AU2014300236B2 - Work assistance system, portable terminal, and work assistance method - Google Patents

Abstract

　The present invention provides a work assistance system, a portable terminal, and a work assistance method capable of improving the quality of work. This work assistance system is provided with an area identification indicator provided for each of a plurality of unit work areas and a portable terminal capable of recognizing the area identification indicator, the portable terminal including: a storage unit for storing, for each area identification indicator, a work item of the corresponding unit work area in correlation therewith; a display unit for displaying information about at least a work item of the unit work area in which work is being performed; a work-completed information input unit for inputting work-completed information about each work item; and a work determination unit for determining whether or not work in the unit work area has been finished. The work determination unit, upon receiving prescribed input indicating that work has been finished, determines that work has been finished if work-completed information is inputted for all work items of the unit work area, or determines that work has not been finished if work-completed information is not inputted for one or more work items of the unit work area.

Description

AC538-PCT - 1

WORK SUPPORT SYSTEM, PORTABLE TERMINAL AND WORK SUPPORT

METHOD

Technical Field [0001]

The embodiments relate to a work support system, a portable terminal and a work support method that support a worker in performing work for work items in work areas on the basis of identification labels each of which is disposed in each of a plurality of work areas in which a worker moves around.

Background [0002]

Security companies provide patrol services in which a patrol person patrols a property, such as premises or a building, for which the company has been contracted to provide a patrol service at regular intervals to check to see if there is any abnormality. In such a patrol service, a patrol person reads a patrol manual beforehand to make mental notes of a patrol order in a property, the locations of inspection points to be inspected in patrol, inspection items associated with the inspection points (inspection items at or near the inspection points) of the property. The patrol person then carries out the patrol service in accordance with mental notes. The patrol person does not carry a patrol manual in order to prevent the patrol manual from leaking to outsiders.

[0003]

The patrol person carries a portable device referred to as a patrol recorder in order to record inspection status at the inspection points. On the other hand, a key referred to as a clock key, which has unique identification information, is disposed at each 2 inspection area. When inspection at inspection points in or near one inspection area has been completed, the patrol person inserts the clock key into the patrol recorder and turns the clock key. This causes the identification information identifying the current inspection area and the time to be recorded on the patrol recorder. In this way, the patrol person inserts the clock key in the patrol recorder at each inspection area and the information recorded on the patrol recorder is output onto paper sheets or a personal computer at the end of the service to make sure that each inspection area has been properly checked, the inspection at the patrolled property such as premises and a building has been completed, and the patrol service has been completed.

[0004]

Patent Literature 1 discloses that when a portable terminal carried by an inspection person receives a facility ID from a radio frequency identification tag attached to a facility during facility inspection, inspection information from a server is displayed on the portable terminal, the inspection person inputs a result of the inspection which is then compared with set inspection information, and the result of the comparison is displayed on a display device.

[0005]

Patent Literature 2 discloses that a data management apparatus transfers facility inspection information including a patrol order to a portable device and, each time a "next point" is touched on its screen, places to be patrolled are displayed one by one.

Citation List Patent Literature [0006]

Patent Literature 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 10-222543 3

Patent Literature 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-159916

Technical Problem [0007]

In the method that uses a patrol recorder, a patrol person needs to become thoroughly familiar with a patrol order at a property to be patrolled, locations of points to be inspected during patrol, inspection items and the like beforehand, and a new patrol person may feel uneasy during a first patrol.

[0008]

Further, using devices disclosed in Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 makes it easier to understand inspection guidance and enables verification of the fact that locations to be inspected have been patrolled. However, when the technique in Patent Literature 1 or 2 is used in security patrol services, it is desirable to assist in the order of patrol and items to be inspected in each place while at the same time information of security guard inspection, which requires a high level of security, needs to be prevented from being leaked to outsiders. Therefore the methods for inspecting facilities cannot simply be applied to security patrol services.

[0009]

In addition, a person patrolling an area needs to be a reliable visual deterrent based on appearance such as posture, attitude and outfit. However, it is difficult visually to determine whether the act of operating the portable terminal to view and input information is a service-related operation or not. It is therefore preferable to minimize the frequency of acts of operating a portable terminal in public in a portable terminal used by a person patrolling an area and its system. In addition, it is required to objectively prove that the patrol person was at a particular location at a 4 particular time of patrol, as in a conventional operation using a clock key. Under these circumstances, there has been a demand for a further improved system that can be used in patrol services.

[0010]

It is desired, therefore, to provide a patrol support system, a portable terminal, and a patrol support method that alleviate one or more difficulties of the prior art, or to at least provide a useful alternative.

Summary [0011]

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a patrol support system comprising area identification labels each being disposed in each of a plurality of unit inspection areas into which a patrol area is divided and a portable terminal which is carried by a patrol person and is capable of recognizing the area identification labels, wherein the portable terminal comprises: a storage module for storing information of a unit inspection area corresponding to each of the area identification labels; a display module for displaying information indicating inspection items at least in a unit inspection area in which current inspection is to be inspected when the area identification label is recognized; an inspection information input module for inputting inspection information identifying whether or not each of the inspection items has been inspected; a supplementary information input module for inputting supplementary information of inspection of each of the inspection items; and an inspection determining module for determining that inspection in the unit inspection area has been 5 completed when receiving a predetermined input indicating that inspection has been completed; and wherein the inspection determining module determines that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected, and if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed, and does not determine that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is not input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed.

[0012]

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a patrol support system comprising: a portable terminal carried by a patrol person performing inspection in a patrol area, wherein the portable terminal comprises: a storage module for storing information of the patrol area; a display module for displaying information indicating inspection items to be inspected in the patrol area; an inspection information input module for inputting inspection information identifying whether or not each of 6 the inspection items has been inspected; a supplementary information input module for inputting supplementary information of inspection of each of the inspection items; and an inspection determining module for determining that inspection in the patrol area has been completed when receiving a predetermined input indicating that inspection has been completed; and wherein the inspection determining module determines that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected, and if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed, and does not determine that the inspection has been completed when there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the patrol area and the supplementary information is not input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed.

[0013]

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a portable terminal which is carried by a patrol person and is capable of recognizing the area identification labels each being disposed in each of a plurality of unit inspection areas into which a patrol area is divided, the portable terminal comprising: a storage module for storing information of a unit inspection area corresponding to the area identification 7 labels in association with the area identification label; a display module for displaying information indicating inspection items at least in a unit inspection area in which current inspection is to be inspected when the area identification label is recognized; an inspection information input module for inputting inspection information identifying whether or not each of the inspection items has been inspected; a supplementary information input module for inputting supplementary information of inspection of each of the inspection items; and an inspection determining module for determining that inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed when receiving a predetermined input indicating that inspection has been completed; and wherein the inspection determining module determines that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected, and if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed, and does not determine that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is not input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed. 8 [0014]

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a patrol support method in which a patrol area is divided into a plurality of unit inspection areas, an area identification label is disposed in each of the unit inspection areas, the area identification label is recognized by a portable terminal carried by a patrol person to support patrol performed by the patrol person, the patrol support method comprising: on the portable terminal, storing information of a unit inspection area corresponding to each of the area identification labels in association with the area identification label; displaying information indicating inspection items at least in a unit inspection area in which currently inspection is to be inspected when the area identification label is recognized; enabling input of inspection information identifying whether or not each of the inspection items has been inspected; enabling input of supplementary information of each of the inspection items; and determining that inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed when receiving a predetermined input indicating that inspection has been completed; and wherein in the determining step, when the predetermined input is received, determining that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected, and if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is input for the inspection item indicated by 9 the inspection information as not having been completed, and not determining that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is not input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed.

[0015]

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a patrol support system comprising: a communication terminal disposed in each of a plurality of unit inspection areas into which a patrol area is divided; and a portable terminal carried by the patrol person, wherein the portable terminal comprises: a reading module for sending and receiving information to and from the communication terminal; an input module for inputting inspection information identifying whether or not each of inspection items to be inspected in each of the unit inspection areas has been completed and supplementary information of inspection; and a storage module for storing information of the portable terminal and the inspection information and the supplementary information input at the input module; and the communication terminal comprises: a short-range communication module for sending and receiving information to and from the portable terminal; a storage module for storing at least inspection items in the unit inspection area; and 10 a processing module for acquiring the inspection information and the supplementary information from the portable terminal and determining whether or not inspection in the unit inspection areas has been completed; and wherein the processing module determines that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected, and if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed, and does not determine that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is not input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed, in information acquired from the portable terminal.

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Advantageous Effects of Embodiments of the Invention [0030]

Work support systems, portable terminals and work support methods determine whether or not work in each unit work area has been completed to achieve the advantageous effects of enabling a worker to perform reliable work for work items, making the qualities of work by workers uniform, providing proof that the work has certainly been performed to a customer who has entrusted the work.

