JP2017118218A - Communication system, communication control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem in which: in in-person communication not involving a communication system, it may be possible to predict a business by visually recognizing the expression, possessions or the like of an opposite party before starting communication; however, in a communication system, if content data is transmitted between communication terminals, keeping connection between the communication terminals established when users are not talking, a load on a communication network increases.SOLUTION: An operation input reception unit 12 of a terminal 10 accepts a request to start or terminate a call between terminals 10. A transmission/reception unit 11 of the terminal 10 performs control so that high-quality image data is transmitted between the terminals 10 in response to a request to start a call accepted by the operation input reception unit 12, and low-quality image data is transmitted between the terminals 10 in response to a request to terminate the call accepted by the operation input reception unit 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system, a communication control method, and a program.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, communication systems that perform video conferences, telephone calls, and the like via a communication network such as the Internet or a dedicated line have become widespread along with demands for reducing expenses and time for movement of parties.

  In such a communication system, when communication is started between a plurality of communication terminals, content data such as image data and sound data is transmitted and received (see Patent Document 1).

  Patent Document 1 describes a process in which another communication terminal participates in a session after a content data session is established between the communication terminals.

  By the way, in actual communication without using a communication system, it may be possible to predict a requirement by visually recognizing a partner's facial expression or belongings before starting communication. However, in a communication system, when a connection between communication terminals is established even when a call is not being made and content data is continuously transmitted between the communication terminals, there arises a problem that the load on the communication network increases.

  The communication system according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives a request for starting or ending a call between a communication terminal on one side and a communication terminal on the other side, and the communication of the call that is received by the receiving unit. In response to a start request, a first control means for controlling the content data of the first quality to be transmitted between the one communication terminal and the other communication terminal, and the reception means In response to the accepted call termination request, communication between the one side communication terminal and the other side communication terminal is not disconnected, and the one side communication terminal and the other side communication terminal And second control means for controlling so that content data having a second quality lower than the first quality is transmitted.

  Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present invention, in a communication system, a connection between communication terminals is established even when a call is not being made, and the load on the communication network can be reduced when content data is continuously transmitted between the communication terminals. Play.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is an external view of a terminal according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of the management system according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a software configuration diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a terminal and a management system that constitute a part of the communication system according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing each table managed in the management system. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing processing from when the terminal is activated until the application list is displayed. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of an application list screen. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing for requesting participation in a session. FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a communication state between the terminals 10. FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram showing a state of transmission / reception of various information in the communication system. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the display. FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram showing processing for starting or stopping output of content data. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the display.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following, “communication terminal” is simply represented as “terminal”, and “communication management system” is simply represented as “management system”.

<< Overall Configuration of Communication System 1 >>
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 1 includes a plurality of terminals (10aa, 10ab,...), A display (120aa, 120ab,...) For each terminal (10aa, 10ab,. (30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, 30e), the management system 50, the program providing system 90, and the maintenance system 100. The communication system 1 can communicate image data and sound data as an example of content data, thereby realizing a video conference between remote locations. A plurality of routers (70a, 70b, 70c, 70d, 70ab) select an optimum route for content data.

  The terminals (10aa, 10ab, 10ac,...), The relay device 30a, and the router 70a are communicably connected via the LAN 2a. The terminals (10ba, 10bb, 10bc,...), The relay device 30b, and the router 70b are communicably connected via a LAN 2b. The LAN 2a and the LAN 2b are communicably connected via a dedicated line 2ab including a router 70ab. Further, the LAN 2a, the LAN 2b, and the dedicated line 2ab are constructed in a predetermined area X. In addition, each apparatus does not necessarily need to be connected by the exclusive line, For example, you may be directly connected to the internet 2i.

  The terminals (10ca, 10cb, 10cc,...), The relay device 30c, and the router 70c are communicably connected via a LAN 2c. The LAN 2c is constructed in a predetermined area Y.

  The terminals (10da, 10db, 10dc,...), The relay device 30d, and the router 70d are communicably connected via a LAN 2d. The LAN 2d is constructed in a predetermined area Z. Region X, region Y, and region Z may be in the same country or different countries.

  Area X, area Y, and area Z are communicably connected from the routers (70ab, 70c, 70d) via the Internet 2i. In the area Z, a call center is provided. Each terminal 10 can receive a reception service by connecting to a call center terminal (10da, 10db, 10dc,...).

  In the following, an arbitrary terminal among the plurality of terminals (10aa, 10ab,...) Is represented as “terminal 10”, and an arbitrary display among the plurality of displays (120aa, 120ab,...) Is “display 120”. An arbitrary relay device among the plurality of relay devices (30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, 30e) is represented as “relay device 30”. An arbitrary router among the routers (70a, 70b, 70c, 70d, 70ab) is represented as “router 70”.

  The management system 50, the program providing system 90, and the maintenance system 100 are connected to the Internet 2i. The management system 50, the program providing system 90, and the maintenance system 100 may be installed in a region (X, Y, Z), or may be installed in a region other than these.

  In the present embodiment, the communication network 2 of the present embodiment is constructed by the LAN (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d), the dedicated line 2ab, and the Internet 2i. The communication network 2 may include a place where wireless communication is performed, such as WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), Bluetooth (registered trademark), and a mobile phone network.

  In FIG. 1, the four sets of numbers shown under each terminal 10, each relay device 30, management system 50, each router 70, program providing system 90, and maintenance system 100 are in general IPv4. An IP address is simply shown. In addition, IPv6 may be used instead of IPv4. However, in order to simplify the explanation, explanation is made using IPv4.

  In addition, when an application described later is started, each terminal 10 enables a call between users by transmitting and receiving content data including sound data or image data. Further, the terminal 10 transmits and receives call data using a predetermined communication method (call control method for connecting or disconnecting a call destination and an encoding method for converting call data into an IP packet). Do. Hereinafter, “application” is abbreviated as “application”.

  The above call control methods include (1) SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), (2) H.323, (3) SIP extended protocol, (4) Instant Messenger protocol, (5) SIP MESSAGE Protocols using methods, (6) Internet relay chat protocol (IRC (Internet Relay Chat)), (7) Instant messenger protocol extended protocol, etc. Among these, (4) Instant Messenger protocol is, for example, (4-1) XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol), or (4-2) ICQ (registered trademark), AIM (registered trademark), or Skype (registered) Trademark). Also, (7) Jingle is a protocol that is an extension of the instant messenger protocol, for example.

<< Hardware Configuration of Embodiment >>
Next, the hardware configuration of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is an external view of the terminal 10 according to an embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the terminal 10 includes a housing 1100, an arm 1200, and a camera housing 1300. Among these, the front wall surface 1110 of the housing 1100 is provided with an air intake surface formed by a plurality of air intake holes, and the rear wall surface 1120 of the housing 1100 is provided with an air exhaust surface formed with a plurality of air exhaust holes. 1121 is provided. Thereby, by driving a cooling fan built in the housing 1100, the outside air behind the terminal 10 can be taken in via the intake surface and exhausted to the rear of the terminal 10 via the exhaust surface 1121. Since the sound collecting hole 1131 is formed in the right side wall surface 1130 of the housing 1100, the built-in microphone 114 described later can pick up sounds such as voice, sound, and noise.

