JP2002007862A - Method for information management distribution service - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that a customer himself/herself cannot refer to information in which a purchase history and an inquiry history of the customer are stored independently by stores enterprises, when the customer wants to use it. SOLUTION: The information generated among a store, the enterprise and the customer is controlled centralizedly in a customer information center, an identification number for specifying each and items of a DB for allowing reference to the identification number are defined preliminarily, and the information stored in the DB is retrieved to be output as service, using the identification number as a key.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a database for storing information provided by stores, companies, and customers to which an identification number for identifying a user has been given by making a contract in advance,
The present invention relates to an information management distribution service method in an information management center that provides a service for distributing information desired by a user from a stored information DB.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when a customer purchases a product from a store or purchases a product from a store, or when the customer inquires of a store or a company that is the manufacturer about the product or product, the customer exchanges information with the store or the company. Since the information generated in between becomes important information for determining the sales and manufacturing contents for stores and companies, it has been electronically stored in a DB. However, since such information is stored in a unique DB structure in stores and companies, and because it contains a company secret, there is a means for mutual reference between other stores and other companies. Did not.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-143952, in a store and an institution connected to a customer, a customer's purchase history is stored, and the stored information is processed as secondary processing information.
The service provides household account book information to customers and share information to stores.

However, in this conventional technique, the information stored in the DB is only a purchase history of a customer's product. There is no means for storing inquiries and consultation contents regarding products, information desired by customers for the products in the DB, and searching for the stored information by the customers themselves.

[0005] In addition, there is a service in which when information desired by a customer is registered in advance on the Internet, the information is distributed by e-mail from an information provider owning the information.

However, in this service, all the desired information must be manually input by the customer himself.
Further, there is no means for freely referring to the contents registered by the customer himself or the obtained information later.

[0007]

According to the present invention, in the above-mentioned prior art, although the customer's purchase history, inquiry information, and information desired for the product are originally owned by the customer, the customer himself However, there was a problem that it could not be managed and used freely. Specifically, there were the following problems.

(1) For example, when a customer who owns a certain product is considering purchasing another product related to the product, the customer makes an inquiry to several stores and companies. In such a case, every time the inquiry destination is changed, the customer has to retransmit all the information on the product that has already been purchased or the information on another product that the customer is considering purchasing, which is troublesome. Also, not all necessary information is conveyed.

(2) There is a case where a customer himself / herself does not know an appropriate inquiry destination of another product related to the product. In this case, the customer makes inquiries to stores and companies that are not appropriate as inquiries many times.

(3) A product satisfying the conditions desired by the customer may not be available at a certain point in time, but may be released after a certain period of time. However, customers may not even know that this product is available. A store or company that manufactures and sells a product may not be able to advertise the product to that customer, despite having the desired customer.

(4) Stores and companies sometimes send direct mails to customers as part of sales activities. However, although the information may be unnecessary for the customer, the customer cannot refuse direct mail. In addition, the customer's own personal information can be
In some cases, the customer does not know what route the company has obtained.

Further, the following problems can be solved also in stores and companies where there has been means for storing in the DB.

(5) If a store or company has a means for storing purchase history and inquiry information in a DB, it is effective for stores and companies to analyze such information and reuse it as sales promotion information. . However, analyzing this large amount of information has considerable experience,
There is a problem that it takes time and cost.

(6) Stores and companies are required to respond promptly and accurately to help desks for receiving inquiries and complaints about products. However, there is a problem that even a store or a company that owns a solution to an inquiry received from a user requires labor and costs to set up a help desk.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the objects of the present invention will be described below.

A first object is to prevent the customer from having to transmit the product information already owned by the customer himself / herself and the necessary information on the product for which purchase is being considered at the time of inquiry every time. .

The second object is that when a customer makes an inquiry, the appropriate inquiry can automatically receive the contents of the inquiry without the customer himself / herself determining whether or not the inquiry is appropriate. Is to do so.

[0018] A third object of the present invention is to make it possible to appropriately distribute advertising information on products from a company to desired customers.

A fourth object of the present invention is to allow a customer to refuse direct mail that the customer does not need.

A fifth object is to enable stores and companies to obtain information obtained by converting customer purchase information and inquiry information into necessary information as sales promotion information.

A sixth object of the present invention is to provide a help desk service in a store or a company so that not only all inquiries can be dealt with, but only inquiries that need to be made.

[0022]

According to the present invention, the following method is performed to achieve the above object.