[0031]

Further, when there is a work item that has not been completed and for which supplementary information has not been input, the work support systems, portable terminals and work support methods prohibit determining that work in the unit work area has been completed and determine that the work has not been completed. Accordingly, the work support systems, portable terminals and work support methods can ensure the completion of checking of conditions of work items during work and therefore achieve the advantageous effect of improving the quality of work.

[0032]

Further, the work support systems, portable terminals and work support methods display an initial state in which an indication of completion of work is input for all work items and therefore achieve the advantageous effect of minimizing the frequency of acts of operating a portable terminal by a worker in public to minimize the operations on the terminal at normal times. 15 [0033]

Brief Description of the Drawings

Some embodiments of the present invention are hereinafter described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating how patrol work is performed. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a portable terminal according to a first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a guidance screen concerning inspection points and inspection items displayed on the portable terminal. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a comment input screen displayed on the portable terminal. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by the portable terminal according to a first example . FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the portable terminal in a patrol service according to a second example. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a computer terminal according to a second embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by a computer terminal installed in an inspection area according to the first example. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a computer terminal in a patrol service according to a second example.

[0034]

Description

AC538-PCT

15A

[0035] <First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a patrol service using a patrol service support system in a first embodiment. A patrol person 1, such as a security guard, who carries out patrol inspection of facilities and equipment carries a portable terminal 2 and carries out a patrol service. A security company prepares a patrol manual for the patrol service beforehand on the basis of a contract with a customer. In the patrol manual, a zone (a patrol area) to be patrolled is divided into a plurality of inspection areas (sometimes also simply referred to as areas). In accordance with this, an identification label indicating each inspection area is disposed in a predetermined place such as a wall at the inspection area. While an example in which RFID tags are used as the identification labels will be described in this embodiment, the identification labels may be onedimensional or two-dimensional barcodes or the like.

There are locations to be inspected, such as windows, safes, ashtrays, in each inspection area. The locations to be checked are extracted beforehand as "inspection points" and items to be checked at the inspection points are reflected in the patrol manual as "inspection items". For example, in the case of an inspection point that is an ashtray, an inspection item, "Cigarette stubs were completely extinguished", is specified in the patrol manual.

[0036]

As stated above, the patrol service support system will be described as an example of a work support system 16 in this embodiment. A patrol person is an example of a worker who works in the work support system, inspection performed by the patrol person is an example of work supported by the work support system, patrol area is an example of a work area in which the patrol person moves around, and each of a plurality of inspection areas into which a patrol area is divided is an example of a unit work area. A inspection point is an example of a work point and an inspection item is an example of a work item. Note that the work support system may be a system that supports cleaning work in which a plurality of areas in a cleaning area are cleaned in sequence by a cleanup worker or may be a system that supports inspection work in which a plurality of areas in an inspection area are inspected in sequence by a facility inspection worker.

[0037]

In the example in FIG. 1, identification labels are disposed in association with five inspection areas. The inspection areas are a first area (a section from identification label A to identification label B), a second area (a section from identification label B to identification label C), a third area (a section from identification label C to identification label D), a fourth area (a section from identification label D to identification label E), and a fifth area (a section from identification label E to identification label F), and the patrol person patrols these inspection areas.

[0038]

In the first area, identification label A indicating the start of the inspection area is disposed and there are inspection points "a" to "d". Inspection items have been preset in association with these inspection points. The patrol person inspects the inspection items by following these inspection points. For example, inspection points "a" and "c" are windows and the inspection items are checking to see whether the windows are closed and checking to see whether the windows are 17 locked. Inspection point "b" is ceiling lighting equipment and the inspection item is checking to see whether the lighting equipment is off. Inspection point "d" is a copier and checking to see whether the copier is off is set as an inspection item.

[0039]

Identification label B indicates a point of verifying whether inspection in the first area has been completed and also indicates the start of the second area, which is the next inspection area. There are inspection points "e" to "f" in the second area. Identification label C is associated with being a point of verifying whether inspection in the second area has been completed and being the start of the third area. There are inspection points "g" to "1" in the third area. Ahead of the point is identification label D associated with being a point of verifying whether inspection in the third area has been completed and being the start of the fourth area. There is inspection point "m" in the fourth area. In the fourth area, there is identification label E which is associated with being a point of verifying whether inspection in the fourth area has been completed and being the start of the fifth area. There are inspection points "n" to "q" in the fifth area. Identification label F associated with a point of verifying whether inspection in the fifth area has been completed is disposed in the fifth area. Inspection points "g" and "n" are doors and checking to see whether the doors are closed and locked is set as their inspection items. Inspection point "h" is a safe and checking to see whether the door of the safe is closed and locked and the like are set as inspection items. Inspection point "q" is an ashtray and checking to see whether cigarette stubs were extinguished and the like are set as inspection items.

[0040]

The patrol person 1 carries a portable terminal 2. 18

Patrol service support is performed by using the portable terminal 2. In this example, identification labels A to F may be RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags, such as NFC (Near Field Communication) tags, on which unique identification information is stored. The portable terminal 2 includes an NFC tag reader function and identification information is read by short-range communication when the portable terminal 2 is held over the NFC tag. An identification label needs only to store identification information indicating which area is identified by the identification label.

[0041] <Configuration of Portable Terminal> FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary configuration of the portable terminal 2. The portable terminal 2 may be a smartphone or a mobile phone. However, the portable terminal 2 may be any computer device that is portable, has a communication function, an information processing function and an identification label reading function and is capable of storing and executing various application programs .

[0042] A communication control module 10 includes any of various types of wired interfaces or wireless interfaces and is connected to a network through a connector or to a network through an antenna. The network may be an intranet or the internet.

[0043]

The communication control module 10 is connected to a processing module 12. The processing module 12 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory) and the like and carries out various kinds of information processing. A storage module 14, a display 16, an input module 18, and a reading module 19 are connected to the processing module 12. The storage module 14 includes a flash memory and a hard disk and stores various kinds of data, 19 application programs and the like. The display 16 functions as a display module and displays various kinds of information under the control of the processing module 12 .

[0044]

The input module 18 functions as an information input module, includes input buttons and/or a touch panel provided at the front of the display 16, and is used for inputting various kinds of data such as results of inspection of inspection items set for each area.

[0045]

The reading module 19 functions as a reading module for reading information concerning areas from identification labels. For example, if NFC tags are used as the identification labels, the reading module 19 functions as a tag reader which sends and receives a radio wave of a predetermined frequency to read information from the NFC tags. If one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes are used as the identification labels, the reading module 19 functions as an image pickup module which captures images with a camera or the like .

[0046]

When the reading module 19 acquires identification information unique to each identification label from the identification label, the processing module 12 compares the acquired identification information with a prestored table in which pieces of identification information are associated with inspection areas in a patrol area to determine an inspection area indicated by the identification label.

[0047] <Identification Labels>

As described above, if a portable terminal 2 capable of NFC communication is used, NFC tags can be used as identification labels A to F. The NFC tags are activated by a radio wave from the portable terminal 2 and sends 20 predetermined identification information (information indicating an inspection area) stored on the NFC tags to the portable terminal 2. RFID tags other than NFC tags can be used as well.

[0048]

Note that the identification labels are not limited to RFID tags such as NFC tags but instead any of various types of identification labels can be used. For example, one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes may be used as the identification labels. The barcodes function as identification labels when optically read with a camera embedded in the portable terminal 2.

[0049] <Use of Portable Terminal in Patrol Services>

In this embodiment, the portable terminal 2 displays images concerning inspection points and inspection items to provide guidance on inspection. On the other hand, identification labels disposed in each area may be labels that merely provide identification information as stated above. In this case, data of the entire patrol service needs to be stored on the portable terminal 2 carried by the patrol person 1 before the patrol person 1 starts patrol. The use of the portable terminal 2 in such a case will be described.

[0050]

First, patrol service data concerning inspection of all of the inspection areas that is required for patrol work (information of the inspection points in all of the inspection areas included in a patrol area and inspection items at the inspection points) is downloaded from a server computer (for example a monitoring center) of a security system that manages whole security services including the patrol service to the portable terminal 2. For example, a terminal device connected to the server computer is installed in a guard station of the patrol person 1 and the portable terminal 2 communicates with the terminal device to download data. As a result, an 21 entire set of instructions for the whole patrol service are stored in the portable terminal 2 but not all of the entire set is displayed. The portable terminal 2 then displays on the display 16 and instructs the patrol person 1 to go to a place in which identification label A is disposed, which is the first area to be patrolled first.

[0051]

Note that the portable terminal 2 may connect to the monitoring center through a mobile phone network or a wireless LAN or the like built at the patrol area and may acquire data of the current inspection area alone, instead of downloading data of all of the inspection areas prior to the start of patrol. If the portable terminal 2 is always connected wirelessly to the server computer, the portable terminal 2 does not need to store all of the data and can acquire required data as needed from the server computer, which acts as a storage for the portable terminal 2. In this case, each time data of a new inspection area is required, the portable terminal 2 requests the data and acquires the data from the server computer .

