend at the venue (14g). ). Decision block 14
g is subject to the condition that the target participant has arrived in the venue, that participation has already been permitted, and that it is during the meeting time. Also, if you cannot attend the meeting at step 14g, you will not participate. Whether to participate in the conference or not to participate in the conference, the flow is ended in the end judgment 14i (14j). If it is not finished, the process returns to the time change judgment 14 again.

In FIG. 5, the administrator performs the communication equipments,
An operation example of the communication path will be described. The number of channels in the communication channel is limited, and if the speeches, announcements, and votes come randomly, proceedings cannot be carried out smoothly. For this reason, it is necessary to properly use the communication paths and allocate the usage rights of the communication paths in order. In the conference hall, you can use a microphone to speak in order, but outside the hall, you will be asked if there is a call request to the other party and you will be allowed to speak if appropriate. For this purpose, bidirectional communication is required.

The start 15a is a state before the start of communication channel operation. First, it is determined whether there is an interrupt request for speech or whether a vote has been accepted (15b). The judge is the administrator, and the moderator will confirm this. If there is this request or reception, the manager or the moderator judges (confirms) whether the request or the reception is a request from the participant in the venue (15).
c). If it is a request within the venue, the request is processed by one-way communication (15
d), if the request is not in the venue, the request is processed by bidirectional communication 1
After 5e, return to the decision of step 15b (will always check for interrupts). In step 15d, only the content of the message is transmitted by means such as a microphone. Here, the processes of steps 15d and 15e are electrical and mechanical processes for the communication device.

In step 15b, if there is neither a request for speech nor acceptance of votes, the administrator will decide whether the meeting will proceed as planned (15f). Judgment (15g), otherwise, the process proceeds to step 15k of providing management information. If the voting starts, the management center receives the votes from the participants (15
i) Summarize the votes from the conference participants, both inside and outside the venue (15j), and provide management information (15k). If the vote acceptance is not started, the administrator judges whether or not to switch the communication channel (15h), and if it is switched, the communication channel is switched (15l), and the speech, voice, and / or video of the participant is received. (15 m) If not switched, the process goes to step 15 m without going through step 151. Step 15
After m, broadcast audio, charts and / or video (1
5n). Even after the management information provision 15k, the process proceeds to step 15n. After that, it is determined that the process is finished (15o), and if it is not finished (15p), the process returns to step 15f. The information provided in step 15k may be, for example, the results of voting summaries, meeting progress,
It is the future schedule of the meeting. Note that the votes are automatically counted by using the designated terminal of each participant's mobile phone used in the present invention. The order of the judgment steps 15h and 15g may be reversed.

An example of the communication channel operating time zone will be described with reference to FIG.
As the time zone, a presentation / answer time zone 16b, a question interruption acceptance time zone 16c, a vote acceptance time zone 16d,
There is a management information providing time zone 16e. As conditions a of the respective time zones, the announcement / answer time zone 16b and the question interruption acceptance allowable time zone 16c are extended or changed to the scheduled time (16f), and the voting acceptance time zone 16d is changed to the scheduled time. Time extension and addition are added (16
g), regarding the management information providing time zone 16e, the time of information generation is added to the scheduled time. Regardless of 16f, 16g, 16h, extension, change, and addition are basically permitted by the moderator (16i), but condition 16f is because the cause of change is the presenter, VIP extension or cancellation of arrival. Occurrence (16j), condition 16g is added by the result of question and answer etc. (16g), and condition 16h corresponds to the time of vote totaling and schedule change (161). Regarding the block 16i, it is desirable that the moderator or an assistant thereof has a terminal with an accept or reject button. The difference between a change and an addition is that the changes are in a different order and interchange. In the figure, the right column shows examples of conditions for change, addition, and occurrence.