An information DB in which information owned by a plurality of users is centrally managed is stored in a storage device in the information management center, and further, the following processing is performed after storing an identification number file and an identification number reference file.

(1) When the identification number possessing user inputs the reference destination identification number and the reference destination item, it is determined whether or not the identification number possessing user is permitted to refer to the items of the reference destination identification number. If permitted, the contents of the referenced item are extracted from the information DB and the result is output.

(2) If the user possessing the identification number is not permitted to refer to the item having the reference destination identification number,
The user is asked to confirm whether the reference number identification user may be permitted to refer to the reference destination item to the identification number owner user.

(3) The identification number possessing user sets whether or not an item owned by the identification number possessing user is permitted to be referred to another identification number possessing user.

(4) An information DB stores inquiry response information describing a problem and a solution to the problem, and stores an inquiry response condition file defining how to respond to an inquiry from a user. When the user inputs the content of the question, the content described in the content of the question is analyzed, a certainty factor indicating which inquiry / response information is related in the information DB is calculated, and the content is used based on the certainty factor. The answering method to be performed is determined.

(6) The user provides information with the information management center and calculates a service usage fee according to the amount of information obtained.

[0029]

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

FIG. 1 shows the relationship between an information management center, a store, a company, and a customer who provide an information management distribution service according to the present invention. Stores and companies are organizations that generate and provide information about products and services with customers, and in particular, stores provide customer purchase information related to sales, and companies provide customers with information on products and services. Provides inquiry information at the time of inquiry. In the present invention, description will be made assuming a company as an organization that manufactures products and provides services. However, a service providing organization such as a government that is a non-profit organization may be used. The number of stores and companies may be one or more.

In the present invention, a store, a company, and a customer are referred to as a user when they perform a common operation without particular distinction.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that an information management center is provided as an institution independent of stores, companies, and customers. However, as long as the information management / delivery service method in the information DB according to the present invention can be realized, an information management center may exist in one user.

This service manages information from stores, companies, and customers in an information management center that has made contracts with stores, companies, and customers. An information management and distribution service that provides information and collects fees from stores, companies, and customers according to the amount of information provided. In using this service, the store, the company, and the customer make a contract with the information management center (item number (1) in FIG. 1). The information management center assigns an identification number for identifying one user to a store, a company, and a customer (item number (2) in FIG. 1). The user provides information and obtains information using the identification number.

When a customer purchases a product at a store and pays the price, or makes an inquiry about the product to the store or company and obtains an answer, the customer presents the identification number to the store or company (No. 1 in FIG. 1). (3)). The store or company to which the identification number has been presented by the customer outputs the purchase information and inquiry information of the customer to the information management center (item number (4) in FIG. 1).

A store, a company, or a customer who wants to refer to the already stored information inputs the identification number and the content of the desired information to the information management center and receives the result (item number (5) in FIG. 1).

The store, the company, and the customer determine the amount of information provided,
The service usage fee corresponding to the obtained information amount is paid to the information management center (item number (6) in FIG. 1). In a store or a company, if the amount of information provided is larger than the amount of information obtained, a service usage fee can be received from the information management center.

FIG. 2 shows a system configuration diagram of the information management center, and a flow of data with each user in a store, a company, and a customer will be described.

The plurality of user terminals are respectively connected to the information management and distribution service device 100 of the information management center via a network. The user contracts for the use of the information management distribution service at the information management center, and the identification number is assigned by the information management center. In the present invention, it is assumed that the user owns the identification number and uses the service. A known technique can be used for a method of creating an identification number for identifying a user.

The information management distribution service device 100 in the information management center is connected via a network to user terminals 200 used by a plurality of users distributed in various places. In transmitting and receiving data between terminals, a data transmitting and receiving method using a dedicated telephone line, the Internet, or the like is used. A known technique can be used for the method.

In the information management / delivery service device 100, information referred to by a user is stored in a database as information D.
B1031. In addition, the content defining which item of the identification number owned by each user can be referred to among the items described in the information DB 1031 is stored in the identification number reference file 1032. Furthermore,
The provided information amount and the service usage fee determined according to the obtained information amount are stored in the charging management file 1033.

The information provided by the user is stored in the information DB 1031 so that the user can store desired information in the information DB 103.
1, information extraction setting means 1021 for storing the information provided and obtained by the user in the charge management file.
Are stored in the processing device 102 as a program.

At the user terminal 200, the user holds an identification number for identifying the user in the identification number file 2031.