  An operation panel 1150 is formed on the right wall surface 1130 side of the housing 1100. The operation panel 1150 is provided with a plurality of operation buttons (108a to 108e) to be described later, a power switch 109 to be described later, and an alarm lamp 119 to be described later, and outputs sound from a built-in speaker 115 to be described later. A sound output surface 1151 formed by a plurality of sound output holes for passing through is formed. Further, a housing 1160 as a recess for housing the arm 1200 and the camera housing 1300 is formed on the left wall surface 1140 side of the housing 1100. The right side wall surface 1130 of the housing 1100 is provided with a plurality of connection ports (1132a to 1132c) for electrically connecting cables to an external device connection I / F 118 described later. On the other hand, the left wall surface 1140 of the housing 1100 is provided with a connection port for electrically connecting a cable 120c for the display 120 to an external device connection I / F 118 described later.

  In the following description, “operation button 108” is used when an arbitrary operation button is indicated among the operation buttons (108a to 108e), and “an arbitrary connection port is indicated among the connection ports (1132a to 1132c)”. This will be described using the connection port 1132 ”.

  Next, the arm 1200 is attached to the housing 1100 via the torque hinge 1210, and the arm 1200 can be rotated in the vertical direction with respect to the housing 1100 within a tilt angle θ1 of 135 degrees. Yes. FIG. 2 shows a state where the tilt angle θ1 is 90 degrees. The camera housing 1300 is provided with a built-in camera 112, which will be described later, and can capture images of users, documents, rooms, and the like. A torque hinge 1310 is formed in the camera housing 1300. The camera housing 1300 is attached to the arm 1200 via a torque hinge 1310. The camera housing 1300 is vertically and horizontally with respect to the arm 1200 within a range of a pan angle θ2 of ± 180 degrees and a tilt angle θ3 of ± 45 degrees with the state shown in FIG. It can be rotated.

  Note that the external view of FIG. 2 is merely an example and is not limited to this external view. As another example, the terminal 10 may be a general-purpose computer or a mobile phone terminal, a projector, an electronic whiteboard, an electronic signboard (digital signage), or the like (see the terminals (10ac, 10cc) in FIG. 1). If the computer used as the terminal 10 is not equipped with a microphone or camera, an external microphone and camera can be connected to the computer. When the terminal 10 is a general-purpose computer, a mobile phone terminal, or the like, the terminal 10 and the Internet 2i may be connected by wireless communication using a wireless LAN or a mobile phone network. When a general-purpose computer is used as the terminal 10, an application for executing processing of the terminal 10 described later can be installed in the computer.

  The management system 50, the program providing system 90, and the maintenance system 100 have the same external appearance as a general server computer, and thus the description of the external appearance is omitted.

  FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of the terminal 10 according to an embodiment. The terminal 10 is a CPU 101 (Central Processing Unit) that controls the operation of the entire terminal 10, a ROM 102 (Read Only Memory) that stores programs used to drive the CPU 101 such as an IPL (Initial Program Loader), and is used as a work area for the CPU 101. RAM 103 (Random Access Memory), flash memory 104 for storing various data such as a program for the terminal 10, image data, and sound data, and reading or writing of various data to the flash memory 104 according to the control of the CPU 101 Operation when selecting the destination of the terminal 10, such as SSD 105 (Solid State Drive), media I / F 107 that controls reading or writing (memory) of data to the recording medium 106 such as flash memory or IC card (Integrated Circuit Card) Operation buttons Down 108, and a network I / F111 (Interface) for the power switch 109 for switching ON / OFF of the power supply terminal 10, using the communication network 2 to the data transmission.

  The terminal 10 also includes a built-in camera 112 that captures an image of a subject under the control of the CPU 101 to obtain image data, an image sensor I / F 113 that controls driving of the camera 112, a built-in microphone 114 that inputs sound, a sound The built-in speaker 115 that outputs sound, the sound input / output I / F 116 that processes input / output of sound signals between the microphone 114 and the speaker 115 according to the control of the CPU 101, and the image data on the external display 120 according to the control of the CPU 101 As shown in FIG. 3, a display I / F 117 for transmission, an external device connection I / F 118 for connecting various external devices, an alarm lamp 119 for notifying various functions of the terminal 10, and the above-described components are shown in FIG. Are provided with a bus line 110 such as an address bus or a data bus for electrical connection to

  The display 120 is a display unit that displays an image of a subject. Examples of the display 120 include liquid crystal and organic EL (Organic Electroluminescence). The display 120 is connected to the display I / F 117 by a cable 120c. The cable 120c may be an analog RGB (VGA) signal cable, a component video cable, HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) or DVI (Digital Video). Interactive) signal cable may be used.

  The camera 112 includes a lens and a solid-state image sensor that converts light into electric charges and digitizes a subject image (video). As the solid-state image sensor, a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) or a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) is used. Etc. are used.

  External devices such as an external camera, an external microphone, and an external speaker are electrically connected to the external device connection I / F 118 by a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable or the like inserted into the connection port 1132 of the housing 1100. Can be connected to. When an external camera is connected, the external camera is driven in preference to the built-in camera 112 under the control of the CPU 101. Similarly, when an external microphone is connected or when an external speaker is connected, each of the external microphones and the built-in speaker 115 is given priority over the internal microphone 114 and the internal speaker 115 according to the control of the CPU 101. An external speaker is driven.

  The recording medium 106 is detachable from the terminal 10. Further, as long as it is a non-volatile memory that reads or writes data according to the control of the CPU 101, not only the flash memory 104 but also an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM) or the like may be used.

  FIG. 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of the management system 50 according to the embodiment. The management system 50 includes a CPU 201 that controls the overall operation of the management system 50, a ROM 202 that stores programs used to drive the CPU 201 such as an IPL, a RAM 203 that is used as a work area for the CPU 201, and various programs such as programs for the management system 50. HD 204 for storing data, HDD 205 (Hard Disk Drive) for controlling reading or writing of various data to the HD 204 according to control of the CPU 201, and media I for controlling reading or writing (storage) of data to the recording medium 206 such as a flash memory / F207, display 208 for displaying various information such as cursor, menu, window, character, or image, network I / F209 for data communication using communication network 2, character, A keyboard 211 having a plurality of keys for inputting values, various instructions, etc., a mouse 212 for selecting and executing various instructions, selecting a processing target, moving a cursor, etc., a CD as an example of a removable recording medium A CD-ROM drive 214 for controlling reading or writing of various data to / from a ROM 213 (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), and an address bus for electrically connecting the above components as shown in FIG. And a bus line 210 such as a data bus.

  On the other hand, the relay device 30, the program providing system 90, and the maintenance system 100 have the same hardware configuration as that of the management system 50, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 5 is a software configuration diagram of the terminal 10 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the OS 1020, the video conference application 1031, and the reception application 1032 operate on the work area 1010 of the RAM 103. The OS 1020 and these applications are installed in the terminal 10.

  Of these, the OS 1020 is basic software that provides basic functions and manages the entire terminal 10. The video conference application 1031 is an application for performing a video conference by connecting to another terminal 10. The reception application 1032 is an application for connecting to the call center terminal 10 and making a call with an operator.

  The application is an example, and other applications may be installed. When another application is installed, the other application may be stored in the program providing system 90 and downloaded in response to a request from the terminal 10. When a plurality of video conference apps are installed, video conference apps with different protocols may be installed as described in (1) to (7) above.

<< Functional Configuration of Embodiment >>
Next, the functional configuration of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the terminal 10 and the management system 50 that constitute a part of the communication system 1 according to the embodiment. In FIG. 6, the terminal 10 and the management system 50 are connected so that data communication can be performed via the communication network 2.