FIG. 7 shows a flow of a re-arrangement example of the conference arrangement. The start 17a is in a state before re-setup. First,
The times before and after the core of the moderator, presenter, VIP, and other participants are registered (17b), and the conference is started (17c). So I decided whether VIP, moderator, or presenter was late
(17d), if you are late, change the schedule (17f),
If it is not late, jump in and out of the venue to see if there is a motivation to vote (17e). If there is a motivation to vote, change the schedule. If not, proceed as planned (17g). After changing the schedule 17f, V
Check if there is a time change request such as IP (17
h) If so, re-register the time before and after the presenter's VIP core (17i), and if not, judge whether it is finished (17j) and set it to end 17k or finish. For example, the process returns to the step 17h of determining the presence / absence of a time change request such as VIP. Incidentally, both the steps 17g and 17i reach the end judgment 17j. The motion of the block 17e that jumps in and has a voting motive is an emergency motion. The moderator or his / her assistant will determine this step.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a mobile terminal (which may be mounted on a car or carried by an individual) suitable for use in the present invention. The terminal housing 20 is equipped with an antenna 27.
No. 7 does not require a high degree of directivity if the recommended satellite system is used. A screen adjustment unit 25, a voice adjustment unit 26, and a card input unit 37 are provided on the side surface, and the adjustment unit 25 includes one or a plurality of dials for adjusting the brightness, sharpness, and focus of the display screen 21. . The adjusting unit 26 is a dial for adjusting the volume, and adjusts the reception volume. A memory card or the like can be inserted into the card input section 37. For example, it is used to store information received by this terminal and to introduce information from an external device. In addition to the antenna 27, there are an earphone jack insertion port 23 and a microphone jack insertion port 24 on the upper surface.
Further, a display unit 22 is formed on the upper side of the front side, and most of the display unit 21 is the display screen 21, for example, a live screen during a conference is broadcast. The display unit 22 is additionally provided with an alarm lamp 28, a response request lamp 29, a motion permission lamp 30, and a transmission abnormality lamp 31. The reply request lamp 29 indicates an inquiry from the venue or the management center, and the reply request lamp 29 blinks when there is a request communication from the management center 2, the moderator, its assistant, or the secretariat. The motion permission lamp 30 lights up when a motion proposal by a participant who operates this terminal is accepted on the conference hall side. The alarm lamp 28 indicates some fault warning, for example, poor reception. Below the display unit 22, a speaker 32 and a character input change button 36 are arranged. The character input change button 36 is used to change the numeric keypad function to alphanumeric, kanji, hiragana, katakana, symbols, etc. when transmitting a mail instead of a voice. A ten-key input section 38 is arranged below the button 36, but here, “YES” is set to “*”,
Let “NO” be “#”. The answer selection request can be answered using the number buttons. A display switching button 33 and a request transmission button 34 are arranged below the speaker 32, and a microphone 35 is located below the display switching button 33 and the request transmission button 34. An external microphone via a microphone jack may be used instead of the microphone 35. Each time the request transmission button 34 is pressed, the answer / voting mode, the question request, the motion, and the schedule change are switched, so that the number of buttons can be reduced. It is also possible to add a camera to this terminal and send the image of the sending participant.

Next, switching of terminals of the mobile unit (including the carrying of the participants) will be described. FIG. 9 illustrates a terminal mode switching flowchart. It should be noted that the broadcast address receives the content of the announcement, the content of the answer during the conference, and the content of the question of another person. on the other hand,
The response request and motion permission are received at the own terminal address. The start 9a is in a state before the start of receiving the packet message, and when the reception of this packet message is started 9b, the address check 9c is performed. Next, it is determined whether or not it is a broadcast address (9d), and if it is a broadcast address, it is determined whether or not it is the address of the participating conference (9e). If it is the address of the conference during participation, the conference data is processed (9f), and then the process ends 9i. Whether the address is not the broadcast address or the conference address during participation, it is judged whether or not it is the own terminal address (9g), and if it is not the own terminal address, the end 9i is reached. If it is the address of the terminal itself, after the communication message receiving process (9h), the process reaches the end 9i.

Switching of terminals will be further described with reference to FIG. On the display screen, the contents of the broadcast address received, the contents of the received address of the own terminal, and the contents of the message in preparation for transmission are displayed in duplicate, so it is necessary to control switching as follows. 10a-10e; A block, 10f-10t; B
If it is a block, it is processed in the A block in principle, and 10e
If Y, the block B is preferentially moved. B block is 10
When divided into a B1 block of f to 10h and a B2 block of 10i to 10t, B1 is a vote from the administrator side, a questionnaire request, and B2 is a participant side. The response request of 10f includes a voting request.