When the user refers to the contents of the information DB 1031 or sets whether or not to permit the reference, the input device 201 in the user terminal 200 is used to identify the identification number of the reference destination, the item to be referred, and the above reference. Alternatively, the processing content of setting whether or not to permit is input. The contents are described in the condition file 2032, and the identification number file 2
031 is input to the information management / delivery service device 100 via the network. The information management / delivery service device 100 extracts data from the information DB 1031 based on the identification number file 2031 and the condition file 2032, and outputs the data to the result file 2033 of the user terminal 200 via the network. The user terminal 200 outputs the contents of the input result file 2033 to the output device 204.

FIG. 3 shows an overall configuration diagram of the information management / delivery service device. The outline of the information management distribution service method will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3, when the user provides or obtains information, the user inputs the identification number file 2031 and the condition file 2032, and further, inputs the identification number reference file 132.
032, and outputs the contents that match the item of the condition file from the information DB 1031 to the result file 2033, or, if permission processing is performed for information reference, the permission information described in the condition file 2032 is referred to the identification number. Output to file 1032, further provide,
Alternatively, the information extraction setting unit 1021 for storing the obtained information amount in the charge management file 1033 is stored as a program in the processing device 102 of the information management and distribution service device 100.

The information DB 1031, the identification number reference file 1032, and the accounting management file 1033 are stored in the storage device 103 of the information management distribution service device 100.

FIG. 4 is a data configuration diagram of the information DB 1031.

The information DB 1031 is a storage unit composed of a plurality of records, and each record has a plurality of data items 1031a, 1031b, 1031c, 1031.
d. Each record is composed of data items of “identification number”, “item name”, “item content”, and “information provider”.

For example, if the “identification number” is “ID-0012”
The “item content” of the “item name” of the user “name” of “3” is “Tsurukame Taro”, and this information indicates that the “information provider” is “ID-00123”. .

When the "identification number" is "ID-0012"
The “item content” of the “item name” of the user “purchase history” of “3” is “purchase history ID-010”, and the “information provider” of this information is “ID-00456”. Further, “purchase history ID-010” further includes “date and time”.
Indicates that “February 10, 2010”, “Product” is “Computer made by Company A”, “Price” is “210000 yen”, and “Purchase store” is “Marumaru Denki”. In other words, "ID
-00123 "is displayed as""
"Personal computer manufactured by Company A" was purchased from "Marumaru Denki" for "210,000 yen" on the day.

The content described in the information DB 1031 is based on the fact that a customer purchases a product from a store or a company, or
The information is input from the store or company by presenting the identification number to the store or company when making an inquiry. Attribute information such as name, gender, and sale is input by each store, company, or customer.

FIG. 5 is a data configuration diagram of the identification number reference file 1032.

The identification number reference file 1032 is a storage unit composed of a plurality of records, and each record has a plurality of data items 1032a, 1032b, and 1032.
c, 1032d, and 1032e. Each record has an "identification number", "reference", "reference item",
It is composed of data items “condition (item, value)” and “permission”.

For example, if the “identification number” is “ID-0012”
"3" is a user whose "reference destination" is "ID-00123".
Indicates that the “permission” of the “reference destination item” of “name” is “」 ”. That is, “ID-00123”
Indicates that the user is permitted to refer to the “name” of “ID-00123”.

When the "identification number" is "ID-1234"
The user whose "reference number" is "5" is "ID-00123".
Indicates that "permission" of the "reference item" of "name" is "x". That is, “ID-12345”
Indicates that reference to the “name” of “ID-00123” is not permitted.

The case where the “reference destination” has the value “*” will be described. If the “reference destination” is “*”, the “identification number” that satisfies the content of the item “condition”
All of them are "reference destinations". That is, "I
"D-00456" indicates that the user who purchased the item at the "Company X personal computer shop" is permitted to refer to "Name", "Date and time", "Product", and "Purchased item". Is shown.

The same applies to the case where the “identification number” is “*”. The user whose "sex" is "woman"
-00987 "is permitted.

FIG. 6 is a data configuration diagram of the accounting management file 1033.

The accounting management file 1033 is a storage unit composed of a plurality of records, and each record includes a plurality of data items 1033a, 1033b, 1033c,
1033d. Each record is composed of data items of “identification number”, “provided information amount”, “obtained information amount”, and “service usage fee”.