[0052]

The patrol person 1 starts patrol, goes to the place in which identification label A is disposed and causes the portable terminal 2 to read the identification information from identification label A. When the reading module 19 of the portable terminal 2 has read the identification information, the processing module 12 determines a corresponding inspection area and stores the information from identification label A along with the current time. The processing module 12 reads out inspection points and inspection items that correspond to the read identification information (the inspection area) from the storage module 14. As a result, the processing module 12 displays guidance on the inspection points and inspection items of the first area to be inspected on the 22 display 16 of the portable terminal 2.

[0053] FIG. 3 illustrates a guidance screen for inspection points and inspection items displayed on the display 16. The portable terminal 2 displays the inspection points in the first area and the inspection items at the inspection points one by one on the display 16, starting from the point to be inspected first on the patrol route, or displays a list of all of the inspection points in the first area and the inspection items at the inspection points on the display 16. In addition, the portable terminal 2 may display a map of the patrol area, may display the inspection points on the map and, when each of the inspection points is touched on the touch panel, may display a list of the inspection items at the inspection point. In addition, supplementary means such as photographs of inspection points may be displayed so that an inexperienced patrol person can ready visually identify the inspection points.

[0054]

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the portable terminal 2 displays, in a portion of the screen on the display 16, a checkbox for each of the inspection items displayed on the display 16 for indicating whether or not the inspection item has been inspected. When the checkbox is touched by the patrol person by using the input module 18 to check (to input a checkmark in) the checkbox, information indicating that inspection has been completed is input or canceled in the portable terminal 2. The input and cancelation of a checkmark in a checkbox is accomplished by a touch operation on the touch panel to toggle the checkbox between the checked and unchecked states. The checkbox is displayed with a checkmark input in it, i.e., the inspection complete state is displayed as an initial state. Accordingly, when the patrol person 1 finds an abnormality such as when the patrol person 1 cannot perform inspection for some reason or cannot 23 verify the security, the patrol person 1 perform a touch operation on a corresponding checkbox to uncheck the checkbox. In this way, input of input complete information in the portable terminal 2 is designed so that an input operation does not need to be performed when no abnormality has been found as in normal conditions. This is done in view of special circumstances in which it is undesirable that a patrol person such as a security guard who carries out patrol inspection is holding and operating a portable terminal in public for a long while, because such a patrol person is required to visually represent reliability for the public by appearance. In this embodiment, the initial state is the inspection complete state in order to allow the patrol person to omit an input operation when no abnormality has been found as in normal conditions and to require the patrol person to perform an operation when an abnormality has been found, thereby minimizing the frequency of acts of operating the portable terminal in public. FIG. 3 illustrates a screen in which a checkmark for an inspection point, "Copier", at the bottom has been canceled because an inspection item, "OFF", cannot be verified.

[0055] A "Comment" button for the patrol person to input supplementary information of inspection such as a reason why the patrol person have not completed inspection or remarks is displayed for each inspection item displayed on the display 16. When the comment button is selected by a touch operation, a comment input screen is displayed. FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary comment input screen displayed in response to an operation for selecting the comment button associated with a particular inspection item. In the comment input screen, a number of options with checkboxes and a remarks field are displayed. Items that can be predicted based on operation experience or the like are used as the options. 24

The input and cancelation of a checkmark in a checkbox is accomplished by a touch operation on the touch panel to toggle the checkbox between the checked and unchecked states. Text can be input in the remarks field by using a software/hardware keyboard or the like as needed.

[0056]

In this embodiment, unlike the above-described guidance screen for the inspection items (FIG. 3), the comment input screen is displayed with no checkmarks, i.e., no selected options, as an initial state. This is because under special conditions where the patrol person inputs supplementary information of inspection such as a reason for uncompleted inspection or remarks, it is preferable that the patrol person work on and input an actual reason on the basis of individual situations. Accordingly, the comment input screen of this embodiment in the unchecked state is displayed as the initial state to make the patrol person to work on an actual reason before input so that the patrol person carefully formulate a comment on the basis of individual situations. FIG. 4 illustrates a state in which the option "Impossible for customer's reason" at the top is selected and input as a comment.

[0057]

When the patrol person inputs a checkmark for an option or formulates a comment to input by inputting text in the remarks field and then operates a confirm button, the comment input screen disappears and the previous, guidance screen for inspection items (FIG. 3) is displayed again. In the guidance screen for inspection items, a comment button corresponding to an inspection item for which a comment has been input is identifiably displayed in a different display form. In FIG. 3, the comment button for the inspection item "OFF" of the inspection point "Copier" at the bottom is displayed in a dark color to indicate that a comment has been input.

[0058] 25

Note that the checkboxes illustrated in FIG. 3 may be initially in the unchecked state, i.e., not inspected state, as an initial state. Further, the "Comment" buttons and the comment input screen illustrated in FIG. 4 may be omitted so that comments are not input.

[0059]

Note that an inspection complete label, such as a barcode, may be attached to a place corresponding to each inspection item and the portable terminal 2 may read the inspection label to input information indicating that the inspection item has been inspected. The inspection label may be any of various types of labels such as an NFC tag or the like.

[0060]

In this way, each time the patrol person 1 has performed inspection of an inspection item at each inspection point, the patrol person 1 checks the checkbox of the inspection item at the inspection point to indicate the completion of the inspection. Whenever the patrol person 1 finds any abnormality during inspection, the patrol person 1 unchecks the checkbox of the inspection item at the inspection point and inputs a comment. Note that if the order in which the inspection points are to be inspected is preset and the order in which the inspection points have been inspected differs from the preset order, i.e., if the patrol person 1 has skipped an inspection point and attempts to check the checkbox of the next inspection point, the portable terminal 2 may prevents the checkbox from being checked. In this case, the portable terminal 2 preferably displays an indication that inspection of the inspection item of the previous inspection point has not been completed.

[0061]

Note that the server computer at the guard station described previously may also serve as identification label A, which is operated at the start of inspection of the patrol area. In this case, communication with the 26 server computer is equivalent to reading identification label A and, when the portable terminal 2 has downloaded data from the server computer, the guidance for the first area is displayed on the portable terminal 2.

[0062]

When the inspection in the first area has been completed, the patrol person 1 goes to a place where identification label B is disposed and reads identification information from identification label B through the reading module 19 of the portable terminal 2, which is an operation indicating completion of inspection of the first area. When the portable terminal 2 receives an operation indicating completion of inspection of the first area by reading identification information, the portable terminal 2 determines whether inspection complete information is input for all of the inspection items in the first area and inspection of the first area has been completed. When inspection complete information is not input for all of the inspection items in the first area, i.e., when any of the inspection items has been unchecked, the portable terminal 2 determines whether or not a comment has been input for the unchecked inspection item. When inspection complete information is input for all of the inspection items in the first area, or when there is an unchecked inspection item but a comment of the inspection item has been input, the portable terminal 2 determines that the inspection of the area has been completed.

[0063]

On the other hand, when the inspection of the first area has not been completed, i.e., when there is an inspection item which has been unchecked and has not been commented, the portable terminal 2 determines that inspection has not been completed and displays a warning on the inspection item to prohibit determining that the inspection has been completed. The warning prompts the patrol person to reinspect the inspection item which has 27 been unchecked and has not been commented and is displayed in order to indicate the inspection item. Accordingly, the patrol person 1 views the display and inspects the inspection item at the uninspected point.

[0064]

The portable terminal 2 determines that the inspection of the first area has been completed when the inspection item at the uninspected point has been inspected, the inspection item have been checked or commented and identification information is read from identification label B. In response to the determination that the inspection has been completed, the portable terminal 2 permits display of inspection items at the inspection points in the next, second area and starts guidance for the inspection items at the inspection points in the second area. Further, the portable terminal 2 stores information indicating whether or not inspection has been completed and comment information, which has been input for the completed inspection area as inspection records of the area in the storage module 14. Note that if the portable terminal 2 determines that inspection has not been completed, the portable terminal 2 prohibits display of the inspection items at the inspection points in the next, second area.

[0065]

In this way, when the portable terminal 2 has read identification label associated with one area, whether or not there is omission of inspection in the area is checked and, if there is omission of inspection, an indication of the omission is displayed. Therefore omission of inspection of inspection items at inspection points can be reliably prevented.

[0066]

Note that the inspection completing operation for an inspection area is not limited to reading identification label disposed at a point for verifying whether inspection in the area has been completed; the inspection 28 completing operation may be performed by an input operation of an inspection complete button, not depicted, on the portable terminal 2. In this case, after determining that inspection of the first area has been completed, the portable terminal 2 reads identification label B, which is the starting point of the next, second inspection area, permits display of the inspection items at the inspection points in the second area and starts guidance for the inspection items at the inspection points in the second area.