<Functional configuration of terminal>
The terminal 10 includes a transmission / reception unit 11, an operation input reception unit 12, an activation unit 13, an input / output control unit 14, and a storage / readout unit 19. Each of these units is a function realized by any one of the constituent elements shown in FIG. 3 operating according to a command from the CPU 101 according to an application (program) developed from the flash memory 104 onto the RAM 103. is there.

  The terminal 10 also has a storage unit 1000 constructed by the ROM 102, the RAM 103, and the flash memory 104 shown in FIG.

  Next, each functional configuration in the terminal 10 will be described in detail. In the following, in describing each functional configuration in the terminal 10, the relationship between main components for realizing each functional configuration among the respective components illustrated in FIG. 3 will also be described.

  The transmission / reception unit 11 is realized by an instruction from the CPU 101 and the network I / F 111, and transmits / receives various data (or information) to / from a communication partner terminal, each device, system, or the like via the communication network 2.

  The operation input receiving unit 12 is realized by an instruction from the CPU 101, operation buttons (108a, 108b, 108c, 108d, 108e) and a power switch 109, and receives various inputs or various selections by the user.

  The activation unit 13 is realized by a command from the CPU 101. When the operation input reception unit 12 receives an application selection by the user, an application (video conference application or reception application) is based on the activation request of the operation input reception unit 12. Start the operation.

  The input / output control unit 14 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 and the display I / F 117, and controls mute and unmute of image data and mute and unmute of sound data.

  The storage / reading unit 19 is realized by an instruction from the CPU 101 and the SSD 105, or realized by an instruction from the CPU 101, and stores various data in the storage unit 1000 or reads various data stored in the storage unit 1000. Do.

<Functional configuration of management system>
The management system 50 includes a transmission / reception unit 51, an authentication unit 52, a management unit 53, a session control unit 58, and a storage / readout unit 59. Each of these units is a function realized by any one of the constituent elements shown in FIG. 4 operating according to a command from the CPU 201 according to the management system 50 program developed from the HD 204 onto the RAM 203. is there. In addition, the management system 50 includes a storage unit 5000 constructed by the HD 204. The storage unit 5000 stores application icon data for each application ID. Furthermore, each DB is constructed in the storage unit 5000 by the following tables.

(Authentication management table)
FIG. 7A is a conceptual diagram showing an authentication management table. In the storage unit 5000, an authentication management DB 5001 is constructed by an authentication management table as shown in FIG. In this authentication management table, an authentication password is associated with each communication ID of all terminals 10 managed by the management system 50 and managed. The communication ID is information for specifying a communication destination in the communication system 1. Although it does not specifically limit as communication ID, For example, the identification information of the terminal 10, the user's account of the terminal 10, the identification information of the group comprised by the some terminal 10, etc. are contained. Hereinafter, a case where the communication ID is the identification information of the terminal 10 or the identification information of the group will be described. Hereinafter, the description will be continued assuming that the communication IDs of the terminals (10aa, 10ab, 10ac, 10da, 10db) are “01aa, 01ab, 01ac, 01da, 01db”, respectively.

(Terminal management table)
FIG. 7B is a conceptual diagram showing a terminal management table. In the storage unit 5000, a terminal management DB 5002 is constructed by a terminal management table as shown in FIG. In this terminal management table, for each communication ID of each terminal 10, a destination name (terminal name) when each terminal 10 is a destination, an operating state of each terminal 10, and an IP address of each terminal 10 are associated and managed. Is done. The operating state “OFF line” indicates a state in which the management system 50 is not connected. The operating state “ON line (communicable)” indicates a state in which the management system 50 is connected but not in communication with other terminals 10. The operating state “ON line (during communication)” is connected to the management system 50 and communicates with other terminals 10, but content data is not transmitted bidirectionally with the communication partner terminal 10. Indicates the state. The operating state “ON line (during a call)” is a state in which the management system 50 is connected to communicate with the other terminal 10 and the content data is bidirectionally transmitted to the communication partner terminal 10. Indicates.

(App availability management table)
FIG. 7C is a conceptual diagram showing an application availability management table. In the storage unit 5000, an application availability management DB 5003 is constructed by an application availability management table as shown in FIG. In this application availability management table, each application can be used in this terminal 10 for each communication ID of the terminal 10 and each application ID for identifying each of a plurality of applications installed in the terminal 10 (On). Alternatively, the availability information indicating that it cannot be used (Off) is associated and managed.

(Session management table)
FIG. 7D is a conceptual diagram showing a session management table. In the storage unit 5000, a session management DB 5005 is constructed by a session management table as shown in FIG. In this session management table, for each session ID for identifying a session in which content data is transmitted between the terminals 10, in this session, the relay device ID of the relay device 30 that relays the content data between the terminals 10, The communication ID of the participation terminal on the call center (operator) side among the terminals 10 (participation terminals) participating in the communication, and the communication ID of the participation terminal on the customer side that is the communication partner of the participation terminal on the operator side are managed in association with each other. .

(Group information management table)
FIG. 7E is a conceptual diagram showing a group information management table. In the storage unit 5000, a group information management DB 5010 is constructed by a group information management table as shown in FIG. In this group information management table, a communication ID for identifying a group, a destination name (group name) when the group is set as a communication destination, and each communication ID of each terminal 10 constituting the group, Manage in association.

<Each functional configuration of the management system>
Next, each functional configuration of the management system 50 will be described in detail. In the following, in describing each functional configuration of the management system 50, among the components illustrated in FIG. 4, the relationship with the main components for realizing each functional configuration of the management system 50 is also described. explain.

  The transmission / reception unit 51 is realized by an instruction from the CPU 201 and a network I / F 209, and transmits / receives various data (or information) to / from each terminal, device, or system via the communication network 2.

  The authentication unit 52 is realized by a command from the CPU 201, searches the authentication management table using the communication ID and password received by the transmission / reception unit 51 as a search key, and the same communication ID and password are managed in this authentication management table. The terminal is authenticated by determining whether or not

  The management unit 53 is realized by an instruction from the CPU 201, and performs a process of updating the operating state in order to set the latest operating state in the terminal management table (see FIG. 7B).

  The session control unit 58 controls a session for transmitting content data between the terminals 10 according to a command from the CPU 201. This control includes control for establishing a session, control for allowing the terminal 10 to participate in the established session, control for disconnecting the session, control for transmission of content data in the established session, and the like.

  The storage / reading unit 59 is realized by an instruction from the CPU 201 and the HDD 205, or realized by an instruction from the CPU 201, and stores various data in the storage unit 5000 or extracts various data stored in the storage unit 5000. I do.

<< Processing and Operation of Communication System 1 >>
Next, processing and operation in the communication system 1 will be described. Hereinafter, transmission of information between the terminals 10 is referred to as “communication”, and transmission of information between users of the terminals 10 is referred to as “call”. Further, the terminal 10db is represented as an operator side terminal, and the terminals (10aa, 10ab) are represented as a customer side terminal 10.

  First, processing from when the terminal 10aa is activated until the application list is displayed will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing from when the terminal 10 is activated until the application list is displayed.