For example, if the “identification number” is “ID-0012”
The user who is “3” has “0.0 KB” in the “provided information amount”,
This shows that the “acquired information amount” is “43.2 KB” and the “service usage fee” is “432 yen” in total. For the user whose “identification number” is “ID-00456”, the “provided information amount” is “5320.0 KB”, the “obtained information amount” is “250.0 KB”, and the “service usage fee” is “− 50,700 yen ". A minus in the service usage fee indicates that the provided information fee is larger and the fee is received from the information management center. The amount of the service usage fee is determined based on the amount of information provided and the amount of information obtained, but for the ratio, for example, the following several patterns can be considered.

For example, a fixed contract fee is paid every month by making a contract, but the service usage fee is determined according to the amount of information provided and the amount of information obtained. When converting the amount of information provided and the amount of information obtained into a monetary amount, there are calculation methods such as per byte, per item, per time, and the like.

FIG. 7 is a data configuration diagram of the identification number file 2031.

The identification number file 2031 is composed of two data items 2031a and 2032b. This indicates that the identification number of the user who owns the identification number file 2031 is “ID-00123”.

FIG. 8 is a data configuration diagram of the condition file 2032.

The condition file 2032 is a storage unit composed of a plurality of records, and each record is composed of a plurality of data items 2032a and 2032b. Each record is composed of data items of “condition” and “value”.

That is, the "reference destination" is "ID-0012".
3 indicates that "condition extraction" is performed with two items of "name" and "purchase history" as "processing contents" as "reference destination items".

When the "processing content" is "permitted",
The "reference destination" indicates that "ID-00123" is permitted to refer to "name" and "purchase history" as "reference destination items" of "identification number" to which the condition file is input. .

FIG. 9 is a data structure diagram of the result file 2033.

The result file 2033 is one storage unit composed of a plurality of records, and each record is composed of a plurality of data items 2033a and 2033b. Each record is composed of data items of “result” and “value”.

That is, if the “identification number” is “ID-0012”
“3” is “reference item” of “ID-00123” as the “reference item” and “Taro Tsurugame” and “date and time February 10, 2010” as two item values of “name” and “purchase history”, respectively.
Date, product PC made by Company A, price 210,000 yen, purchase shop Marumaru Denki shop, date and time February 17, 2010, product C
It is shown that the contents of "a printer made by the company, price 72500 yen, purchase shop Marumaru Denki shop" can be referred to.

FIG. 10 is a processing flowchart of the information extraction setting means 1021. The operation of the information extraction setting unit 1021 of the present apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

First, an identification number file 2031, a condition file 2032, an information DB 1031, an identification number reference file 1032, and a charge management file 1033 are input (step 1021 a).

Next, the value of the processing content of the condition file 2032 is determined. If the processing content is "information extraction", go to step 1021c. If the processing content is "permitted", go to step 1021i. If the processing content is "input", go to step 1021c.
Proceed to 21j (step 1021b).

Next, it is determined using the identification number reference file 1032 whether or not the “identification number” of the identification number file 2031 is permitted to refer to the “reference destination item” of the “reference destination” in the condition file 2032. I do. If it is permitted, the process proceeds to step 1021g, and if it is not permitted, the process proceeds to step 1021d (step 1021c).

Next, a message is output to the user possessing the identification number of the reference destination to confirm whether the reference destination item can be disclosed to the user possessing the identification number (step 1021d).

Next, if the reference identification number possessing user has permitted the identification number possessing user to refer to the reference destination item, the process proceeds to step 1021g, and if not permitted, the process proceeds to step 1021f (step 1021e). .

Next, the value of the reference destination item is set to “NULL” and output to the result file 2033 (step 1021).
f).

Next, if the reference is permitted, the contents of the reference destination item of the reference destination of the information DB 1031 are output to the result file 2033 (step 1021).
g).

Finally, the amount of information used by the owner of the identification number is output to the accounting management file 1033 (step 10).
21h).

In step 1021b, when the user having the identification number reference is permitted / disallowed to refer to the reference item of the user having the identification number, the identification number reference file 1032 is stored in accordance with the content. The content is changed (step 1021i).

When information is input from the information provider in step 1021b, the content is output to the information DB 1031 (step 1021j).

FIGS. 11 to 17 show examples of input and output screens of the present apparatus displayed on the output apparatus 204 of the user terminal 200. FIG.

FIG. 11 is a first example of an input screen of the identification number ID-00123. In the display area of the output device 204, a display area 2041 for inputting an identification number of an identification number owner, and a display area 20 for inputting a reference destination identification number
42, a reference destination item is input 2043, and a display area 2 for instructing to extract information of the reference item of the reference destination identification number
044, a display area 2045 for supporting whether or not the reference item is permitted for the reference destination identification number.