[0067]

Further, when the portable terminal 2 has read identification from identification label B, the portable terminal 2 stores the inspection complete information of the first area and the information from the identification label B in the storage module 14 as inspection records along with the current time. In this way, inspection verification time for inspection items at inspection points is recorded in an inspection result report. By storing the time at which an identification label disposed in the inspection area was read, in addition to storing the start time and end time of inspection of an inspection area, the fact that the patrol person was in the inspection location at the inspection time can be objectively proved.

[0068]

The sequence of process described above is performed in other areas as well. The patrol person 1 inspects the inspection items of inspection points in each area in order in accordance with the guidance by the portable terminal 2 and, when the inspection in each area has been completed, a corresponding identification label is read, and the portable terminal 2 determines whether or not the inspection has been completed and records the time.

[0069]

Note that the portable terminal 2 may determine whether or not inspection in each area has been completed 29 only on the basis of whether or not there is an unchecked inspection item at an inspection point, regardless of whether or not a comment is input. In this case, when the portable terminal 2 receives an inspection complete operation for each area, the portable terminal 2 determines whether inspection complete information is input for all of the inspection items in the area and the inspection of the area has been completed. When the inspection complete information has been input for all of the inspection items in the area, the portable terminal 2 determines that the inspection of the area has been completed; when there is an inspection item for which inspection complete information is not input, the portable terminal 2 determines that the inspection in the area has not been completed.

[0070]

In this way, when not all inspection items at the inspection points in an area have not been inspected (when there is at least one inspection item that has not been inspected), the patrol service support system of this embodiment displays the inspection item for which no input has been provided. In other words, when not all of the inspection items at the inspection points in an area of interest have been inspected, the inspection of the area does not end and inspection points and inspection items of the next area are not displayed. Accordingly, the patrol service support system enables the inspection items at the inspection points in patrol to be inspected without fail, thereby improving the quality of the patrol service. Moreover, if inspection of an inspection item has been omitted, the patrol person is alerted when an identification label is read, so that the failure to inspect the inspection item can be corrected on the spot, thereby avoiding the need for rounding the entire course all over again after the entire patrol has ended and the omission of inspection has been found. Further, since information indicating that inspection items have been 30 inspected is recorded, the proof that patrol has been properly performed can be presented to the customer who entrusted the patrol service to the security company together with the time at which each inspection point was patrolled.

[0071]

Further, when not all of the inspection items at the inspection points in an area of interest have been inspected but supplementary information such as a reason why the inspection has not been performed or remarks is input as a "comment", the patrol service support system permits the inspection of the area to be ended. On the other hand, when an inspection item has not been inspected and no comment has been input for the inspection item, the patrol service support system prohibits the inspection of the area from being ended and determines that the inspection has not been completed. Therefore the patrol service support system enables the conditions of inspection items at the inspection points in patrol to be inspected without fail, thereby improving the quality of the patrol service. Moreover, since information indicating that inspection items have been inspected, comments and the times at which identification labels were read are recorded in association with one another, the proof that patrol has been properly performed can be readily presented to the customer who entrusted the patrol service to the security company together with the time at which each inspection point was patrolled.

[0072] <Patrol Service Operation> <First Example>

An operation of a portable terminal 2 during inspection by a patrol person 1 described above will be described with reference to FIG. 5. In this example, a case will be described in which the portable terminal 2 determines whether or not inspection of each area has 31 been completed only on the basis of whether or not there is an unchecked inspection item at an inspection point, regardless of whether or not a comment is input for the inspection item.

[0073]

First, the portable terminal 2 downloads patrol service data (inspection item data) for all areas to be patrolled from a monitoring center and stores the data in the storage module 14 (step ST1). Then, in response to an operation to start inspection of the patrol area (for example reading identification information from identification label A), the portable terminal 2 displays information of an inspection item at the first inspection point in an area to be inspected on the display 16 (step ST2). Note that an example will be described here in which the portable terminal 2 displays the inspection items at each inspection point one by one and displays the next inspection item, each time inspection complete information is input for the inspection item.

[0074]

The portable terminal 2 in this state accepts an input from the input module 18 (step ST3). When the input is an input of inspection complete information, i.e., when the checkbox for an inspection item is checked, the portable terminal 2 updates the display of the inspection item of the inspection point with an inspection item of the next inspection point (step ST4) and the process returns to step ST2, where the portable terminal 2 displays information of the inspection item at the updated inspection point. On the other hand, when the input is not an input of inspection complete information, the portable terminal 2 determines whether or not inspection has been ended (step ST5). End of inspection is input by reading an identification label disposed at an end-of-inspection verification point in the area of interest by using the reading module 19.

Input of the end of inspection is not limited to this; 32 the end of inspection may be input by operating an end-of-inspection button, not depicted, on the portable terminal 2. If the determination is NO, then the input is irrelevant to this process, therefore the process returns to step ST3, where the portable terminal 2 continues displaying the inspection item of the inspection point and waits for an input of inspection complete information.

[0075]

If the determination at step ST5 is YES, the portable terminal 2 determines from the information recorded on the portable terminal 2 whether or not all of the inspection items of the area of interest have been inspected (step ST6). The portable terminal 2 determines whether or not all of the inspection items of the area of interest have been inspected, on the basis of whether or not the checkboxes of all of the inspection items have been checked by the patrol person 1. The determination at step ST6 is made by the processing module 12 of the portable terminal 2, which functions as a work determining module.

[0076]

If the determination at step ST6 is NO, the portable terminal 2 updates the display with an inspection item on the inspection point that has not been inspected (step ST7) and the process returns to step ST2. Note that if there is a plurality of inspection items that have not been inspected, the portable terminal 2 may display all of those inspection items.

[0077]

If the determination at step ST6 is YES, the portable terminal 2 records end-of-inspection information of the area of the interest along with the current time as an inspection record, updates the area to be inspected with the next area, and permits display of inspection item data of an inspection point of the area (step ST8). In other words, if the determination at step ST6 is NO, 33 the portable terminal 2 determines that inspection of the area has not been completed, does not record end of inspection of the area, and does not permit display of an inspection item of an inspection point of the next area. Further, if the portable terminal 2 permits display of an inspection item of an inspection point of the next area, the portable terminal 2 prohibits display of information of the area the inspection of which has been completed.

[0078]

Then, on the basis of whether or not an end-of-inspection input for each area has been made, the portable terminal 2 determines whether or not inspection of all of the areas has been completed (step ST9). If the determination is No, the portable terminal 2 updates the display with an inspection item of an inspection point of the next area (step ST9)and the process returns to step ST2. When it is determined at step ST9 that an end-of-inspection input has been made for all of the inspection areas, the portable terminal 2 determines that the patrol of the patrol area has been completed and stores end-of-inspection information recorded in each inspection area in association with information indicating the end of the patrol.

[0079]

In this way, the portable terminal 2 controls display of inspection items of inspection points in each area. In particular, when the portable terminal 2 reads identification information from an identification label disposed in each area, the portable terminal 2 can check inspection items of inspection points in each area. Further, at this point in time, the portable terminal 2 records the time of reading of the identification information from the identification label to enable reliable checking of the patrol service. In the embodiment described above, an example has been described in which an identification label can always be read by the reading module 19 of the portable terminal 2 and, 34 when inspection of all of the inspection items of an area have not been completed at the time of reading the identification label, the portable terminal 2 does not record end of inspection and prohibits display of an inspection item of the next area. Instead of this, however, activation of the reading module 19 of the portable terminal 2 may be prohibited when not all of the inspection items of the area are marked as inspected.

The portable terminal 2 therefore cannot read an identification label unless it is determined that inspection of the inspection items of the area has been completed. This helps prompt the patrol person to perform inspection of the inspection item that has not been inspected.

[0080] <Second Example>

Another operation of a portable terminal 2 in a patrol service by a patrol person 1 described above will be described with reference to FIG. 6. In this example, a case will be described in which when supplemental information such as a reason why inspection has not been performed or remarks is input as a "comment", the portable terminal 2 permits ending inspection of the area even if not all inspection items of inspection points have been inspected.

[0081]

First, the portable terminal 2 determines whether or not a patrol service is to be started (step Sll). The portable terminal 2 determines that the patrol service is to be started when patrol service data (inspection item data) for all areas to be patrolled has been downloaded beforehand from a monitoring center and stored in the storage module 14 and an operation for starting inspection of the patrol area (for example reading identification information from identification label A) is performed. Alternatively, if the portable terminal 2 is always wirelessly connected to the monitoring center, 35 the portable terminal 2 may determine that the patrol service is to be started in response to an operation to start inspection of the patrol area.

[0082]

When the patrol service is started, the portable terminal 2 first displays information of inspection points and inspection items of an area to be inspected on the display 16. At this time point, a display in which checkboxes indicating whether inspection has been made are checked, i.e., an inspection complete state, is displayed as an initial state (step ST12).