  First, when the user turns on the power switch 109, the operation input accepting unit 12 accepts the power ON and activates the terminal 10aa (step S1). The transmission / reception unit 11 makes a login request to the management system 50 via the communication network 2 in response to the reception of the power ON (step S2). Thereby, the transmission / reception part 51 of the management system 50 receives a login request. The login request includes a communication ID and a password for identifying the own terminal (terminal 10aa) that is the login request source. These communication ID and password are data read from the storage unit 1000 via the storage / reading unit 19 and sent to the transmission / reception unit 11. Note that these communication ID and password may be input by the user of the request source terminal. When the login request is transmitted from the terminal 10aa to the management system 50, the management system 50 on the receiving side can acquire the IP address of the terminal 10aa on the transmitting side.

  Next, the authentication unit 52 of the management system 50 searches the authentication management table (see FIG. 7A) in the storage unit 5000 using the communication ID and password included in the login request as search keys, and this authentication management. Authentication is performed by determining whether the same communication ID and password are managed in the table (step S3). When the authentication unit 52 authenticates that the login request is from the terminal 10 having a valid use authority, the management unit 53 stores the communication ID of the terminal 10aa in the terminal management table (see FIG. 7B). “01aa”, the operation state “ON line (communicable)”, and the IP address of the terminal 10aa are stored in association with each other (step S4).

  Then, the transmission / reception unit 51 of the management system 50 transmits the authentication result information indicating the authentication result obtained by the authentication unit 52 to the login request source terminal 10aa via the communication network 2 (step S5). . Thereby, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10aa receives the authentication result information.

  When the authentication unit 52 determines that the terminal has a valid use authority, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10aa determines whether or not the application installed in the terminal 10aa is available to the management system 50 via the communication network 2. The availability information shown is requested (step S6). This request includes the communication ID of the terminal 10aa that is the source of the availability information request. Thereby, the transmission / reception part 51 of the management system 50 receives the request | requirement of availability information.

  Next, the storage / reading unit 59 of the management system 50 searches the application availability management table (see FIG. 7C) using the communication ID of the terminal 10aa as the availability information request source as a search key. The use permission / prohibition information to be read is read (step S7). The availability information in this case indicates that the application ID “a001” is “On” and the application ID “a002” is “On”.

  Next, the transmission / reception unit 51 of the management system 50 transmits the availability information read out in step S7 to the terminal 10aa as the availability information request source via the communication network 2 (step S8). Thereby, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10aa receives the availability information.

  Next, the input / output control unit 14 of the terminal 10aa displays an application list screen 140 as shown in FIG. 9 on the display 120aa (step S9). FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of an application list screen. On this screen 140, corresponding application icons (141, 142,...) Are displayed for every application ID (a001, a002,...) Whose availability information is represented as available (On).

  Next, a case where the application icon 142 is selected by the user of the terminal 10aa will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing for requesting participation in a session.

  When the user of the terminal 10aa operates the operation buttons (108a to 108e) and selects the application icon 142 indicating the reception application 1032 from the plurality of application icons shown in FIG. 9, the operation input reception unit of the terminal 10aa 12 accepts selection of an application icon by the user (step S61).

  Subsequently, the operation input accepting unit 12 activates the reception application 1032 by instructing the activation unit 13 realized by the reception application 1032 to activate (step S62). From this point onward, the processing is realized when the reception application 1032 is activated.

  Subsequently, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10aa obtains the participation request information including the communication ID “01aa” of the terminal 10aa as the request for participation in the session and the destination communication ID “01xx” as the IP address of the terminal 10aa as the participation request source. At the same time, it is transmitted to the management system 50 (step S72). The destination communication ID “01xx” is a communication ID indicating a call center as a destination, and is automatically specified by processing by the transmission / reception unit 11 according to the reception application 1032. The participation request information is information indicating a request to participate in the same session sed as that of the terminal 10 on the operator side constituting the call center.

  Subsequently, the session control unit 58 of the management system 50 determines the terminal 10 (calling terminal) to be called as the communication partner of the terminal 10aa from the terminals 10 constituting the group identified by the communication ID “01xx” ( Step S75). The method for determining the calling terminal is not particularly limited. For example, the session control unit 58 refers to the session management table (see FIG. 7D), and the operator side participation with the smallest number of customer side participation terminals is available. There is a method of selecting a terminal. Hereinafter, a case where the calling terminal is determined to be the terminal 10db will be described. Further, at the time when the calling terminal is determined, it is assumed that the terminal 10db as the calling terminal is participating in the session sed for transmitting content data with the other terminal 10 via the relay device 30. Continue the explanation.

  Subsequently, the management unit 53 changes the operating state associated with the communication ID of the start request source terminal 10aa in the terminal management table to “ON line (during communication)” (step S76).

  Subsequently, in the session management table (see FIG. 7D), the session control unit 58 records in the record in which the communication ID “01db” of the calling terminal (terminal 10db) is recorded as the communication ID of the participating terminal (operator). The communication ID “01aa” of the participation request source terminal 10aa is added to the field of the corresponding participating terminal (customer) (step S78). Further, as part of the process of step S78, the session control unit 58 searches the session management table using the communication ID “01db” of the calling terminal (terminal 10db) as a search key, and sets the corresponding session ID and relay device ID. read out.

  Subsequently, the transmission / reception unit 51 transmits relay device connection information for connecting to the relay device 30 identified by the relay device ID read in step S78, to the participation request source terminal 10aa (step S81). The relay device connection information can include the IP address of the relay device 30, authentication information, a port number, the session ID read in step S78, and the like.

  Subsequently, the transmission / reception unit 51 transmits participation request information including the communication ID “01aa” of the participation request source terminal 10aa and the session ID read in step S78 to the calling terminal (terminal 10db) (step S82). The calling terminal (terminal 10db) may automatically transmit a response indicating participation permission to the management system 50 in response to the participation request. Thereby, the time which receives the input of participation permission on the operator side can be shortened.

  The participation request source terminal 10aa connects to the relay device 30 by using the relay device connection information transmitted from the management system 50. Thereby, the terminal 10aa participates in the session sed in which the calling terminal (terminal 10db) participates (step S83).

  The transmission / reception unit 11 of the customer-side terminal 10aa controls the quality of the content data to be transmitted to the operator-side terminal 10db to a low quality when starting transmission of the content data in the established session sed (step S84). The quality of the content data corresponds to the information amount of the content data. That is, low-quality content data means that the amount of information is less than that of high-quality content data. When the content data is still image data, the quality of the image is higher as the resolution and the number of colors of the image reproduced by the image data are larger or the compression rate of the image is lower. In the case where the content data is moving image data, the quality increases as the resolution, the number of colors, and the frame rate of the image reproduced by the image data increase, or as the image compression rate decreases. When the content data is sound data, the quality increases as the number of sound channels reproduced by the sound data, the sampling rate, and the sampling size increase, or as the sound compression rate decreases. When transmitting content data, low-quality content data uses a relatively narrow band in the communication network 2, and high-quality content data uses a relatively wide band in the communication network 2.