In FIG. 11, the user of “ID-00123” has “Name” among the items of “ID-00123”.
And that the user has instructed to extract the contents of “purchase history”.

FIG. 12 is an example of a result screen of the identification number ID-00123. In the display area of the output device 204, a display area 2 displaying the identification number of the identification number owner
041, a display area 2042 displaying the reference destination identification number,
It consists of 2046 displaying the contents of the reference destination item.

In FIG. 12, the user of “ID-00123” has the “name” of “ID-00123” as “Taro Tsurumame” and the “purchase history” as “A” on February 10, 2010.
"Purchase a PC made by Company C at Marumaru Electronics Store for 210,000 yen."
"Purchase at a Marumaru Electronics Store with a circle" is output as a result.

FIG. 13 is an example of an input screen of the identification number ID-00456. FIG. 13 shows that the user of “ID-00456” has instructed to extract the contents of “Name” and “Purchase History” among the items of “ID-00123”.

FIG. 14 is an example 1 of the result screen of the identification number ID-00456. In FIG. 14, "ID-0045
Since the user of “6” does not have permission to refer to the contents of “name” and “purchase history” among the items of “ID-00123”, whether to request permission of reference to “ID-00123” It indicates that it is checked whether or not. The display area 2047 is an area for instructing whether to request permission.

FIG. 15 is a second example of the input screen of the identification number ID-00123. In FIG. 15, "ID-0012
3 ”from“ ID-00456 ”to“ ID-00 ”.
123 "indicates that the user is requested to permit reference to the items" name "and" purchase history ". Here, "I
D-00123 "can define permission for reference.

FIG. 16 shows a second result screen of “ID-00456” when “ID-00123” permits. In FIG. 16, “ID-0456” is replaced with “ID-0”.
0123 "can be referred to.

FIG. 17 is an example of an input screen for “ID-10987”. Indicates that the user having the identification number “sex = female” is allowed to refer to “sex” of “ID-10987”. As a result, a user whose “sex” is “female” among other identification number possessing users is “ID-1”.
0987 "can be referred to.

The specific service contents to which this embodiment is applied will be described. FIG. 18 shows an example of this service.

Stores, companies, and customers can always refer to any information for which their own identification numbers are permitted. On the other hand, unauthorized information cannot be referred to.

In FIG. 4, a customer having ID-00123 has a PC made by Company A and a printer made by Company C having ID-0023.
The purchase is made at the Marumaru Denki shop which is 789 (No. (1) in FIG. 18), and the payment is made ((No. (2) in FIG. 18). The Marumaru Denki shop provides the purchase history to the information DB 1031 (No. in FIG. 18). (3)) As a result, this customer has the purchase history ID
It is possible to refer to -010 and ID-025.
In addition, Marumaru Denki can refer to this purchase history.

Next, consider a case where the customer is considering purchasing a cable for connecting a personal computer made by company A and a printer made by company C, and makes an inquiry to a computer shop of company X which sells peripheral devices. (FIG. 18 item number (4)). X
Since the personal computer shop has no authority to refer to the purchase history of ID-00123 (items (5) and (6) in FIG. 18), it is not possible for the customer to determine what personal computer and printer are used. Must tell the company X computer shop.

However, it is possible to refer to this when the customer or the company X's personal computer shop performs the following processing. First, the company X's personal computer shop inputs a condition file 2032 which refers to the purchase history of the customer. The information extraction setting unit 1021 confirms that there is no authority to refer to the company X personal computer shop and whether or not to request the customer to permit the reference. When the company X personal computer shop requests permission of reference (FIG. 18, item (7)), the information extracting means 1021 confirms whether or not the customer is permitted to refer to the company X personal computer shop. Only when the customer gives permission (item (8) in FIG. 18)
(No. (9) in FIG. 18). Company X's personal computer shop can accurately know the specification information of the personal computer and printer used by the customer. As a result, in response to customer inquiries,
Companies can give more accurate answers (Fig. 1
No. 8 (10)).

As described above, the store, the company, and the customer can refer not only to the information to which they are authorized to refer, but also to the information by giving mutual permission to refer to the information.
However, since the company X's personal computer shop can only be given a reference permission at this time, it cannot always refer to the purchase history of this customer.

[0098] The amount of information obtained by the PC shop of Company X is stored in the charging management file 1033, and a service usage fee corresponding to the amount of information provided and the amount of information obtained is paid to the information management center (FIG. No. 18 (1
1)).

