JP2001142828A - Method and system for remotely controlling machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such problems that software for remote control is not always installed in the machines of all clients beforehand concerning the machine of the client to be remotely controlled and the operator of a call center can not deal with trouble on the machine of the client with remote control while watching the GUI screen of the machine on the condition of installing no software for remote control in the machine of the client beforehand. SOLUTION: Only when it is desired to receive remote control from an operator terminal, the software for remote control on the side to be remotely controlled is transferred through a network when a client terminal calls an HTML page for accepting an operation support request on a web server by a browser, and that transferred software for remote control is downloaded by the client terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a machine remote control method and a machine remote control system for remotely controlling a customer machine located at a remote place from a call center in order to solve troubles of an unspecified number of customers' machines. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When some trouble (problem) occurs in a customer's machine, the customer requests an operation support from a call center to solve the problem on the machine. When an operator in a call center receives a request for operation support from a customer, a GUI (Graph
hical User Interface) Remotely control the screen via the Internet to solve problems on the customer's machine.

Conventionally, when remotely operating a GUI screen of a customer machine at a remote location from a call center machine,
It was necessary to previously install special remote control software on both the remote-controlled customer machine and the remote-controlled call center machine.

[0004]

However, since the customer's machines to be remotely controlled are an unspecified number of machines connected to the Internet, remote control software is installed in advance on all the customer's machines. Not necessarily. Therefore, when a customer tries to solve a trouble related to the content displayed on the GUI screen of the machine, in a situation where the software for remote operation is not installed in advance on the customer's machine, the operator of the call center can operate the customer's machine. However, there is a problem that it is not possible to cope with a trouble on the machine while remotely operating while watching the GUI screen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and even if remote control software is not installed in advance on a remote-controlled customer machine, a call center machine can be used. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a machine remote operation method and a machine remote operation system capable of solving a trouble on a customer machine by remotely operating the customer machine.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a machine remote operation method according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein a client terminal accepts an operation support request on a web server with a browser only when it is desired to receive remote operation from an operator terminal. When the page is called, the remote control software to be remotely controlled is transferred through the network, and the transferred remote control software is downloaded by the customer terminal.

In the machine remote control system according to the second aspect of the present invention, remote control software is installed in the operator terminal in advance, and a request for remote control support is received from an unspecified number of customer terminals. And a web server for transferring the remote control software to the customer terminal through the network.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a machine remote operation system, wherein a web server is configured to manage information on a connection state between an operator terminal and a customer terminal and display the information on an HTML page.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a machine remote operation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a machine remote operation system according to this embodiment
(Hereinafter referred to as an operator terminal PC10), a web server 20, and a customer terminal personal computer 30 (hereinafter referred to as a customer terminal PC30).

The operator terminal PC10 is a terminal at which a call center operator remotely operates the customer terminal PC30. The web server 20 is an HT on the Internet
A server that displays an ML page (homepage).
The customer terminal PC30 is a terminal held by an unspecified number of customers, and is remotely operated from the operator terminal PC10.

[0011] The operator terminal PC 10 and the web server 20 are installed in a call center. The operator terminal PC 10, the web server 20, and the customer terminal PC 30 are connected to the Internet (network), respectively.

A browser 11 for searching an HTML page on the Internet and remote control software 12 for remote control are installed in the operator terminal PC10. Here, remote control software 1
Reference numeral 2 denotes an operation transmission processing unit 121 for transmitting a command signal for remotely operating the customer terminal PC 30, a display unit 122 for displaying a GUI screen for remotely operating the customer terminal PC 30, and management of connection with other terminals via the Internet. A connection management unit 123 is provided.

The web server 20 displays a connection request PC list HTML page 21 and an operation support request HTML page 23 created in HTML. Here, the connection request PC list HTML page 21 is stored in the operator terminal PC1.
This is an HTML page that displays a list listing the IP addresses and the like of the customer terminals PC 30 that have made a connection request to No. 0. This connection request PC list HTML page 21
Shows the connection state of the customer terminal PC30 listed in the list to the operator terminal PC10, that is, <waiting for connection>.
<Connecting> and <Completed> are also displayed. Operation support request H
The TML page 23 is an HTML page that receives an operation support request from an unspecified number of customer terminals PC30.