  FIG. 11A is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a communication status between terminals 10. As shown in FIG. 11A, in the communication system 1, content data such as high-resolution image data, medium-resolution image data, low-resolution image data, and sound data is transmitted between the terminals 10 by the session sed. Is sent. FIG. 11B is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of image quality of image data. As shown in FIG. 11B, the image handled in the present embodiment has 160 pixels in the horizontal direction and 120 pixels in the vertical direction, a low-resolution image essential for image reproduction, and 320 pixels in the horizontal direction. Is 240 pixels, a medium resolution image to be reproduced in combination with a low resolution image, and 640 pixels in width and 480 pixels in height, for reproduction in combination with a low resolution image and a medium resolution image. With high resolution images. The transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10 transmits only low-resolution image data, transmits low-resolution image data and medium-resolution image data, among image data of images captured on the own terminal side, or The quality of the image data transmitted in the session sed is controlled by transmitting low-resolution image data, medium-resolution image data, and high-resolution image data. The transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10 transmits image data with a relatively low frame rate (for example, 5 fps), transmits image data with a medium frame rate (for example, 15 fps), or has a high frame rate (for example, For example, the quality of the image data transmitted in the session sed is controlled by transmitting image data of 30 fps).

  In step S84, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10aa transmits low-resolution and low-frame-rate image data of an image captured on the own terminal side. A method for generating low resolution and low frame rate image data in the terminal 10aa is not particularly limited. For example, the camera 112 of the terminal 10aa may hierarchically encode the image data of the captured image with an encoder conforming to a standard such as H.264 / SVC built in the camera 112 in accordance with a command from the CPU 101.

  Further, in the terminal 10aa, the sound data transmitted in the session sed may be of low quality. In this case, the encoder incorporated in the terminal 10aa may generate sound data of a low channel number such as monaural, for example, based on the sound collected by the microphone 114, or may be encoded at a low sampling rate. May be. In the present embodiment, sound data with a small amount of information generated in the microphone mute state is set as low-quality sound data and sound data with a large amount of information generated in the microphone unmute state is high-quality by processing described later. As sound data. Parameters such as resolution, frame rate, and sampling rate when encoding with low quality may be stored in advance in the storage unit 1000 so that they can be read out during processing.

  When the above quality control is executed, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10aa transmits the image data controlled to a low quality to the relay device 30 in the session sed.

  Further, the input / output control unit 14 of the customer terminal 10aa controls the input / output of content data transmitted / received in the session sed (step S85). Here, the input / output control unit 14 of the customer-side terminal 10aa mutes the image so that the operator-side image data sent in the session sed is not output from the display 120aa of the own terminal. FIG. 13A is a diagram illustrating an example of a reception screen output to the display 120 in the customer terminal 10. In step S85, the input / output control unit 14 of the customer terminal 10aa outputs a reception screen for receiving a call start request with the operator to the display 120aa. Screen 140 shown in FIG. 13A includes a button 144 for accepting a request to start a call with an operator.

  In addition, the input / output control unit 14 of the customer-side terminal 10aa performs speaker mute so that the operator-side sound data sent in the session sed is not output from the speaker 115 of the own terminal. Further, the input / output control unit 14 of the terminal 10aa on the customer side mutes the microphone so that silent sound data is transmitted to the partner side. Thereby, even when the terminal 10db on the operator side that is the transmission destination of the sound data is in the speaker unmute state, it is possible to control so that the sound on the terminal 10aa side is not output. Note that speaker mute or speaker unmute is processing for stopping or starting output of a sound signal based on sound data to the speaker 115, respectively. The microphone mute or microphone unmute is a process for stopping or starting the sound collection by the microphone 114, respectively. The process of step S87 is not limited to the method executed by the reception application 1032, and part or all of the process may be executed by the function of the OS 1020 such as an audio mixer, for example.

  In the present embodiment, the encoder built in the terminal 10aa generates silent sound data even in the microphone mute state. When the microphone mute process is executed, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10aa transmits silent sound data to the relay device 30 in the session sed.

  Of the processing in step S85, the video mute and the speaker mute are executed until the terminal 10aa receives the first content data in the session sed. Further, the microphone mute in the process of step S85 is executed until the terminal 10aa transmits the first content data in the session sed. The transmission timing and the reception timing of the content data by the terminal 10aa may be the same or different. When the reception application 1032 is activated in the customer terminal 10aa, the input / output control unit 14 may set video mute, microphone mute, and speaker mute by default. The reception of the first content data may be triggered by a request for content data from the terminal 10aa to the relay device 30.

  In the terminal 10db on the operator side participating in the session sed, similarly to step S84, the transmission / reception unit 11 controls the quality of the content data transmitted to the terminal 10aa on the customer side in session sed to be low (step S86).

  The transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10db transmits the image data controlled to the low quality by the above processing to the relay device 30 through the session sed.

  In the terminal 10db on the operator side participating in the session sed, the input / output control unit 14 controls the input / output of content data transmitted in the session sed (step S87). Here, the input / output control unit 14 of the terminal 10aa on the operator side unmutes the video so that the image data on the customer side sent in the session sed is output from the display 120db of the own terminal. In step S87, the input / output control unit 14 may or may not perform microphone mute. Thereby, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10db transmits the sound data of sound or silence encoded by the encoder built in the terminal 10db to the relay device 30 in the session sed.

  Note that, in the process of step S87, the video unmute is preferably executed before the terminal 10db receives the first content data in the session sed in order to output the image of the other party earlier. When the reception application 1032 is started in the terminal 10db on the operator side, the input / output control unit 14 may set video unmute by default. The transmission timing and the reception timing of the content data by the terminal 10db may be the same or different. The reception of the first content data may be triggered by a request for content data from the terminal 10db to the relay device 30.

  FIG. 12A is a conceptual diagram showing a state of transmission / reception of various information in the communication system. When both terminals (10aa, 10db) participate in the session sed, the relay device 30 relays the content data between the customer side terminal 10aa and the operator side terminal 10db in the session sed (step S88). Thereby, low-quality image data and silent sound data on the terminal 10aa side are transmitted to the terminal 10db, and low-quality image data and sound data on the terminal 10db side are transmitted to the terminal 10aa.

  When the other terminal 10ab on the customer side requests participation in the management system 50 by the same process as steps S61 to S72, the communication system 1 executes the same process as steps S75 to S88. Thereby, the terminals (10aa, 10ab, 10db) can participate in the common session sed. FIG. 12B is a conceptual diagram showing a state of transmission / reception of various information in the communication system 1 when terminals (10aa, 10ab, 10db) participate in a common session sed.

  In the customer side terminals (10aa, 10ab), the video mute and speaker mute processes are executed in step S85. Therefore, even if the transmission / reception unit 11 of the customer side terminal (10aa, 10ab) receives the image data and sound data from the operator side terminal 10db side, the operator side image (10aa, 10ab) side Sound is not output. For this reason, in the state of FIG. 12B, it is impossible to make a call between the customer who is the user of the terminal (10aa, 10ab) and the operator who is the user of the terminal 10db.

  In the terminal 10db on the operator side, video unmute processing is executed in step S87. For this reason, when the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10db on the operator side receives the image data from the terminals (10aa, 10ab) on the customer side, the input / output control unit 14 outputs the received image data to the display 120db. FIG. 13B is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen output to the display 120 in the terminal 10 on the operator side. As shown in FIG. 13, the operator who is the user of the terminal 10db can confirm the images captured by the customer terminals (10aa, 10ab) before starting the call. Here, for example, if a customer with a map is shown, the operator can expect to be asked how to get to the destination in the next call. When a customer who has a pamphlet in a certain language is shown as an image on the customer side, the operator can expect to receive a question in that language in the next call. The operator can prepare for the next call according to the situation that can be grasped from the image on the customer side.

  Note that silent sound data is transmitted from the customer side terminals (10aa, 10ab) to the operator side terminal 10db by the microphone mute processing in step S87. Therefore, even if the input / output control unit 14 of the terminal 10db on the operator side outputs the sound data of the customer side terminals (10aa, 10db) received by the transmission / reception unit 11, the sound on the customer side is not output.

