JPH04257045A - Conference device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve a secrecy for an offered conference material by a conference device. CONSTITUTION:As for a conference terminal equipment 101, the input and output of information is operated by an inputting and outputting means 11, the individual conference information is stored in an individual storage means 12, the information is transmitted by a transmitting part 13, and those means are controlled by a conference terminal controlling means 14. Then, the conference terminal equipment 101 is arranged through plural communication lines, and the information is transferred with the other conference terminal equipments 101. At that time, a conference support controlling means 17 transmits the information to conference participants while limiting the destination or content of the conference information, by referring to the limiting information of the transfer of the information between each conference terminal equipment 101, which are stored in an information managing means 15.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a conference device for exchanging information between a plurality of conference terminal devices.

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, systems have been proposed in which various types of information are exchanged in real time and collaborative tasks such as meetings and decision-making are carried out. For example, “Watanabe et al., Multimedia Distributed Attended Conference System: Mermaid (ME
RMAID)” IEICE Office System Technical Report OS89
-27 is mentioned.

[0003] In the conventional technology, conference participants can control the operation of conference materials (documents consisting of text, images, graphics, etc.) if any conference participant is given the right to operate the conference materials. It is also possible to access. That is, the entire content of conference materials submitted by a certain conference participant is presented to all other conference participants. In addition, conference participants are also allowed to make amendments to the portions that they are free to make.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conference device, there are cases where it is desired to show materials only to a specific party, or where it is desired to prohibit writing to a specific portion. As a result, confidentiality of meeting materials has become an issue in remote interactive education support and meetings with an unspecified number of people.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the problems of conventional conference devices, and an object of the present invention is to provide a conference device that can improve the confidentiality of presented conference materials.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides an input/output means for inputting and outputting information, a personal storage means for storing personal conference information, a transmission means for transmitting information, and a system for controlling each of these means. a plurality of conference terminal devices comprising a conference terminal control means, an information management means for storing restriction information regarding information exchange between each conference terminal device, and a shared memory for storing conference information used in the conference. and a conference support control means for controlling each of these means and managing operation requests for each of the conference terminal devices, and a conference support device connected to the conference terminal devices individually or collectively. This conference device is characterized by:

[0007] Furthermore, the present invention provides such a conference device, in which the restriction information of the information management means is stored in advance through the conference terminal device.

[0008] Furthermore, the present invention provides such a conference device, wherein the restriction information of the information management means is added when operating the conference information from the conference terminal device and is stored. It is.

[0009]

[Operation] In a conference terminal device, the present invention inputs and outputs information using the input/output means, stores personal conference information in the personal storage means, transmits information using the transmission means, and transmits these information by the conference terminal control means. Control the means. A plurality of conference terminal devices are arranged across communication lines and exchange information with other conference terminal devices. At that time, the conference support control means refers to the restriction information regarding the exchange of information between each conference terminal device stored in the information management means, and controls the destination and contents of the conference information while controlling the conference participants. Send information to.

0010

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conference device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This conference device is composed of a plurality of conference terminal devices 101 and a conference support device 102 that centrally (generally) manages the conference terminal devices 101, and each device is configured with the following parts.

That is, the input/output section 11 of the conference terminal device 101
Input devices include a keyboard, mouse, and digitizer, and output devices include displays and printers. The personal storage unit 12 is a device such as a disk that stores and manages personal documents and presentation materials. The transmission unit 13 is a modem or a digital PBX transmission device. The conference terminal control unit 14 is a means for controlling the conference terminal device 101 in general.

Screen information management section 15 of conference support device 102
is a means for storing and managing the operation restriction contents and their setting area information sent from each conference terminal device 101. The shared storage unit 16 is a means for storing and managing meeting materials, temporary files, and the like. The conference support control unit 17 is in charge of overall control of the conference support device 102 and management of operation requests for each conference terminal device 101.

The operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 2, when an operation request (for example, sending conference materials, deleting materials, registering restriction information, etc.) occurs in the input/output unit 11 of the conference terminal device 101, the conference terminal device 101 cancels the conference. The operation request is issued to the conference support device 102 through the terminal control unit 14 (step S201
).

The conference support control unit 17 refers to the information management unit 15, checks the operation request, and if the operation request is approved, performs the requested process (step S202).
, S203).

Finally, if necessary, each receiving conference terminal device displays the transmitted results on its screen (step S204).

Next, another embodiment that is a more specific version of the above embodiment will be described along with its operation.

As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, when an operation request is generated, the operation request is issued to the conference support device 102 through the conference terminal control unit 14 of the conference terminal device 101 (step S301).

The conference support control unit 17 determines whether the operation (for example, sending conference materials, writing to conference materials, deleting, moving) is possible by referring to the operation restriction information of the information management unit 15. (Step S302). If it is a transmission of conference materials, the information management unit 15 checks whether the transfer destination on the screen is appropriate (step S303).

In the case of transmitting conference materials, the conference materials are retrieved from the personal storage unit 12 (step S304) and transmitted from the conference terminal device 101 to the conference support device 102 (step S305). In the conference support device 102 , under the control of the conference support control unit 17 , conference materials are registered as screen information in the information management unit 15 , conference materials are stored and stored in the shared storage unit 16 , and are sent to each receiving conference terminal device 101 . The meeting materials are transmitted (step S306).