The web server 20 is connected to the connection request PC.
A connection request PC list list update CGI 22 for updating the list list of the list HTML page 21 and remote operation software 24 to be transferred to the customer terminal PC 30 that has made the operation support request are provided.

The customer terminal PC 30 initially has only the browser 31 for retrieving an HTML page installed therein. However, the customer terminal PC 30 downloads the remote operation software 24 transferred from the web server 20 via the Internet to the remote operation side. install. The remote control software 24 includes a connection management unit 241 that manages a connection with another terminal via the Internet, and a connection that automatically calls (starts) the connection request PC list list update CGI 22 of the web server 20 via the Internet. A status notification unit 242, an image acquisition unit 243 for acquiring an image to be displayed on the customer terminal PC30, and an operation reception processing unit 244 for receiving a remote operation command signal transmitted from the operator terminal PC10 are provided.

Next, the operation will be described. 2 to 4 are flowcharts for explaining a machine remote operation method according to the embodiment of the present invention. Here, FIG.
3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the customer terminal PC30, FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the operator terminal PC10, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the web server 20. is there.

If any trouble occurs in the customer's machine, the customer operates the browser 31 installed in the customer terminal PC 30 to search the operation support request HTML page 23, and retrieves the operation support request HTML page 2
3 to request operation support.

The web server 20 always has a client terminal PC
It monitors whether an operation support request has been received from the remote control software 30 (step ST31 in FIG. 4).
Is transferred to the customer terminal PC 30 via the Internet (step ST32 in FIG. 4).

When the remote control software 24 is transferred from the web server 20, the customer terminal PC 30 downloads the remote control software 24 and stores it in a secondary storage device (not shown) (step ST1 in FIG. 2).
1). When the remote control software 24 is downloaded, the connection status notification unit 2 of the remote control software 24 is downloaded.
42 is automatically executed to call (start) the connection request PC list update CGI 22 (step S in FIG. 2).
T12).

The web server 20 monitors whether the connection request PC list update CGI 22 has been called (step ST33 in FIG. 4). When the connection request PC list update CGI 22 is called, the connection request PC list is updated. H
The list of the TML page 21 is updated (step ST34 in FIG. 4).

Here, as described above, the connection request PC list HTML page 21 includes a list of the customer terminals PC 30 that have made connection requests, that is, the IP address of the customer terminal PC 30.
Address and the operator terminal P of the customer terminal PC30
The state of connection to C10 is displayed. Accordingly, the web server 20 updates the connection request PC list list update CGI2
2 is called, the list of the connection request PC list HTML page 21 is displayed in the list of the customer terminal PC3 that has made the connection request.
0 is added and <connection waiting> is displayed as the connection state of the customer terminal PC30.

The web server 20 sends the connection request PC list H
After updating the list of the TML page 21, it is determined whether or not the connection between the customer terminal PC30 and the operator terminal PC10 has been completed (step ST35 in FIG. 4). If the connection has not been completed, the process returns to step ST33. Then, it is monitored whether or not the connection request PC list update CGI 22 is called.

The operator of the call center always uses the browser 11 of the operator terminal PC 10 to operate the connection request PC.
List HTML page 21 List terminal customer terminal PC3
0, and waits until the connection state of the customer terminal PC 30 becomes <connection waiting> (step ST21 in FIG. 3).

When the connection state of the customer terminal PC 30 becomes <connection waiting>, the call center operator selects the customer terminal PC 30 in the <connection waiting> state and connects to the customer terminal PC 30 via the Internet (FIG. 3). Step ST22). The operator terminal PC10 determines whether or not the connection with the customer terminal PC30 has been established (step ST23 in FIG. 3). If the operator terminal PC10 cannot be connected to the customer terminal PC30 for some reason (for example, when the line is congested), The remote operation of the customer terminal PC 30 is terminated as it is. On the other hand, when the operator terminal PC10 can be connected to the customer terminal PC30, the operator terminal PC10 operates the remote control software 12 to perform remote control of the customer terminal PC30 (step ST24 in FIG. 3).