  Next, a process when a request to start a call with the operator side is accepted at the customer-side terminal 10ab will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram showing processing for starting or stopping output of content data. When the customer presses button 144 on the reception screen in FIG. 13A on terminal 10ab, operation input reception unit 12 receives a call start request (step S101). Subsequently, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10ab transmits to the management system 50 the call start request information including the communication ID “01ab” of the call start request source terminal 10aa and the communication ID of the partner terminal 10db. (Step S102). The call start request can also be said to be a request for requesting the operator-side terminal 10db to permit the output of content data on the operator side.

  When receiving the start request information sent from the customer terminal 10ab, the transmission / reception unit 51 of the management system 50 transmits the received start request information to the operator terminal 10db (step S103).

  In the terminal 10ab on the customer side that has transmitted the start request information, the input / output control unit 14 switches the output image to the display 120ab to a message prompting standby until a call can be started from the start request acceptance screen (step S104). . Thereby, it is possible to prevent duplicate call start requests from being received from the start request reception screen.

  In the terminal 10db on the operator side, when the transmission / reception unit 11 receives the start request information, the storage / reading unit 19 manages the terminal 10 that is the call start request source (step S105). In this case, the storage / reading unit 19 stores the reception time of the start request in the storage unit 1000 in association with the communication ID of the start request source terminal 10ab.

  Subsequently, the input / output control unit 14 of the terminal 10db outputs, to the display 120db, a message for notifying that the start request for the terminal 10ab has been received in association with the image data of the terminal 10ab that is the start request source (Step 120db). S106). FIG. 15A is a diagram illustrating an example of a video conference screen. As illustrated in FIG. 15A, the input / output control unit 14 of the terminal 10db associates with the image data on the terminal 10ab side of the start request source, and the elapsed time from the reception time of the start request managed in the storage unit 1000 T may be output.

  The operation input receiving unit 12 of the terminal 10db receives a specified operation input of the terminal 10 that permits output of content data on the partner side that starts the call, that is, the operator side, from the customer side terminals (10aa, 10ab). (Step S107). In this case, the operation input accepting unit 12 may accept designation of the terminal 10aa not transmitting the start request, not limited to the terminal 10ab that transmitted the start request. For example, when a customer who does not know the operation method for requesting to start a call is output as a video on the terminal 10aa side (see FIG. 15A), the operator can specify the terminal 10aa on the operator side, Then, a call can be started with the customer on the terminal 10aa side.

  Hereinafter, the description will be continued with respect to the case where the start request source terminal 10ab is designated as the terminal 10 that permits the output of the content data of the terminal itself. When the designation of the terminal 10 permitting the output of the content data of the own terminal is accepted, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10db transmits an output start request indicating a request for starting the output of the content data of the own terminal to the management system 50. (Step S108). The output start request includes the communication ID of the terminal 10db permitted to start and the communication ID of the permitted terminal 10ab.

  When receiving the output start request of the terminal 10db on the operator side, the transmission / reception unit 51 of the management system 50 transmits the received output start request to the terminal 10ab that is permitted to output (step S109). Thereby, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10ab receives the output start request.

  Upon receiving the output start request, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the customer terminal 10ab performs control to switch the quality of content data to be transmitted to the operator terminal 10db to high quality in the session sed (step S111).

  In step S111, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10ab hierarchically encodes the moving image captured on the terminal 10ab at a high frame rate, and the obtained low-resolution image data, medium-resolution image data, and high-resolution image. Send data. The method of hierarchical encoding is not particularly limited, but may be the same method as in step S84. Note that the method of switching the quality of content data to high quality is not limited to the above as long as the processing is switched to content data having a larger amount of information than the content data transmitted in step S84. The terminal 10ab may control the sound data with high quality. In this case, the encoder incorporated in the terminal 10ab may collect sound with a plurality of microphones 114 and generate sound data with a high number of channels such as stereo, or may encode sound data at a high sampling rate. Also good. In addition, parameters such as resolution, frame rate, and sampling rate when encoding with high quality may be stored in advance in the storage unit 1000 so that they can be read out during processing.

  When the above quality control is executed, the image data transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10ab to the relay device 30 is switched from low quality to high quality.

  In the customer terminal 10ab, when the output start request is received by the transmission / reception unit 11, the input / output control unit 14 controls the input / output of the content data transmitted in the session sed (step S112). Here, the input / output control unit 14 of the customer-side terminal 10ab unmutes the video so that the operator-side image data sent in the session sed is output from the display 120ab of the own terminal. In addition, the input / output control unit 14 of the customer-side terminal 10ab performs speaker unmute so that the operator-side sound data sent in the session sed is output from the speaker 115 of the own terminal. Further, the input / output control unit 14 of the terminal 10ab on the customer side unmutes the microphone so that sound data is generated. Note that the processing in step S112 is not limited to the method executed by the reception application 1032, and a part or all of the processing may be executed by the function of the OS 1020 such as an audio mixer.

  When the above-described microphone unmute process is executed, the sound data transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10ab to the relay device 30 is switched from silence to sound.

  When an output start request is transmitted by the transmission / reception unit 11 at the terminal 10db on the operator side, the transmission / reception unit 11 transmits the quality of the content data to be transmitted to the terminals (10aa, 10ab) on the customer side in the session sed as in step S111. Is switched to high quality (step S113). When the quality control is performed, the quality of the image data transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10db to the relay device 30 is switched from low quality to high quality.

  Further, when an output start request is transmitted by the transmission / reception unit 11 in the terminal 10db on the operator side, the input / output control unit 14 controls input / output of content data transmitted in the session sed (step S114). Note that in the process of step S87, the terminal 10db on the operator side is executing a video unmute process. For this reason, the input / output control unit 14 further performs microphone unmute and speaker unmute processing in the terminal 10db, thereby controlling both image data and sound data to be output.

  FIG. 12C is a conceptual diagram showing a state of transmission / reception of various information in the communication system 1 after the processing of steps S111 and S113. Of the terminals on the customer side, the terminal 10aa that is not the start request source performs the video mute and speaker mute processing in step S85. For this reason, the input / output control unit 14 of the terminal 10aa does not output the received image data and sound data even if the transmission / reception unit 11 receives high-quality image data and sound data from the terminal 10db side on the operator side. .

  Of the customer side terminals 10ab, the start request source terminal 10ab performs video unmute and speaker unmute processing in step S112. Therefore, the input / output control unit 14 of the customer-side terminal 10ab outputs the high-quality image data and sound data of the operator-side terminal 10db received by the transmission / reception unit 11 to the display 120ab and the speaker 115, respectively.

  In the terminal 10db on the operator side, the video unmute and speaker unmute processes are executed in steps S87 and S114. The input / output control unit 14 of the operator-side terminal 10db outputs the low-quality image data and silent sound data of the customer-side terminal 10aa received by the transmission / reception unit 11 to the display 120db and the speaker 115, respectively. Since the output sound data is silent sound data, no sound on the terminal 10aa side that is not the start request source is output. The input / output control unit 14 of the operator side terminal 10db outputs the high-quality image data and sound data of the customer side terminal 10ab received by the transmission / reception unit 11 to the display 120db and the speaker 115, respectively.