Next, the second service will be described.
FIG. 19 shows an example of this service.

In the information extraction setting means 1021, it is possible to define in advance, for the identification number reference file 1032, permission for other users to refer to the information owned by the store, company and customer. is there.

The customer makes an inquiry to the store H at a certain store, "Do you sell red sweaters?" (Item number (1) in FIG. 19). At Store H, "red sweaters" were not treated as commodities, so customers could not purchase "red sweaters". However, this inquiry information is stored in the information DB 1031 by the store H outputting to the information management center (item number (2) in FIG. 19).

Thereafter, the customer provides the inquiry information
Reference permission was given to all stores (item number (3) in FIG. 19). As a result, all the stores can refer to the fact that this customer has made an inquiry about "whether they sell red sweaters" in the past (item numbers (4) and (5) in FIG. 19). For example, a sweater maker that manufactures a red sweater can refer to the contents of this inquiry and provide mediation information to the customer (No. (6) in FIG. 19). It is also possible for a hand knitting shop that sells and sells sweaters to give customers an order guide for red sweaters. It is also possible for a dyer to give a customer an order guide to dye a sweater of another color to a red color.

As a result, the original “red sweater” can be obtained. The customer can obtain another solution even if the content of the inquiry is not resolved at the time of the inquiry, and the number of inquiries can be one.

The store or company that has obtained the inquiry information of the customer stores the obtained information amount in the charging management file 1033, and provides the information management center with the other provided information amount and service usage fee according to the obtained information amount. Pay (FIG. 19, item number (7)).

Next, the third service will be described.
FIG. 20 shows an example of this service.

In the information extraction setting means 1021, it is possible to define in advance, for the identification number reference file 1032, permission for other users to refer to the information owned by the store, company and customer. is there.

For example, a customer purchases a baby cot at L store (items (1) and (2) in FIG. 20).
(3)) Further, it is assumed that a stroller is purchased at the M store (item numbers (4), (5), and (6) in FIG. 20). Furthermore,
As a part of the sales promotion activity, the L store examines the next required product based on the information that the customer has purchased a baby cot, and presents the customer with information for placement.

In this case, a catalog of a stroller is sent to the customer as a product to be next introduced by the L store. However, since this customer had already purchased at another store,
The actions taken by the store can be wasted.

However, if the customer has given permission to refer to both stores and companies for this purchase history (item No. (7) in FIG. 20), the L store has already registered the customer in another store. It is possible to know that the stroller has been purchased (items (8) and (9) in FIG. 20), and to provide the customer with information for mediating another product (item (10) in FIG. 20). ) Is possible.

The amount of information obtained by the L store is stored in the charging management file 1033, and the service management fee corresponding to the other provided information amount and the obtained information amount is paid to the information management center (item No. in FIG. 20). (11)).

Similarly, the customer himself stores the obtained information amount in the charging management file 1033, and pays the service usage fee to the information management center in the same manner (item (11) in FIG. 20).

As described above, in the stores and companies that provide information, by providing the customer history and inquiry information purchased by the company to the information DB, it is possible to refer to the customer history and inquiry information that cannot be obtained by the company. It is.

Next, the fourth service will be described. FIG. 21 shows an example of this service.

In the information extraction setting means 1021, it is possible to define in advance in the identification number reference file 1032 that permission for reference to information owned by stores, companies, and customers to other users is not given. It is.

[0115] For example, in the third service, a customer can select a specific store,
It is possible to define that the company is not allowed to refer to the information owned by the customer.

For example, a customer who has purchased a stroller (see FIG. 2)
Item Nos. (1), (2), and (3)) allow other users to refer to this purchase history, and therefore receive information to introduce products from various stores and companies. However, this customer has a specific store N
The company was not given permission to refer to it (Fig. 21
No. (4)). As a result, Company N cannot refer to the purchase history of this customer (item numbers (5) and (6) in FIG. 21).
Therefore, it is not possible to provide the information for mediation (item number (7) in FIG. 21). As a result, the customer does not need to receive information from the N company.

In the present embodiment, information provided by stores, companies, and customers is provided to other users. But,
Not only the provided information but also the provided information can be newly processed and provided. For example, by analyzing the purchase history and age of purchase at a store, create new information that customers of any age tend to purchase what products, and allow the reference of the information. Can be distributed to stores with

In this case, the company has provided the purchase history of the customer in advance, but on the other hand, has obtained newly processed information. This store pays or receives service usage fees calculated according to the amount of provided information and the amount of obtained information between the information management centers.