The customer terminal PC30 determines whether or not the connection with the operator terminal PC10 has been established within a certain period (step ST13 in FIG. 2).
0, the connection is not possible with the operator terminal PC10.
Since the remote control software 24 is not remotely controlled by the user, the remote control software 24 installed on the remotely controlled side is automatically deleted (step ST19 in FIG. 2). On the other hand, customer terminal PC
When the connection with the operator terminal PC10 can be established within a certain period, the connection status notification unit 242 calls the connection request PC list list update CGI 22 with the customer information as an argument (step ST14 in FIG. 2).

The web server 20 monitors whether or not the connection request PC list update CGI 22 is called (step ST33 in FIG. 4). When the connection request PC list update CGI 22 is called, the connection request PC list is updated. H
The list of the TML page 21 is updated (step ST34 in FIG. 4). Here, the connection request PC list HTML page 21 displays <connection waiting> as the connection status of the customer terminal PC 30, but changes the display of <connection waiting> to the display of <connecting>.

The web server 20 sends the connection request PC list H
After updating the list of the TML page 21, it is determined whether or not the connection between the customer terminal PC30 and the operator terminal PC10 has been completed (step ST35 in FIG. 4). If the connection has not been completed, the process returns to step ST33. Then, it is monitored whether or not the connection request PC list update CGI 22 is called.

The operator of the call center uses the remote control software 12 to remotely control the GUI screen of the customer terminal PC 30 to solve the trouble of the customer terminal PC 30 (step ST24 in FIG. 3). Thereafter, the operator of the call center determines whether or not the customer response has been completed (that is, whether or not the trouble of the customer terminal PC 30 has been resolved) (step ST25 in FIG. 3).

If the response of the customer is not completed, the operator of the call center determines whether or not the trouble can be solved (step ST26 in FIG. 3). Customer terminal PC
30 remote operation is performed (step ST24 in FIG. 3),
If it is determined that the solution of the trouble is impossible, the connection between the operator terminal PC10 and the customer terminal PC30 is disconnected (step ST27 in FIG. 3), and the process is terminated. on the other hand,
When the customer response is completed, the call center operator disconnects the connection between the operator terminal PC10 and the customer terminal PC30 (step ST27 in FIG. 3) and ends the process.

The customer terminal PC 30 is an operator terminal PC
It is determined whether or not the connection with the operator terminal PC10 has been disconnected (step ST15 in FIG. 2).
(Step ST in FIG. 2)
16) Conversely, when the connection with the operator terminal PC10 is disconnected, it is determined that the trouble of the customer terminal PC30 has been solved or the trouble of the customer terminal PC30 cannot be solved. The connection request PC list list update CGI 22 is called with the customer information as an argument (step ST17 in FIG. 2).

The web server 20 monitors whether or not the connection request PC list update CGI 22 is called (step ST33 in FIG. 4). When the connection request PC list update CGI 22 is called, the connection request PC list is updated. H
The list of the TML page 21 is updated (step ST34 in FIG. 4). Here, the connection request PC list HTML page 21 displays <Connecting> as the connection status of the customer terminal PC 30, but the display of <Connecting> is changed to <
Change to the display of "Complete action".

The web server 20 sends the connection request PC list H
After updating the list of the TML page 21, it is determined whether or not the connection between the customer terminal PC30 and the operator terminal PC10 has been completed (step ST35 in FIG. 4).
Since the connection has been completed, the display of the customer terminal PC 30 in the list of the connection request PC list HTML page 21 is deleted, and the process ends.