  Through the above processing, a customer who is a user of the terminal 10ab and an operator who is a user of the terminal 10db can make a call. In step S114, the input / output control unit 14 of the terminal 10db on the operator side may output a message indicating that the terminal 10ab is corresponding to the image data of the terminal 10ab specified in step S107 to the display 120db. . FIG. 15B is a diagram illustrating an example of a video conference screen. As illustrated in FIG. 15B, the operator can grasp which customer of the plurality of customers is in a call.

  Subsequently, when a call start request is received at the other customer terminal 10aa, the same processing as steps S101 to S106 is executed. The input / output control unit 14 of the terminal 10db on the operator side associates a message for notifying that the start request on the terminal 10aa side has been received in association with the image data of the terminal 10aa on the start request source by the processing in step S106. Output to the display 120db. FIG. 15C is a diagram illustrating an example of a video conference screen of the terminal 10db. As shown in FIG. 15C, the operator can check the call waiting state on the terminal 10aa side while talking with the customer on the terminal 10ab side. As a result, the operator can make a decision such as ending the call with the customer on the terminal 10ab side early.

  When the call is finished, the operation input reception unit 12 of the terminal 10db receives a call end request with the customer on the terminal 10ab side according to the operation input by the user (step S121).

  When the terminal 10db accepts the call termination request, the transmission / reception unit 11 does not disconnect the communication with the terminal 10ab and sends a request to the management system 50 to stop the output of the content on the terminal 10db side at the terminal 10ab. The stop request information shown is transmitted (step S122). The stop request information includes the communication ID of the terminal 10db that requests output stop and the communication ID of the request destination terminal 10ab.

  When receiving the stop request information of the operator-side terminal 10db, the transmission / reception unit 51 of the management system 50 transmits the received stop request information to the request-destination terminal 10ab (step S123).

  When the transmission / reception unit 11 of the customer terminal 10ab receives the stop request information, the communication with the terminal 10db is not disconnected, and the quality of the content data to be transmitted to the operator terminal 10db is reduced in session sed. Switching control is performed (step S124).

  In step S124, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10ab hierarchically encodes an image captured on the terminal side at a low frame rate, and the obtained low-resolution image data, medium-resolution image data, and high-resolution image. Of the data, low-resolution image data is transmitted. In the above description, the processing for controlling the image data with low quality has been described. However, the sound data may be controlled with low quality.

  When the quality control is performed, the quality of the image data transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10ab to the relay device 30 is switched from high quality to low quality.

  In the customer-side terminal 10ab, when the stop request information is received by the transmission / reception unit 11, the input / output control unit 14 controls input / output of content data transmitted in the session sed (step S125). Here, the input / output control unit 14 of the customer-side terminal 10ab mutes the image so that the operator-side image data sent in the session sed is not output from the display 120ab of the own terminal. When the operator-side video is not output, the input / output control unit 14 of the customer-side terminal 10ab displays a reception screen for receiving a request for starting a new call with the operator as shown in FIG. 13A. To the display 120ab.

  Further, the input / output control unit 14 of the customer-side terminal 10ab performs speaker mute so that the operator-side sound data sent in the session sed is not output from the speaker 115 of the own terminal. Further, the input / output control unit 14 of the terminal 10ab on the customer side mutes the microphone so that silent sound data is generated. Note that the processing in step S125 is not limited to the method executed by the function of the input / output control unit 14 by the reception application 1032, and part or all of the processing may be executed by the function of the OS 1020 such as an audio mixer.

  When the above microphone mute processing is executed, the sound data transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10ab to the relay device 30 is switched from sounded to silent.

  In the terminal 10db on the operator side, when the stop request information is transmitted by the transmission / reception unit 11, the transmission / reception unit 11 lowers the quality of the content data transmitted to the customer side terminal 10ab in the session sed as in step S124. Control is performed (step S126).

  When the above quality control is executed, the quality of the image data transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10ab to the relay device 30 in the session sed is switched from high quality to low quality.

  The input / output control unit 14 of the terminal 10db on the operator side stops outputting the corresponding message associated with the image data of the terminal 10ab while continuing to output the image data of the terminal 10ab on the customer side (step S127). . When the output of the corresponding message is stopped, the process returns to step S107, and the operation input accepting unit 12 of the terminal 10db accepts the selection of the other party to start a new call.

<< Effects of Embodiment >>
According to the communication control method of the above embodiment, the operation input reception unit 12 (an example of reception means) of the customer terminal 10ab (an example of one communication terminal) includes the customer terminal 10ab and the operator terminal 10db. A request to start a call during (an example of the communication terminal on the other side) is received (an example of a reception process). Further, the operation input receiving unit 12 of the terminal 10db on the operator side receives a request for ending the call between the terminal 10ab on the customer side and the terminal 10db on the operator side (an example of reception processing). The operation input receiving unit 12 of the terminal 10db on the operator side may receive a request to start a call, and the operation input receiving unit 12 of the terminal 10ab on the customer side may receive a request to end a call. The transmission / reception unit 11 (an example of the first control unit) of the terminal (10ab, 10db) responds to a call start request received by the operation input reception unit 12 to the customer side terminal 10ab and the operator side terminal 10db. Is controlled so that high-quality image data (an example of first-quality content data) is transmitted (first control processing). The transmission / reception unit 11 (an example of the second control unit) of the terminal (10ab, 10db) responds to the call termination request received by the operation input reception unit 12 and the customer side terminal 10ab and the operator side terminal 10db. Is controlled such that low-quality image data (an example of second-quality content data) is transmitted (second control process). As a result, the connection between the terminals (10ab, 10db) is established even when a call is not being made, and the load on the communication network 2 is reduced even when image data is transmitted between the terminals (10ab, 10db). be able to.

  The transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10ab transmits low-quality image data between the customer-side terminal 10ab and the operator-side terminal 10db after the communication between the customer-side terminal 10ab and the operator-side terminal 10db is established. To control. As a result, the image data can be transmitted between the terminals (10ab, 10db) while reducing the use of the bandwidth of the communication network 2 from when the communication is established until the call is started.

  The low-quality image data has a lower frame rate than the high-quality image data. By transmitting low frame rate image data between terminals (10ab, 10db) when not talking, the bandwidth used by the communication network 2 is reduced.

  The low quality image data has a lower resolution than the high quality image data. By transmitting low-resolution image data between terminals (10ab, 10db) when not talking, the bandwidth used for the communication network 2 is reduced.

  The transmission / reception unit 11 of the terminal 10ab receives high-quality image data and a microphone unmute state between the customer-side terminal 10ab and the operator-side terminal 10db in response to a call start request received by the operation input reception unit 12. Control is performed so that the sound data generated in is transmitted. The transmission / reception unit 11 of the customer-side terminal 10ab receives low-quality image data and a microphone between the customer-side terminal 10ab and the operator-side terminal 10db in response to a call termination request received by the operation input reception unit 12. Control is performed so that sound data generated in the mute state is transmitted. By transmitting the sound data generated in the microphone mute state, a call can be made between the terminals (10ab, 10db), and the use band of the communication network 2 is reduced.

  The terminal 10ab on the customer side generates sound data based on input from the microphone 114 (an example of a sound input device). The input / output control unit 14 (an example of the sound input control means) of the customer terminal 10ab responds to a request for starting a call accepted by the operation input accepting unit 12, and performs microphone unmute (input of sound by the sound input device). An example of start), and in response to a request for termination of a call accepted by the operation input accepting unit 12, microphone mute (an example of stop of sound input by the sound input device) is performed. Thereby, the input / output control unit 14 of the terminal 10ab on the customer side can generate voiced sound data and silent sound data.