After the start 10a, the graphic screen display switching process is first performed (10b). Next, it is judged whether or not there is a broadcast address reception message (10c), and if so, one of the announcement content, the answer content, and the question content of another person is displayed (10d), and then there is an own terminal address reception message. Determine whether (10e). Even when there is no broadcast address reception message, it is judged whether there is a self-terminal address reception message (10e). If there is a self-terminal address reception message, it is judged whether or not there is a reply request (10f), and if there is no self-terminal address reception message, the process returns to the graphic image display switching process 10b. Step 10
If there is a response request in f, select the response (10g), send the response (10h), and then judge the motion permission (1
0i). If there is no response request 10f, steps 10g, 1
The motion permission is directly judged not through 0h (10i). If the motion is not permitted, the process returns to the graphic image display switching process 10b, and if the motion is proposed, the contents of the motion are input by text (message input: 10j). After that, the conference content is confirmed and judged (10k), and if confirmation is required, the conference content holding screen is selected (select when there are several screens: 10
m), the conference content screen is displayed (10o), the confirmation is completed 10q, and the process returns to the motion content entry work of step 10j. If the meeting content is not confirmed in step 10k, it is judged whether or not the driving is completed (step 10l). If not, the process returns to the motion content driving work of step 10j, and if the driving is completed, the motion content is transmitted (10n),
A voice call is made to the content of the motion (10p), and it is determined whether the voice call has ended (10r). If the voice call is not ended, the process returns to the immediately preceding step 10p, and is repeated thereafter until the end. If the voice call is terminated, it is judged whether the system is terminated (10
s), end (10t) or return to the first step, that is, the graphic image display switching process 10b.

Next, examples of billing items and bills will be described. First, the charging items are (1) membership registration fee, (2) conference participation fee (individual conference participation and conference group (series) participation), (3) material request fee (meeting group material batch, individual meeting material batch, individual Materials such as meeting materials (specialized materials, summary materials), (4) participation fee for out-of-site meetings, (5) out-of-site inquiry fee, etc. There are discounts for meeting groups and material groups. It is charged in proportion to the number of motions and questions, but there are discounts such as coupon tickets. The fee is extremely low and it is set cheaper than other academic societies and seminars. The column items in the table are as follows: date and time, conference name (meeting place), material name (material category), motion name, question name, number of questions, number of motions, number of materials, number of pages, number of drawings. ， Discount method ，
Discount rates, participation categories, motion / question awards, etc.

A display screen showing the output of the participant's schedule management and the progress of the conference is as follows. (1)
Participant name, (2) Participant classification (moderator, key person,
(Participants, listeners), (3) Individual scheduled time (request time, scheduled time, real time), (4) The moderator is a person who needs to participate in the conference hall during the whole meeting (however, Part 1 considers the present invention, including the case of partial participation). Note that the key person is expected to be present at the conference hall during the requested time (however, the conference hall must meet certain requirements beyond the main conference hall, including remote venues, within the scope of the present invention). is there). Participants ask for motions and questions, while listeners do not. Depending on the meeting, changing the meeting fee in this category, also considering the awards for motions and questions,
The cost in the opposite direction is also added. Regarding the personal scheduled time, it is managed in relation to three types of time: the time zone required to be in the venue, the scheduled time of the person himself, and the time when he actually acted. Also, these will change depending on the participant classification.
That is, the display patterns are shown in Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3. Table 3 shows the progress of the conference.

[0047]

[Table 1]

[0048]

[Table 2]

[0049]

[Table 3]

[0050]

According to the present invention, when a very busy person participates in a plurality of conferences, the traveling time of each person can be incorporated in the conference time, so that an efficient organization as a whole can be realized.
Also, a conference with a low priority can be stored only in the memory at that time, rewound at another time, fast-forwarded, and listened to. It is also effective to develop the virtual electronic conference of the present invention to integrate reservations for transportation facilities and rest areas and to expand the virtual electronic conference.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an example of an electronic conference system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a basic configuration diagram of the conference management system of the example of FIG.

3 is a relationship diagram of a communication system of a conference hall used in the conference system of the example of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a work of a participant from outside the conference room to the conference system of the example of FIG.

5 is a flow diagram showing the operation of a communication path of the conference system of the example of FIG.

6 is an explanatory diagram of operating hours of a communication path of the conference system in the example of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of re-arrangement of a conference schedule in the conference system of the example of FIG.

8 is a perspective view of an example of a terminal for carrying prospective participants used in the example of the conference system of FIG.

9 is a switching flowchart of a terminal for carrying a prospective participant in the conference system of FIG.