[0083]

The portable terminal 2 in this state accepts an input through the input module 18. When the input is an input to uncheck a checkbox of an inspection item that has been inspected, or an input to re-check an unchecked checkbox (step ST13 - YES), the portable terminal 2 updates the display on the display 16 in accordance with the input (step ST16) . When the input is an input of a comment (step ST14 - YES), the portable terminal 2 updates the display on the display 16 in accordance with the input (step ST16). Note that checkmarks are not input in a comment input screen in an initial state, i.e., an unchecked state is displayed by default and the patrol person inputs a checkmark after inspecting conditions of the site. In this way, the patrol person carries out inspection of the inspection area.

[0084]

Further, the portable terminal 2 waits for an end-of-inspection input (step ST15). End of inspection is input by reading an identification label disposed at the end-of-inspection verification point in the area of interest. Input of the end of inspection is not limited to this; the end of inspection may be input by operating an end-of-inspection button, not depicted, on the portable terminal 2. When the input of end of inspection has been made by reading an identification label or the 36 like (step ST15- YES) and an inspection completion or comment is input for all of the inspection items of the area (step ST17 - YES), the portable terminal 2 determines that inspection of the inspection area has been completed (step ST18) and stores an inspection record of the inspection area and the current time.

[0085]

On the other hand, an inspection checkmark is not input and comment is not input for an inspection item at step ST17 (step ST17-NO), the portable terminal 2 determines that inspection has not completed, prohibits determining that the inspection has been completed, presents a warning that indicates the inspection item to the patrol person (step ST19) to prompt the patrol person to reinspect the inspection item.

[0086]

When the portable terminal 2 determines that inspection of the inspection area has been completed in this way, the portable terminal 2 determines whether or not inspection of all inspection areas has been completed (step ST20). The portable terminal 2 checks to see if inspection of the last inspection area in the inspection order has been completed, thereby determining whether or not there is an area that has not been inspected. Alternatively, the portable terminal 2 may check inspection areas and inspection end times corresponding to the inspection areas to determine whether or not there is an inspection area for which an inspection end time is not stored, thereby determining whether or not there is an area that has not been inspected.

[0087]

When inspection of all inspection areas has been completed (step ST20 - YES), the portable terminal 2 determines that the patrol service has been completed and stores information indicating the end. On the other hand, when not all inspection areas have been inspected (step ST20 - NO), the portable terminal 2 updates the 37 inspection area to be inspected and allows display of inspection items for inspection points in next inspection area (step ST21). The process returns to step ST12 and portable terminal 2 starts guidance for inspection items at inspection points in the next inspection area.

[0088]

In this way, the portable terminal 2 controls display of inspection items in each inspection area. In particular, the portable terminal 2 displays each inspection item in the checked state as an initial state to minimize the frequency of operations on the terminal at normal times, thereby preventing the patrol person from being seen operating the terminal frequently in public. On the other hand, the portable terminal 2 displays a comment input screen with items unchecked by default and can prompt the patrol person to check the site. When there is an inspection item that is not checked and is not commented, the portable terminal 2 determines that inspection has not been completed, prohibits ending inspection of the area and does not determine that inspection has been completed.

Accordingly, conditions of the inspection items can be checked during patrol without fail and thus the portable terminal 2 can improve the quality of the patrol service. Further, the portable terminal 2 records the time of reading an identification label associated with the inspection area to enable reliable checking of the patrol service .

[0089]

In the embodiment described above, an example has been described in which an identification label can always be read by the reading module 19 of the portable terminal 2 and, when it is determined that inspection of an area have been completed at the time of reading the identification label, the portable terminal 2 does not record end of inspection and prohibits display of an inspection item of the next area. Instead of this, 38 however, activation of the reading module 19 of the portable terminal 2 may be prohibited unless it can be determined that inspection of the area has been completed. The portable terminal 2 therefore cannot read an identification label unless it is determined that inspection of the area has been completed. This prompts the patrol person to perform inspection of the inspection item that has not been inspected.

[0090] <After End of Patrol Service>

When the patrol service described above has ended, the portable terminal 2 may transfer information of the patrol service (inspection records) to an external device after authentication by a supervisor of the patrol person 1. In other words, the portable terminal 2 cannot output data of inspection items (including data of checking of inspection) , comments, and the patrol route recorded on the portable terminal 2 to an external device (print the data and/or transfer to other communication devices) without authentication by a supervisor. For example, the portable terminal 2 can output information indicating the end of patrol recorded on the portable terminal 2 to an external device such as a personal computer or a printer after authentication by inputting an authentication code of the supervisor that has been registered on the portable terminal 2 beforehand into the portable terminal 2. This prevents leakage of data concerning patrol such as information set as items to be inspected, thereby improving security.

[0091]

As described above, security is improved by preventing inspection records from being output without authentication by the supervisor. Thereafter, the portable terminal 2 is preferably delete data of the patrol route and information on inspection.

Specifically, when the portable terminal 2 has output an inspection record to an external device with 39 authentication by the supervisor, the portable terminal 2 may automatically delete the inspection record. Note that the portable terminal 2 may automatically delete the data after a lapse of predetermined time since it is determined that the patrol has been completed or after a lapse of predetermined time since authentication by the supervisor. This prevents leakage of confidential data concerning the patrol service to improve security.

[0092] <Variations>

In the embodiment described above, when an input of operation to end inspection of an inspection area is performed , the portable terminal 2 determines whether or not inspection complete information or a comment has been input for all of the inspection items in the area, thereby determining whether or not to permit ending inspection of the inspection area. The determination as to whether to permit ending inspection does not necessarily need to be made for each individual inspection area but may be made at the end of the patrol service in the entire patrol area.

[0093]

In this case, for example, the portable terminal 2 does not determine whether to permit ending inspection in each inspection area. When the portable terminal 2 receives an input of an operation for ending inspection of an inspection area, the portable terminal 2 stores an inspection record. When the portable terminal 2 receives an input of an operation for ending inspection of the last inspection area, the portable terminal 2 refers to an inspection record of each inspection area to determine whether or not inspection complete information or a comment is input for all of the inspection items in the patrol area. Alternatively, a patrol end operation is additionally required after an operation for ending inspection for the last inspection area has been performed, and the portable terminal 2 may refer to an 40 inspection record of each area in response to the patrol end operation to determine whether or not inspection complete information or a comment is input for all of the inspection items of the entire patrol area.

[0094]

Patrol area information by which at least which inspection areas are included in the patrol area can be identified is stored on the portable terminal 2 beforehand. When inspection complete information or a comment is input for all inspection items of all inspection areas in the patrol area in inspection records stored during a patrol service, the portable terminal 2 determines that the patrol of the patrol area has been completed. On the other hand, when there is an inspection item that is not inspected and is not commented among the inspection items in all inspection areas in the patrol area, the portable terminal 2 prohibits determining that the patrol has been completed and displays a warning that indicates the inspection item to the patrol person, thereby prompting the patrol person to perform inspection again. Because this prevents omission of inspection of inspection areas and enables conditions of all inspection items to be checked without fail, the portable terminal 2 can achieve the effect of improving the quality of the patrol service.

[0095]

Further, the patrol route is preferably changed from time to time because if the patrol person always patrols the same patrol route, outsiders can easily predict actions of the patrol person. The order in which areas are patrolled (the patrol route) may be changed as needed (for example at every patrol service). The patrol route is an example of a travel route representing the order in which a plurality of inspection areas is inspected.

[0096]

In this embodiment, since the portable terminal 2 reads identification information from an identification 41 label to display the next area to patrol, the area to display may be changed as appropriate. For example, the portable terminal 2 is first instructed to read identification information from identification label A and reads identification information from identification label A to provide guidance on an area other than the first area. After the end of inspection of the area, the portable terminal 2 reads identification information from an identification label disposed at the end of the area to provide guidance on the next area. Such a change can be easily made by changing data of inspection that is downloaded to the portable terminal 2. As a result, the patrol route is not always the same and security is improved.

[0097]

Note that data of patrol services (including data of patrol routes) is generated by a server computer at the monitoring center. While excessively inefficient routes need to be excluded from the patrol routes, preferably as many route patterns as possible are used. For example, a patrol route is preferably selected at random from routes that are stored in advance. In this way, the server computer at the monitoring center functions as a patrol route determining module. Alternatively, the processing module 12 of the portable terminal 2 may function as the patrol route determining module. In this case, patrol service data provided from the server computer includes information of a plurality of routes and the portable terminal 2 selects any one of the routes.

[0098] A patrol area may include only one inspection area, rather than plurality of inspection areas. In that case, inspection items are set corresponding to the patrol area.

[0099]

The portable terminal 2 may avoid determining that inspection has been completed when the inspection time 42 between the start of inspection of an inspection area and the end of the inspection is too short. In that case, the portable terminal 2 further includes a timer that measures time taken for inspection of each inspection area and stores a lower-limit time to be taken for inspection of each area in the storage module 14. When the portable terminal 2 receives a predetermined input indicating the end of inspection, the portable terminal 2 determines whether or not the time taken for the inspection of the area inspected immediately before the input exceeds the lower-limit time stored in the storage module 14. When the time taken for the inspection of the area inspected immediately before the input is less than the lower-limit time, the portable terminal 2 determines that the inspection has not been completed because the time taken for the inspection is too short.