Information processing includes, for example, summarization, classification, and analysis methods using natural language processing techniques, and data mining techniques. However, in the present embodiment, the method is already known and therefore will not be particularly described.

As described above, information owned by stores, companies, and customers can be referred to by any user who can refer to the information.

Further, even a user who does not have permission to refer can refer to it if the user who possesses the information gives permission to do so.

Further, it is possible to set whether or not to give permission to reference information to other users with the authority of the owner of the information.

FIG. 22 shows an overall configuration diagram of an inquiry answering apparatus according to the second embodiment.

In the information management / delivery service device 100, inquiry response information provided in advance from a certain store or company is stored in the information DB 1031. The inquiry answer information is information in which, when a certain problem occurs, a problem and a solution to the problem are described. Further, when there is a certain query from a certain user, a query answer condition file 1034 defining what kind of query is acceptable to present a solution to the query is stored in the storage device 103. .

The inquiry answering means 1022 for determining what kind of inquiry is to be answered and which solution is to be made and outputting the result is stored as a program.

FIG. 23 is a data configuration diagram of the information DB 1031.

When the "identification number" is "ID-3333"
The “item content” of the “item name” of the user “inquiry response ID” of “3” is “FAQID-0001”, and the “information provider” of this information is “ID-333”.
33 ". Further, “FAQID-0001” further indicates that “problem content” is “printing is not possible” and “solution” is “turn on the printing press”.

FIG. 24 shows an inquiry response condition file 103.
4 is a data configuration diagram of FIG.

The identification number reference file 1034 is a storage unit composed of a plurality of records, and each record has a plurality of data items 1034a, 1034b, and 1034.
c, 1034d. Each record is composed of "Inquiry / Response ID", "Confidence", "Destination", "Process Details"
Data items.

For example, if there is an inquiry for “FAQID-0001” with “certainty” being “70.0 or more”, the user who inquires “ID-33333” It indicates that it is acceptable to transmit the “solution” in “FAQID-0001”.

When there is an inquiry in “FAQID-0001” that “confidence” is “30.0 or more and less than 70.0”, an inquiry is made to “ID-33333”. This indicates that the user has been asked for an appropriate solution.

Further, when there is an inquiry in “FAQID-1001” that “confidence” becomes “80.0 or more”, the user who made the inquiry is asked “FAQID-000”.
1 "is transmitted.

FIG. 25 is a processing flowchart of the inquiry / response means 1022. The operation of the inquiry / response means 1022 of the present apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

First, an identification number file 2031, a condition file 2032, an information DB 1031, an inquiry response condition file 1034, and a charge management file 1033 are input (step 1022 a).

Next, the contents of the problem from the user are analyzed, and the degree of certainty indicating how much is related to each inquiry response ID in the information DB 1031 is calculated (step 102).
2b). As a method of calculating the certainty factor, for example, there is a similar query calculation method using natural language processing technology (Japanese Patent Application No. 5-17 / 1990).
2464), but the method is not particularly limited here.

Next, it is determined which processing is to be performed on which transmission destination based on the certainty factor (step 1022).
c).

Finally, the amount of obtained information is stored in the accounting management file 1
033 (step 1022d).

The second embodiment is applied to a help desk agency service in a company. FIG. 26 shows an example of this service.

First, a store or a company that owns the inquiry answer information stores the information in the information DB 10 in the information management center.
31 (item number (1) in FIG. 26).

Next, the user making the inquiry inputs the contents of the question to the information management center (item (2) in FIG. 26). The inquiry answering means in the information management center calculates a certainty factor related to the content of the problem, and determines what processing is to be performed based on the certainty factor. If it is determined that a solution is acceptable to a certain company, or if it is determined that a solution is requested, a response confirmation or request is made to the company (item (3) in FIG. 26). When the company transmits the solution (item (4) in FIG. 26), the solution is transmitted to the user who made the inquiry (item (5) in FIG. 26).

Also, the amount of information provided and obtained for the user and the company is output to the accounting file 1033, and the service usage fee is paid to the information management center at a later date (FIG. 26).
No. (6)).

As described above, instead of providing the information that should be stored by the company to the information management center, it is possible for the company to have the information management center perform the help desk business performed by the company.

In addition, the user can make any inquiry regardless of the inquiry destination.

[0144]

According to the present embodiment, information owned by a store, a company, and a customer can be referred to by a user who can refer to the information.

Further, even a user who does not have permission to refer can refer to the information if the user who has the information gives permission to do so.