10 is a switching flowchart of a terminal for carrying a prospective participant in the conference system of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Conference hall, 2 ... Management center, 3, 4 ... Transmitting / receiving equipment, 5
... artificial satellites, 6, 7 ... computer terminals, 8 ... mobiles,
9, 10 ... Terminals, 11 ... Planned participants.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04N 7/15 650 H04N 7/15 650 (72) Inventor Naoyuki Uesaka 216 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Hitachi, Ltd. Broadcasting and Communication Systems Promotion Division, F-term (reference) 5C064 AA02 AC02 AC09 AC12 AC17 AD06 AD14 AD16 5K015 AA01 AA10 AD01 AD02 AD05 AF04 AF07 JA01 5K024 AA02 AA05 AA52 BB07 CC11 DD01 DD04 EE09 FF06 GG01 GL02 LD10 5030 5K101 KK07 LL12 MM05 MM07 NN02 NN18 TT02

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A conference participant's time zone for participation in a conference is divided into a designated area stay time and a designated area stay time, and both designated terminals outside the designated area and terminals installed within the designated area are designated. By connecting by means of a direct communication means, it is possible for the conference participant to participate in the conference through bidirectional communication with a terminal in the designated area from outside the designated area within the stay time outside the designated area. An electronic conferencing system. 2. A designated terminal having both functions of receiving a broadcast and two-way communication is used so that a pattern of a predetermined conference can be received by broadcasting, and when the predetermined conference is to be attended, the designated terminal concerned. The electronic conferencing system is characterized by performing two-way communication with the designated terminal by directly or indirectly communicating with the terminal installed in the conference site. 3. The meeting participation fee according to claim 2, wherein the conference participation fee is charged when the designated terminal is switched to bidirectional communication.
An electronic conferencing system, wherein a billing amount or an account debit amount is notified through the terminal. 4. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 1, wherein a calling signal and conference information are appropriately transmitted to a designated terminal of the conference participant when the conference participant stays outside the designated area. . 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the schedule of the conference participants on the day of the conference and the schedule of the conference are registered in advance in the computer of the management center to change the schedule of the participants and the time progress of the conference. An electronic conferencing system which receives a status from each terminal, rewrites each registration data, and transmits the rewriting data or information including the data to the conference hall terminal and the designated terminal. 6. The information transmitted from the computer of the management center according to claim 5, wherein the expected progress timetable of the conference, the desired time zone required for attendance of the conference room by the participant,
An electronic conferencing system, which is characterized by adding an expected arrival time of the participant to the conference room and information selected from a group of the current position information of the participant. 7. A conference participant's time zone for attending a conference is divided into a designated area stay time and a designated area stay time, and the designated terminal outside the designated area has both functions of broadcast reception and two-way communication. On the other hand, by installing a two-way communication terminal in the designated area and connecting the terminal and the designated terminal so as to be capable of direct or indirect two-way communication, the pattern of the predetermined conference can be received by broadcasting. In addition to obtaining the information, when the participant attends the predetermined conference from outside the predetermined area, the function of the designated terminal is switched to enable two-way communication with the designated terminal directly or indirectly with the terminal installed in the conference hall. An electronic conferencing system characterized by what is done. 8. A conference participant's time zone of participation in a conference is divided into a designated area stay time and a designated area stay time, and the conference participants are designated terminals outside the designated area within the designated area stay time. An electronic conferencing method comprising participating in the conference through bidirectional communication with a terminal within the designated area. 9. A designated terminal having both functions of receiving a broadcast and two-way communication is used to receive a pattern of a predetermined conference by broadcasting, and when the participant attends the predetermined conference, the function of the designated terminal is switched. An electronic conferencing method characterized in that bidirectional communication with a designated terminal is performed directly or indirectly with a terminal installed at the conference site. 10. A designated terminal having both functions of broadcast reception and two-way communication is divided from the designated area by dividing each participant's participation time zone of the meeting into designated area staying time and outside designated area staying time. By using it, it is possible to receive the pattern of the predetermined conference by broadcasting and switch the function of the designated terminal when participating in the predetermined conference from outside the predetermined area, and set it in the designated area. An electronic conferencing method comprising performing direct or indirect bidirectional communication between a bidirectional communication terminal and the designated terminal. 11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the conference participation fee is charged when the designated terminal is switched to the two-way communication, and the billing amount or the debit amount is notified through the terminal. And the electronic conferencing method. 12. The electronic conferencing method according to claim 8, wherein a calling signal and conference information are appropriately transmitted to a designated terminal of the conference participant when the conference participant stays outside the designated area. . 13. The method according to claim 8, wherein the schedule of the conference participants on the day of the conference and the schedule of the conference are registered in advance in the computer of the management center, and the schedule change of the participants and the time progress of the conference are registered. An electronic conferencing method comprising receiving a status from each terminal, rewriting each registration data, and transmitting the rewriting data or information including the data to the conference hall terminal and the designated terminal. 14. The information transmitted from the computer of the management center according to claim 13, wherein the expected progress timetable of the conference, the desired time zone required for attendance at the conference hall, and the expected arrival time at the conference hall for the participant. , An electronic conferencing method comprising adding information selected from a group of current position information of the participants.