[0100]

In this case, the portable terminal 2 instructs the patrol person to inspect again. For example, the potable terminal 2 deletes an end-of-inspection record of the last recorded identification label and makes the patrol person perform the inspection, starting with reading the identification label. Alternatively, the portable terminal 2 may reset all of input results of inspection of inspection items that have been inspected and may display the inspection items on the display 16 so that the inspection points are inspected again. In this case, the portable terminal 2 also resets the inspection time measured by the timer 20. Alternatively, the portable terminal 2 may select important inspection points from among the inspection items on the basis of a difference between the inspection time and the lower-limit time and make the patrol person reinspect the inspection points. Specifically, if there is a plurality of inspection points or inspection items in an area, priorities are assigned beforehand to the inspection points or the inspection items on the basis of the degrees of 43 importance in terms of safety. In this case, the portable terminal 2 does not need to reset the inspection time measured by the timer 20.

[0101]

This allows the portable terminal 2 to ensure that inspection is performed for proper inspection time period in an area when the portable terminal 2 has read an identification label associated with the area, and to reliably prevent omission of inspection of inspection items of inspection points. While the end of inspection is determined by comparing the time taken for inspection of an inspection area and the lower-limit time set for the area in the foregoing, a limit may be imposed on time intervals between inputs of checkmarks for inspection points. For example, when the time interval between inputs of checkmarks for inspection items input from the input module 18 is less than a predetermined time interval, the portable terminal 2 prohibits an input of a checkmark. This allows the portable terminal 2 to record that the patrol person has properly patrolled. Further, the portable terminal 2 may prevents inspection items of the next area from being displayed when the inspection time does not exceed the lower-limit time. Moreover, the portable terminal 2 may prohibit activation of the reading module 19 when the inspection time does not exceed the lower-limit time.

[0102]

In addition, when the portable terminal 2 has read an identification label associated with an inspection area, the portable terminal 2 may compares information indicating the location of the portable terminal 2 with a specified location of the identification label to determine whether or not the location at which the identification label is disposed is normal. In this case, the portable terminal 2 further includes a location information acquiring module which acquires current location information indicating the current location of 44 the portable terminal 2 by using a GPS (Global Positioning System) signal or the like and stores beforehand predetermined location information indicating the location at which each identification label is disposed in the storage module 14. When the portable terminal 2 recognizes each identification label, the portable terminal 2 stores identification information of the recognized identification label and the current location information in the storage module 14 in association with each other. The portable terminal 2 compares the predetermined location information corresponding to an identification label identified by stored identification information with current location information acquired by the location information acquiring module. If the comparison shows that the distance between the location at which the identification label is disposed and the current location of the portable terminal 2 exceeds a predetermined range, the portable terminal 2 determines that the location at which the identification label is placed in the inspection area is abnormal and issues a warning. Note that when the portable terminal 2 determines that inspection of a particular inspection area has been completed and recognizes an identification label disposed in the next inspection area, the portable terminal 2 preferably stores the identification information of the recognized identification label and current position information in the storage module 14 in association with each other.

[0103]

This allows the portable terminal 2 to objectively determine whether or not the location of the identification label, i.e., the location at which inspection has been performed, is a predetermined location, i.e., whether or not the identification label has been maliciously or wrongly moved from a normal position. Further, the portable terminal 2 can properly determine whether or not inspection has been correctly 45 performed and can objectively guarantee that the patrol service by the patrol person has been properly performed to objectively prove the quality of the patrol service.

[0104]

Further, when the portable terminal 2 has read an identification label associated with an inspection area, the portable terminal 2 may determine whether or not the number of steps in walking measured by the portable terminal 2 is within an allowable range. In this case, the portable terminal 2 further includes a pedometer module which counts steps by using an accelerometer or the like in order to acquire information indicating the current step count of the patrol person and prestores reference step count information for each identification label in the storage module 14. Note that each of the current step count information and the reference step count information is information indicating any one of the number of steps measured in each inspection area, the number of steps per unit time measured in each area, the number of steps measured in the period between the start of patrol of the patrol area to arrival at any inspection area, and the number of steps per unit time measured in the period from the start of patrol of the patrol area to arrival at any inspection area. When the portable terminal 2 recognizes each identification label, the portable terminal 2 stores identification information of the recognized identification label and current step count information acquired by the pedometer module in the storage module 14 associated with each other. The portable module 2 compares the reference step count information of the recognized identification label with the current step count information to determine whether or not the difference between the reference step count information and the current step count information exceeds a predetermined range from the comparison result. If the difference between the number of steps indicated by the reference step count information and the number of 46 steps indicated by the current step count information exceeds the predetermined range, the portable terminal 2 determines that the pace of the patrol is abnormal and issues a warning.

[0105]

Note that when the portable terminal 2 determines that inspection in a particular inspection area has been completed and recognizes an identification label disposed in the next inspection area, the portable terminal 2 preferably stores the identification information of the recognized identification label and the current position information in the storage module 14 in association with each other and compares the current step count information with the reference step count information. Further, when the results of inspection of all inspection areas determined to have been inspected are normal and the difference between the number of steps indicated by the reference step count information and the number of steps indicated by the current step count information exceeds the predetermined range, the portable terminal 2 may determine that the progress of the patrol of the patrol area by the patrol person is abnormal.

[0106]

This allows the portable terminal 2 to objectively determine whether or not the pace of patrol by the patrol person is normal and to detect that the patrol person has gone off a predetermined route or that a label device has been moved from a predetermined location or that the patrol person has taken a wrong route or other abnormality.

[0107] <Second Embodiment>

In the first embodiment described above, an identification label has been described as being mainly for making sure that inspection of one area has been completed. However, a computer terminal that has the capability equivalent to that of the portable terminal 2 47 may be installed in each area as an identification label and the computer terminal may be configured to send information other than identification information. For example, the computer terminal may send not only information indicating that inspection of an area has been completed but also data of inspection items in the next area to the portable terminal 2. This can limit data of inspection items that is stored on the portable terminal 2 to data of only one inspection area that is currently being inspected, rather than data of all inspection areas.

[0108] A second embodiment will now be described with respect to a process performed on a computer terminal that is a communication terminal installed as an identification label in place of an NFC tag will be described with reference to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. Note that the same components as components of the first embodiment will be given the same reference numerals and the description of the components will be omitted.

[0109] <Computer Terminal> FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary configuration of a computer terminal 50. The computer terminal 50 is disposed in a predetermined place such as a wall of an inspection area as an identification label identifying the inspection area. The computer terminal 50 may be a card reader of an access control device, for example, which reads ID information of people attempting to pass through a door and locks and unlocks the door.

[0110]

The computer terminal 50 is a computer that includes the function of communicating with a network, the function of processing information and the function of reading identification labels and is capable of storing and executing various kinds of application programs. The function of communicating with a network may be any of 48 wired and wireless communication functions. If a mobile communication network is used as the network, a smart phone or a mobile phone may be used as the computer terminal 50.

[0111] A communication control module 52 includes any of various types of wired or wireless interfaces, is connected to a network through a connector or connected to a network through an antenna to communicate with a server computer of a security system (a monitoring center) or the like. The network may be an intranet or the Internet.

[0112]

The communication control module 52 is connected to a processing module 54. The processing module 54 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM and other components and carries out various kinds of data processing. A storage module 56, a display 58, an input module 60, and a short-range communication module 62 are connected to the processing module 54. The storage module 56 includes a flash memory and a hard disk and stores various kinds of data, application programs and the like. The storage module 56 stores ID information which serves as identification information of the computer terminal 50 and ID information of a portable terminal 2 carried by a patrol person. The display 58 functions as a display module and displays various kinds of information under the control of the processing module 54.

[0113]

The input module 60 functions as an input module for inputting setting information. Setting information that is associated with a patrol area and inspection areas is input at the input module 60 when the computer terminal 50 is installed. Note that the setting information may be sent and input from the monitoring center.

[0114]

The short-range communication module 62 communicates 49 with a reading module 19 of the portable terminal 2 through short-range communication such as NFC. In the communications by the short-range communication module 62, data with ID information identifying both devices, the portable terminal 2 and the computer terminal 50, is sent and received. Output of the communications by the short-range communication module 62 is controlled so that the distance over which the communications can be effected is of several centimeters.