The customer decides whether to reuse the downloaded remote control software 24 on the remote control side,
That is, when a problem occurs in the customer terminal PC 30 later, it is determined whether or not to use the remote control software 24 (step ST18 in FIG. 2). If the processing is terminated and it is determined that the remote control software 24 will not be reused, the remote control software 24
Is deleted (step ST19), and the process ends.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
When the customer wants to receive the operation support of the operator of the call center in order to solve the trouble of the customer terminal PC30, the customer terminal PC30 uses the browser 31 to perform the operation support request H
Since the remote control software 24 to be remotely controlled is downloaded only by calling the TML page 23, even if the remote control software 24 is not installed in the customer terminal PC 30 in advance, the operator terminal PC 10 The remote control software 24 can be installed only when remote control from the user is required, and the trouble of the customer terminal PC 30 can be solved by receiving the remote control from the operator terminal PC 10.

In addition, since the customer terminal PC 30 is configured to download the remote control software 24 only when the customer wants to receive the operation support of the call center operator, the remote control software 24 is upgraded. Even in such a case, since the remote control software 24 is downloaded and installed in the customer terminal PC 30 each time, the work load of the system administrator of the machine remote control system can be reduced.

In addition, since the customer terminal PC 30 is configured to download the remote control software 24 only when the customer wants to receive the operation support of the call center operator, the operator terminal PC 10
It is not necessary to install remote control software 24 in advance to receive remote control from
As a result, the load on the machine resources such as the storage area (secondary storage device) of the customer terminal PC 30 and the processing capacity of the CPU can be reduced.

Further, since the web server 20 is configured to manage the information of the operation support request of the customer terminal PC 30 and the connection request to the operator terminal PC 10, an unspecified number of arbitrary pages that can access the HTML page of the web server 20 are provided. Operator terminal P from customer terminal PC30
A request for operation support from C10 can be accepted.

Further, since the web server is configured to manage information on the connection status between the operator terminal PC 10 and the customer terminal PC 30 and display the information on the connection request PC list HTML page 21, the call center operator can use it. Thus, the connection request from the customer to the operator terminal PC10 can be easily and early recognized, and the remote control operation can be executed quickly.

[0039]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, only when it is desired to receive a remote operation from the operator terminal, the customer terminal calls the HTML page for receiving the operation support request on the web server with the browser. Then, the remote control software to be remotely controlled is transferred through the network, and the transferred remote control software is downloaded by the customer terminal. Therefore, if the remote control software is not installed in the customer terminal beforehand, However, install remote control software only when remote control from the operator terminal is necessary,
There is an effect that a remote operation from the operator terminal can be received.

In the machine remote operation system according to the second aspect of the present invention, remote operation software is installed in the operator terminal in advance, and a request for remote operation support is received from an unspecified number of customer terminals. And a web server for transferring the remote control software to the customer terminal via the network is provided, so that even if the remote control software is not installed in the customer terminal in advance, the operator terminal The remote control software is installed only when remote control is required from the user, and the remote control from the operator terminal can be received.

In the machine remote operation system according to the third aspect of the present invention, the web server is configured to manage the information on the connection status between the operator terminal and the customer terminal and display the information on an HTML page. However, there is an effect that the connection request from the customer to the operator terminal can be easily and quickly recognized, and the remote control operation can be quickly performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a machine remote operation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the customer terminal PC30.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the operator terminal PC10.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the web server 20.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Operator terminal PC (operator terminal) 11 Browser 12 Remote control software 20 Web server 21 Connection request PC list HTML page (HTML page) 24 Remote control software 30 Customer terminal PC (customer terminal) 31 Browser

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A machine remote control method for remotely controlling an unspecified number of customer terminals at a remote location from a call center operator terminal, wherein the customer terminal uses a browser on a web server only when it is desired to receive remote control from the operator terminal. When an HTML page that receives a request for operation support is called, remote control software to be remotely controlled is transferred through a network, and the transferred remote control software is downloaded by a customer terminal. Method of operation. 2. A machine remote control system for remotely controlling an unspecified number of customer terminals at a remote location from an operator terminal of a call center. A machine remote control system, comprising: a web server for transferring remote control software to a customer terminal via a network when a request for remote control support is received from the customer terminal. 3. The machine remote operation system according to claim 2, wherein the web server manages information on a connection state between the operator terminal and the customer terminal and displays the information on an HTML page.