<< Supplement of Embodiment >>
The management system 50 and the program providing system 90 in each of the above embodiments may be constructed by a single computer, or may be constructed by a plurality of computers arbitrarily assigned by dividing each unit (function or means). It may be. In addition, when the program providing system 90 is constructed by a single computer, the program transmitted by the program providing system 90 may be transmitted by dividing it into a plurality of modules. It may be transmitted. Further, when the program providing system 90 is constructed by a plurality of computers, a plurality of modules may be divided and transmitted from each computer.

  Further, the terminal program of the communication system 1, the relay device program, the recording medium storing the communication management program, the HD 204 storing these programs, and the program providing system 90 including the HD 204, All of them are used when the terminal program, the relay device program, and the communication management program are provided to users or the like as program products in Japan or abroad.

  Further, in the communication system 1, the terminal IP address is managed in the terminal management table shown in FIG. 7B. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the terminal 10 is specified on the communication network 2. As long as the terminal identification information is used, each FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) may be managed. In this case, an IP address corresponding to the FQDN is acquired by a known DNS (Domain Name System) server.

  In the communication system 1, “video conference” is used as a term that can be replaced with “video conference”.

  In the communication system 1, the case of the video conference system has been described as an example of the communication system 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a car navigation system may be used. In this case, for example, one of the terminals 10 corresponds to a car navigation device mounted on a car, and the other of the terminals 10 is mounted on a management terminal or management server of a management center that manages car navigation, or another car. This corresponds to a car navigation device.

  Furthermore, the communication system 1 may be a sound conference system or a PC (Personal Computer) screen sharing system. The communication system 1 may be an IP (Internet Protocol) phone, an Internet phone, or a mobile phone communication system. In this case, for example, the terminal 10 corresponds to a telephone such as a mobile phone.

  The content data may be data indicating in-vivo information such as sound data generated in the body such as a pulse sound and heartbeat, an electrocardiogram waveform, image data indicating changes in body temperature, or coordinate data. Thereby, the communication system 1 of the said embodiment can also be used as a telemedicine system.

  In the above embodiment, image data and sound data have been described as an example of content data. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and touch data may be used. In this case, the feeling that the user touched on one terminal side is transmitted to the other terminal side. Further, the content data may be smell data. In this case, the odor (odor) on one terminal side is transmitted to the other terminal side. The content data may be at least one data among streaming data (media) such as image data, sound data, tactile data, and olfactory data.

  In addition, each terminal 10 is not only a call between a plurality of business establishments or a call between different rooms in the same business establishment, but a call within the same room or a call between the outdoors and indoors or outdoors and outdoors. May be used. When each terminal 10 is used outdoors, wireless communication such as a cellular phone communication network is performed. Moreover, although the case where a video conference was performed by the communication system 1 was demonstrated in the said embodiment, it is not restricted to this, General conversation, such as a meeting, between families and friends, or the information of one direction It may be used for presentation.

JP 2012-191598 A

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Terminal 11 Transmission / reception part 12 Operation input reception part 13 Starting part 14 Input / output control part 19 Storage / reading part 30 Relay apparatus 50 Management system 51 Transmission / reception part 52 Authentication part 53 Management part 58 Session control part 59 Storage / reading part 5000 Storage part 5001 Authentication management DB
5002 Terminal management DB
5003 App availability management DB
5005 Session management DB
5010 Group information management DB

Claims (10)

A receiving means for receiving a request for starting or ending a call between the communication terminal on one side and the communication terminal on the other side;
First control is performed so that content data of the first quality is transmitted between the communication terminal on one side and the communication terminal on the other side in response to a request to start the call accepted by the accepting means. Control means,
In response to the call termination request accepted by the accepting means, the communication between the one-side communication terminal and the other-side communication terminal is not disconnected, and the one-side communication terminal and the other-side Second control means for controlling so that content data having a second quality lower than the first quality is transmitted between the communication terminals;
A communication system.   The second control means includes the second control unit between the communication terminal on the one side and the communication terminal on the other side after the communication between the communication terminal on the one side and the communication terminal on the other side is established. 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein control is performed such that quality content data is transmitted. The content data is image data,
3. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the second quality content data has a lower frame rate than the first quality content data. The content data is image data,
The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second quality content data has a lower resolution than the first quality content data. In response to a request to start the call accepted by the accepting unit, the first control unit performs first quality image data and sound between the one communication terminal and the other communication terminal. Control the data to be sent,
In response to the call termination request received by the reception unit, the second control unit performs second quality image data and sound between the communication terminal on the one side and the communication terminal on the other side. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein control is performed so that data is transmitted. The first control means for controlling to transmit image data of the first quality to the communication terminal on the other side in response to a request to start the call accepted by the accepting means;
In response to the call termination request received by the receiving unit, the second quality content data is transmitted to the other communication terminal without disconnecting the communication with the other communication terminal. The second control means for controlling as follows:
A communication terminal on one side having
The first control means for controlling the image data of the first quality to be transmitted to the one-side communication terminal in response to a request to start the call accepted by the accepting means;
In response to the call termination request received by the receiving means, the second quality content data is transmitted to the one communication terminal without disconnecting the communication with the one communication terminal. The second control means for controlling as follows:
A communication terminal on the other side having
The communication system according to claim 1 or 2. The first control means of the communication terminal on the one side is:
In response to a request to start the call accepted by the accepting unit, control is performed to transmit the first quality image data and the first quality sound data to the other communication terminal,
The second control means of the communication terminal on the one side is:
In response to the call termination request accepted by the accepting unit, the communication with the other communication terminal is not disconnected, and the second quality image data and the second The communication system according to claim 6, wherein control is performed to transmit quality sound data. The communication terminal on the one side generates sound data based on an input by a sound input device,
In response to a request to start the call accepted by the accepting unit, input of sound by the sound input device is started, and in response to a request to end the call accepted by the accepting unit, sound input from the sound input device is started. The communication system according to claim 7, further comprising sound input control means for stopping the input of sound. A communication system including a communication terminal on one side and a communication terminal on the other side,
A reception process for receiving a request for starting or ending a call between the communication terminal on the one side and the communication terminal on the other side;
First control is performed so that content data of the first quality is transmitted between the communication terminal on one side and the communication terminal on the other side in response to a request to start the call accepted by the acceptance process. Control processing of
In response to the call termination request accepted by the acceptance process, communication between the one-side communication terminal and the other-side communication terminal is not disconnected, and the one-side communication terminal, and the other-side A second control process for controlling the content data of the second quality lower than the first quality to be transmitted between the communication terminals;
The communication control method characterized by performing. In a communication system including a communication terminal on one side and a communication terminal on the other side,
A reception process for receiving a request for starting or ending a call between the communication terminal on the one side and the communication terminal on the other side;
First control is performed so that content data of the first quality is transmitted between the communication terminal on one side and the communication terminal on the other side in response to a request to start the call accepted by the acceptance process. Control processing of
In response to the call termination request accepted by the acceptance process, communication between the one communication terminal and the other communication terminal is not disconnected, and the one communication terminal and the other communication terminal are disconnected. A second control process for controlling so that content data having a second quality lower than the first quality is transmitted between the communication terminals;
A program characterized by having executed.

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