[0115]

The processing module 54 of the computer terminal 50 receives information of inspection points in all inspection areas in the patrol area including the inspection area to which the computer terminal 50 belongs and inspection items at the inspection points and information indicating the order in which the areas are to be patrolled (a patrol route) from the monitoring center and stores the information in the storage module 56. When the reading module 19 of a portable terminal 2 is recognized by the short-range communication module 62, the processing module 54 determines whether or not the portable terminal 2 is the portable terminal 2 carried by the patrol person, which has been stored beforehand, by comparing ID information. If the portable terminal 2 is the portable terminal 2 carried by the patrol person, the processing module 54 determines, on the basis of work completion information received from the portable terminal 2, whether all of the inspection items in the inspection area that precedes the inspection area to which the computer terminal 50 belongs in the patrol route have been inspected by the portable terminal 2. If all the inspection items have been inspected, the processing module 54 determines that inspection of the inspection area preceding the inspection area to which the computer terminal 50 belongs has been completed and sends information of inspection points in inspection area to which the computer terminal 50 belongs and the 50 inspection items at the inspection points to the portable terminal 2. At this point in time, the processing module 54 records that the area (the preceding inspection area) has been inspected along with the time and sends the recorded information to the monitoring center through the communication control module 52. Note that if the computer terminal 50 serves as the identification label of the first inspection area in the patrol area, the processing module 54 therein sends the information of the inspection points of the inspection area to which the computer terminal 50 belongs and the inspection items at the inspection points to the portable terminal 2 without making the determination described above.

[0116]

Note that if the portable terminal 2 is the portable terminal 2 carried by the patrol person, the processing module 54 may determine whether all of the inspection items in the preceding inspection area in the patrol route have been inspected or comments have been input for all of the inspection items by the portable terminal 2.

In that case, if a checkmark indicating completion of inspection is input for all inspection items or a comment is input for all unchecked inspection items, the processing module 54 determines that inspection of the preceding inspection area has been completed and sends information of the inspection points in the inspection area to which the computer terminal 50 belongs and the inspection items at the inspection points to the portable terminal 2.

[0117] <0peration in Patrol Service in Second Embodiment> A process performed by the computer terminal 50 will be described below. As in the first embodiment, inspection items are displayed in a checked state by default and a comment input screen in an unchecked state is displayed by default on the display 16. Such guidance display by the portable terminal 2 to the patrol person 51 is substantially the same as in the guidance display in the first embodiment and further description thereof will be omitted. <First Example> A first example of a process performed by the computer terminal 50 will be described next with reference to FIG. 8. In this example, a case will be described in which the computer terminal 50 determines whether inspection of each area has been completed only on the basis of whether there is an unchecked inspection item of an inspection point regardless of whether or not a comment has been input for the inspection item.

[0118]

In this embodiment, data of inspections of all inspection areas to be inspected in patrol work does not need to be downloaded to the portable terminal 2. At the time when patrol is to be started, a patrol person carries out an operation for starting inspection of the patrol area (for example reading identification information from identification label A). The portable terminal 2 receives information of inspection items at inspection points in the first inspection area from a computer terminal 50 that is installed at the starting point of the first inspection area and serves as an identification label, and displays the information on its display 16.

[0119]

First, when the computer terminal 50 detects the portable terminal 2 through short-range communication such as NFC, the computer terminal 50 reads ID information of the portable terminal 2 through handshaking with the portable terminal 2 and authenticate the portable terminal 2 (step ST31). A digital certificate or a password is preferably used in the handshaking.

[0120]

When the computer terminal 50 has authenticated the 52 portable terminal 2 as a preregistered portable terminal 2, the computer terminal 50 acquires inspection data for a subject area , recorded on the portable terminal 2 (step ST32). The computer terminal 50 then determines from the acquired data whether or not work completion information is input for all inspection items in the subject area (step ST33). In this case, the computer terminal 50 may send the acquired data to the monitoring center and a server computer at the monitoring center may determine whether or not the inspection has been completed. In this case, the server computer at the monitoring center functions as a work determining module.

[0121]

When the determination at step ST33 is NO, the computer terminal 50 displays items that have not been inspected among the inspection items in the subject area on the display 58 (step ST34) and ends the process. Note that when the patrol person carries out inspection again and then the patrol person brings the portable terminal 2 close to the computer terminal 50, the process restarts at step ST31.

[0122]

If the determination at step ST33 is YES, the computer terminal 50 sends data of the inspection items of the next area stored on the computer terminal 50 to the portable terminal (ST35) and ends the process. At this point in time, the portable terminal 2 deletes the information concerning the inspection area that has been inspected (information of the inspection points and the inspection items at the inspection points), stores the newly received information of the inspection area, and displays the newly received information of the inspection area on the display 16.

[0123] <Second Example>

Next, a second example of a patrol service process performed by a computer terminal 50 will be described 53 with reference to FIG.9. In this example, a case will be described in which when supplemental information such as a reason why inspection has not been performed or remarks is input as a "comment", the computer terminal 50 permits ending inspection of the area even if not all inspection items of inspection points have been inspected.

[0124]

In this embodiment, data of inspections of all inspection areas to be inspected in patrol work does not need to be downloaded to the portable terminal 2. At the time when patrol is to be started, a patrol person carries out an operation for starting inspection of the patrol area (for example reading identification information from identification label A). The portable terminal 2 receives information of inspection items at inspection points in the first inspection area from a computer terminal 50 that is installed at the starting point of the first inspection area and serves as an identification label, and displays the information on its display 16. As in the first embodiment, the portable terminal 2 displays inspection items in a checked state by default on the display 16 and displays a comment input screen in an unchecked state by default on the display 16. Such guidance display by the portable terminal 2 to the patrol person is substantially the same as in the guidance display in the first embodiment and further description thereof will be omitted.

[0125]

First, when the computer terminal 50 detects the portable terminal 2 through short-range communication such as NFC, the computer terminal 50 reads ID information of the portable terminal 2 through handshaking with the portable terminal 2 and authenticate the portable terminal 2 (step ST41). A digital certificate or a password is preferably used in the handshaking.

[0126] 54

If the computer terminal 50 authenticates the portable terminal 2 as a preregistered portable terminal 2, the computer terminal 50 acquires inspection data for a subject area stored on the portable terminal 2 (step ST42). The inspection data is work information which is input in the portable terminal by the patrol person while inspecting the inspection area and identifies whether each inspection item has been inspected and comments of inspection items. The computer terminal 50 then determines from the acquired data whether or not information indicating that the inspection items have been inspected or comments have been input for all inspection items in the subject area (step ST43). In this case, the computer terminal 50 may send the acquired data to a monitoring center and a server computer at the monitoring center may determine whether or not inspection has been completed. In this case, the server computer at the monitoring center functions as a work determining module .

[0127]

When it is determined at step ST43 that there is an inspection item that has not been inspected and for which no comment has been input (step ST43 - NO), the computer terminal 50 determines that the inspection has not been completed, prohibits determining that the inspection has been completed, and displays a warning indicating the inspection item on the display 58 (step ST44), and ends the process. Note that when the patrol person carries out inspection again and then brings the patrol person brings the portable terminal 2 close to the computer terminal 50, the process restarts at step ST41.

[0128]

On the other hand, when information indicating that inspection has been completed or comments are input for all inspection items of the subject area at step ST43 (step ST43 - YES), the computer terminal 50 determines that inspection of the inspection area has been completed 55 (step ST45) and sends information concerning the inspection area and the current time to the server computer. The computer terminal 50 then sends data of inspection items of the next area stored on the computer terminal 50 to the portable terminal 2 (step ST46) and ends the process. At this point in time, the portable terminal 2 deletes the information concerning the inspection area that has been inspected (information of the inspection points and the inspection items at the inspection points), stores the newly received information of the inspection area, and displays the newly received information of the inspection area on the display 16.

The form of the display is substantially the same as in the first embodiment.

[0129]

Note that instead of the portable terminal 2 deleting information of the inspection area that has been inspected, the computer terminal 50 may send data that locks the information of the area that has been inspected to the portable terminal 2 to prevent the portable terminal 2 from displaying the data of the inspection items of the inspection area that has been inspected.

The data can be output to an external device after being approved by a supervisor.

[0130]

If the computer terminal 50 is a computer terminal at the starting point of inspection of the patrol area (identification label A) , steps ST32 and ST33 or steps ST42 to St45 are omitted and data of the inspection items of the next area is sent to the authenticated portable terminal 2.

[0131]

Variations of the first embodiment described above can be applied to the patrol service support system according to the second embodiment.

[0132]

For example, to prevent determining that inspection 56 has been completed when the inspection time is too short, a computer terminal 50 stores a lower-limit time. A portable terminal 2 sends inspection time to the computer terminal 50 and the computer terminal 50 determines whether the inspection time exceeds the lower-limit time. Further, if determination is made as to whether the location at which an identification label is disposed is normal, the computer terminal 50 stores information indicating predetermined locations of identification labels in advance. The portable terminal 2 sends information indicating the current location of the portable terminal 2 to the computer terminal 50 and the computer terminal 50 determines whether or not the location at which an identification label is disposed is normal. If determination is made as to whether the number of steps counted by the portable terminal 2 is within an allowable range, the computer terminal 50 stores information indicating reference step count information for identification labels in advance. The portable terminal 2 sends the current step count information to the computer terminal 50 and the computer terminal 50 determines whether or not a difference between the number of steps indicated by the reference step count information for an identification label and the number of steps indicated by the current step information exceeds a predetermined range.