[0022] If the request is not to transmit conference materials (step S303), it is determined whether the request is to set an operation restriction for the conference terminal device 101 that operates conference materials (step S307). If it is an operation restriction setting request, it is determined based on the information of the information management unit 15 whether or not it is possible to set operation restrictions for the specified area. If it is an area in which the operation restriction setting is performed, it is determined that the setting is not possible (step S308), and if the restriction setting is possible, the content of the operation restriction setting and its application area on the screen are registered in the information management unit 15 (step S309). If there is no operation restriction setting (step S307), the requested operation is processed and the results, such as deletion of conference materials, are returned to the conference support control unit 17 (step S310).

Finally, if necessary, each receiving conference terminal 1
At 01, the transmitted results are displayed on the screen (step S311).

Next, FIG. 4 shows an example of area designation when the above operation restriction setting function is used. First, a region 41 is set, and then two regions 42 and 43 are set on that region. It is assumed that the operation control information for each area is set as follows.

Area 41: All terminals can read and write. Area 42: The receiving terminal can read and write. Area 43: The receiving terminal can read, but cannot write.

Here, the setting conditions of the areas 42 and 43 are given priority over those of the area 41, and furthermore, the display contents of the areas 42 and 43 are superimposed on that of the area 41 and displayed.

[0027] The conference materials are transferred to the area 42 and the area 43 under these setting conditions. According to the above setting conditions, writing to the area 42 is writing to the conference material itself, but writing to the area 43 is writing to the area 41.

[0028] As for the usage pattern, the area 42 is used when real-time collaborative editing of figures, documents, etc. is desired, and the area 43 is used to freely write comments from other terminals without changing the presented information itself. You can use it if you want.

By adding information regarding groups to the operation restriction information, specific information can be shared within a specific group.

Next, another embodiment will be explained along with its operation.

As shown in FIG. 5, when an operation request occurs, the operation request is issued to the conference support device 102 through the conference terminal control unit 14 of the conference terminal device 101 (step S
501).

The conference support control unit 17 refers to the information management unit 15 and determines whether the operation (for example, sending conference materials, writing to conference materials, deleting, moving) is possible (step S502). . For example, in the case of transmitting conference materials, it is determined whether the transfer destination is appropriate by checking the information in the information management unit 15 (step S503).

Next, in the case of transmitting conference materials, the conference terminal device 101 retrieves the conference materials from the personal storage unit 12 (step S504), adds operation restriction information, and transmits them to the conference support device 102 (step S504). 505). In the conference support device 102, under the control of the conference support control unit 17, the content of the operation restriction and the scope of application on the screen are registered in the information management unit 15, and the conference materials are stored and stored in the shared storage unit 16.
Conference materials are transmitted to each receiving conference terminal device 101 (step S506).

[0034] If the request is not to transmit conference materials, the requested operation is processed and the result is returned to the conference support control unit 17 (step S507).

Finally, each receiving conference terminal 101 displays the transmitted results on the screen, if necessary (step S508).

In the above embodiment, if the operation restriction information is set in detail for each chapter, section, and diagram, the confidentiality of the presented information is further improved.

[0037] Furthermore, it is not necessary that all of the meeting materials be displayed on the screen, and a portion of the materials may be viewed through a display window. The management structure of conference materials and operation setting areas may be a hierarchical structure such as hypertext.

Furthermore, conference participants can easily understand the operation restriction setting status by coloring the background and boundaries of the setting area, and by changing the shape of the mouse pointer and carrot within the setting area as appropriate. Recognizable.

Finally, although the conference device of the above embodiment is a centralized management type conference device using one conference support device, it is a distributed management type conference device in which the functions of the conference support device are further physically and logically distributed. It is also applicable to conference equipment.

[0040] The conference materials may not be once input into the conference support device, but may be directly transmitted between the conference terminal devices while being subject to direct restrictions.

[0041]

As explained above, the present invention provides input/output means for inputting and outputting information, personal storage means for storing personal conference information, transmission means for transmitting information, and control of each of these means. a plurality of conference terminal devices having a conference terminal control means for controlling the conference; an information management means for storing restriction information regarding information exchange between each conference terminal device; and a sharing device for storing conference information used in the conference. a conference support device that has a storage device and a conference support control device that controls each of these devices and manages operation requests for each of the conference terminal devices, and is connected to the conference terminal devices individually or collectively; This conference device has the advantage that it is possible to sufficiently maintain the confidentiality of individual conference materials presented.

[0042] By adding operation restriction information to the conference materials themselves to be transmitted, more detailed operation restriction settings can be made and confidentiality is improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conference device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating input/output operations of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating input/output operations of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of operation restriction setting according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating input/output operations in an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols] 11 Input/output section
17 Conference support control section 12 Personal storage section
101 Conference terminal device 13 Transmission section
102 Conference support device 14 Conference terminal control unit 15 (screen) information management unit 16 Shared storage unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A system comprising input/output means for inputting and outputting information, personal storage means for storing personal conference information, transmission means for transmitting information, and conference terminal control means for controlling each of these means. , a plurality of conference terminal devices, an information management means for storing restriction information regarding information exchange between each conference terminal device, a shared storage means for storing conference information used in the conference, and control of each of these means. and a conference support control means for managing operation requests of each of the conference terminal devices, and a conference support device connected to the conference terminal devices individually or collectively. Device. 2. The conference device according to claim 1, wherein the restriction information of the information management means is stored in advance through the conference terminal device. 3. The conference device according to claim 1, wherein the restriction information of the information management means is information added when operating conference information from the conference terminal device.