[0132A]

Throughout this specification and claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps. 57 [0132B]

The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from it), or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or admission or any form of suggestion that that prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

[0133] 1 ... Patrol person 2 ... Portable terminal 10 ... Communication control module of portable terminal 12 ... Processing module of portable terminal 14 ... Storage module of portable terminal 16 ... Display of portable terminal 18 ... Input module of portable terminal 19 ... Reading module of portable terminal 50 ... Computer terminal 52 ... Communication control module of computer terminal 54 ... Processing module of computer terminal 56 ... Storage module of computer terminal 58 ... Display of computer terminal 60 ... Input module of computer terminal 62 ... Short-range communication module of computer terminal

Claims (16)

1. THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

   1. A patrol support system comprising area identification labels each being disposed in each of a plurality of unit inspection areas into which a patrol area is divided and a portable terminal which is carried by a patrol person and is capable of recognizing the area identification labels, wherein the portable terminal comprises: a storage module for storing information of a unit inspection area corresponding to each of the area identification labels; a display module for displaying information indicating inspection items at least in a unit inspection area in which current inspection is to be inspected when the area identification label is recognized; an inspection information input module for inputting inspection information identifying whether or not each of the inspection items has been inspected; a supplementary information input module for inputting supplementary information of inspection of each of the inspection items; and an inspection determining module for determining that inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed when receiving a predetermined input indicating that inspection has been completed; and wherein the inspection determining module determines that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected, and if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed, and does not determine that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is not input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed.
2. 2. The patrol support system according to claim 1, wherein the inspection determining module permits display of information indicating inspection items in a next unit inspection area in which inspection is to be inspected on the display module when the inspection determining module determines that inspection has been completed, and prohibits display of information indicating the inspection items in the next unit inspection area in which inspection is to be inspected on the display module when the inspection determining module determines that the inspection has not been completed.
3. 3. A patrol support system comprising: a portable terminal carried by a patrol person performing inspection in a patrol area, wherein the portable terminal comprises: a storage module for storing information of the patrol area; a display module for displaying information indicating inspection items to be inspected in the patrol area; an inspection information input module for inputting inspection information identifying whether or not each of the inspection items has been inspected; a supplementary information input module for inputting supplementary information of inspection of each of the inspection items; and an inspection determining module for determining that inspection in the patrol area has been completed when receiving a predetermined input indicating that inspection has been completed; and wherein the inspection determining module determines that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected, and if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed, and does not determine that the inspection has been completed when there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the patrol area and the supplementary information is not input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed.
4. 4. The patrol support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the display module displays a state in which the inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected as an initial state; and the inspection information input module provides an input for making a change to display of the initial state so that the inspection information for an inspection item for which inspection has not been inspected indicates that the inspection has not been completed.
5. 5. The patrol support system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the inspection determining module records information input through the inspection information input module or the supplementary information input module in the storage module as an inspection record when the inspection determining module determines that inspection has been completed; and wherein the patrol support system further comprises: an output module for outputting the inspection record stored in the storage module to an external device; and a record deleting module for deleting the inspection record output by the output module.
6. 6. The patrol support system according to claims 1 or 2, wherein the predetermined input indicating that inspection has been completed is input as a signal resulting from recognition of the area identification label.
7. 7. The patrol support system according to claim 6, further comprising a route determining module for determining a travel route representing the order in which the plurality of unit inspection areas are to be traveled for inspection; wherein the storage module stores information indicating the travel route determined by the route determining module; and the inspection determining module determines a next unit inspection area in which inspection is to be performed according to the stored travel route when the inspection determining module determines that inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed.
8. 8. A portable terminal which is carried by a patrol person and is capable of recognizing the area identification labels each being disposed in each of a plurality of unit inspection areas into which a patrol area is divided, the portable terminal comprising: a storage module for storing information of a unit inspection area corresponding to the area identification labels in association with the area identification label; a display module for displaying information indicating inspection items at least in a unit inspection area in which current inspection is to be inspected when the area identification label is recognized; an inspection information input module for inputting inspection information identifying whether or not each of the inspection items has been inspected; a supplementary information input module for inputting supplementary information of inspection of each of the inspection items; and an inspection determining module for determining that inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed when receiving a predetermined input indicating that inspection has been completed; and wherein the inspection determining module determines that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected, and if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed, and does not determine that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is not input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed.
9. 9. A patrol support method in which a patrol area is divided into a plurality of unit inspection areas, an area identification label is disposed in each of the unit inspection areas, the area identification label is recognized by a portable terminal carried by a patrol person to support patrol performed by the patrol person, the patrol support method comprising: on the portable terminal, storing information of a unit inspection area corresponding to each of the area identification labels in association with the area identification label; displaying information indicating inspection items at least in a unit inspection area in which currently inspection is to be inspected when the area identification label is recognized; enabling input of inspection information identifying whether or not each of the inspection items has been inspected; enabling input of supplementary information of each of the inspection items; and determining that inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed when receiving a predetermined input indicating that inspection has been completed; and wherein in the determining step, when the predetermined input is received, determining that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected, and if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed, and not determining that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is not input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed.
10. 10. A patrol support system comprising: a communication terminal disposed in each of a plurality of unit inspection areas into which a patrol area is divided; and a portable terminal carried by the patrol person, wherein the portable terminal comprises: a reading module for sending and receiving information to and from the communication terminal; an input module for inputting inspection information identifying whether or not each of inspection items to be inspected in each of the unit inspection areas has been completed and supplementary information of inspection; and a storage module for storing information of the portable terminal and the inspection information and the supplementary information input at the input module; and the communication terminal comprises: a short-range communication module for sending and receiving information to and from the portable terminal; a storage module for storing at least inspection items in the unit inspection area; and a processing module for acquiring the inspection information and the supplementary information from the portable terminal and determining whether or not inspection in the unit inspection areas has been completed; and wherein the processing module determines that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected, and if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed, and does not determine that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is not input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed, in information acquired from the portable terminal.
11. 11. The patrol support system according to claim 10, wherein the communication terminal further comprises a communication control module sending end-of inspection information to an external device when the processing module determines that inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed.
12. 12. The portable terminal according to claim 8, wherein the display module displays a state in which the inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected as an initial state; and the inspection information input module provides an input for making a change to display of the initial state so that the inspection information for an inspection item for which inspection has not been inspected indicates that the inspection has not been completed.
13. 13. The patrol support method according to claim 9, wherein in the displaying step, displaying a state in which the inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected as an initial state; and in the enabling step, inputting for making a change to display of the initial state so that the inspection information for an inspection item for which inspection has not been inspected indicates that the inspection has not been completed. an inspection information input module for inputting inspection information identifying whether or not each of the inspection items has been inspected, and wherein the display module displays a state in which the inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected as an initial state; and the inspection information input module provides an input for making a change to display of the initial state so that the inspection information for an inspection item for which inspection has not been inspected indicates that the inspection has not been completed.
14. 14. The patrol support system according to claim 12, further comprising: a supplementary information input module for inputting supplementary information of inspection of each of the inspection items; and an inspection determining module for determining that inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed when receiving a predetermined input indicating that inspection has been completed; and wherein the inspection determining module does not determine that the inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed if there is an inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed among the inspection items in the unit inspection area and the supplementary information is not input for the inspection item indicated by the inspection information as not having been completed.
15. 15. A portable terminal which is carried by a patrol person and is capable of recognizing the area identification labels each being disposed in each of a plurality of unit inspection areas into which a patrol area is divided, the portable terminal comprising: a storage module for storing information of a unit inspection area corresponding to the area identification labels in association with the area identification label; a display module for displaying information indicating inspection items at least in a unit inspection area in which currently inspection is to be inspected when the area identification label is recognized; and an inspection information input module for inputting inspection information identifying whether or not each of the inspection items has been inspected, and wherein the display module displays a state in which the inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected as an initial state; and the inspection information input module provides an input for making a change to display of the initial state so that the inspection information for an inspection item for which inspection has not been inspected indicates that the inspection has not been completed.
16. 16. A patrol support method in which a patrol area is divided into a plurality of unit inspection areas, an area identification label is disposed in each of the unit inspection areas, the area identification label is recognized by a portable terminal carried by a patrol person to support patrol performed by the patrol person, the patrol support method comprising: on the portable terminal, storing information of a unit inspection area corresponding to each of the area identification labels in association with the area identification label; displaying information indicating inspection items at least in a unit inspection area in which current inspection is to be inspected when the area identification label is recognized; enabling input of inspection information identifying whether or not each of the inspection items has been inspected; enabling input of supplementary information of each of the inspection items; and determining that inspection in the unit inspection area has been completed when receiving a predetermined input indicating that inspection has been completed; and wherein in the displaying step, displaying a state in which the inspection information indicates that all of the inspection items have been inspected as an initial state; and in the enabling step, inputting for making a change to display of the initial state so that the inspection information for an inspection item for which inspection has not been inspected indicates that the inspection has not been completed.