In addition, it is possible to set whether or not to give permission to refer to information with respect to other users with the authority of the information owner.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a relationship diagram of an information management center, stores, companies, and customers.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of an information management center and stores, companies, and customers.

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of an information management / delivery service device.

FIG. 4 is a data configuration diagram of an information DB.

FIG. 5 is a data configuration diagram of an identification number reference file.

FIG. 6 is a data configuration diagram of an accounting management file.

FIG. 7 is a data configuration diagram of an identification number file.

FIG. 8 is a data configuration diagram of a condition file.

FIG. 9 is a data configuration diagram of a result file.

FIG. 10 is a processing flowchart of an information extraction setting unit.

FIG. 11 is an example 1 of an input screen of the user terminal of the identification number ID-00123.

FIG. 12 is an example of a result screen of the user terminal with the identification number ID-00123.

FIG. 13 is an example of an input screen of the user terminal with the identification number ID-00456.

FIG. 14 is a first example of a result screen of the user terminal with the identification number ID-00456.

FIG. 15 is a second example of the input screen of the user terminal with the identification number ID-00123.

FIG. 16 is a second example of the result screen of the user terminal having the identification number ID-00456.

FIG. 17 is an example of an input screen of the user terminal of the identification number ID-10987.

FIG. 18 shows a first service example.

FIG. 19 shows a second service example.

FIG. 20 is a third service example.

FIG. 21 is a fourth service example.

FIG. 22 is an overall configuration diagram of an inquiry answering apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a data configuration diagram of an information DB file.

FIG. 24 is a data configuration diagram of an inquiry response condition file.

FIG. 25 is a processing flowchart of the inquiry answering means.

FIG. 26 is a fifth service example.

[Explanation of symbols]

100: information management / delivery service device, 101: input device, 102: processing device, 1021: information extraction setting means,
1022 ... Inquiry answer means, 103 ... Storage device, 103
1 ... information DB, 1032 ... identification number reference file, 10
33: accounting management file, 1034: inquiry response condition file, 104: output device, 201: input device, 202
... I / O means, 203 ... Storage device, 2031 ... Identification number file, 2032 ... Condition file, 2033 ... Result file, 204 ... Output device

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hisao Mase 1099 Ozenji Temple, Aso-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Hitachi, Ltd.System Development Laboratory (72) Inventor Chiaki Hirai 1099 Ozenji Temple, Aso-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Hitachi, Ltd. Within the System Development Laboratory (72) Inventor Tohru Horimoto 322-2 Nakazato, Nakazato, Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside the SAN Solutions Division, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuhisa Kinugawa 504-2 Shinanomachi, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture In-company F term (reference) 5B049 BB11 CC02 CC36 DD05 EE01 EE05 FF03 FF04 FF09 GG04 GG07

Claims (6)

[Claims] An information management / delivery service device in an information management center having at least one or more store user terminals, corporate user terminals, and customer user terminals, and connected to each of the user terminals by a line, Stores, companies, and customers who have contracted to use the information management and distribution service at the information management center are given in advance an identification number to identify the user of this service, and the customer's purchase history provided by the user, Inquiry contents, information database (hereinafter referred to as DB) storing attribute information of users, identification number reference data defining permission / inhibition of reference for each identification number in each item in information DB, provided by user The charge management data storing the information amount and the obtained information amount is stored in a storage device, and when the user inputs an item to be referred to, the user refers to the item. It is determined whether or not the reference of the eyes is permitted. If the reference is permitted, the permitted reference items are output to the user from the information DB, and the service is provided according to the amount of information provided and obtained by the user. An information management and distribution service method characterized by determining a usage fee. 2. The information management / delivery service method according to claim 1, wherein a user having an identification number having the item to be referred to when the user is not permitted to refer to the item to be referred to. As a result of confirming whether or not the user is permitted to refer to the reference item, if the user is permitted to refer, the contents of the reference item are read from the information DB by the user. An information management / delivery service method, wherein the service usage fee is determined according to the amount of information provided and obtained by a user. 3. The information management / delivery service method according to claim 1, wherein the user has previously permitted a user having another identification number to refer to an item having the identification number possessed by the user. Disabled, information DB when other users refer to the item
And outputting the contents of the reference item to the user, and determining a service usage fee according to the amount of information provided and obtained by the user. 4. The information management / delivery service method according to claim 1, wherein at least one item of an information DB provided by a user is used to process information. However, if the user who wants to refer to the result is given permission to refer to the result, the processed result is output to the user, and the service usage fee is provided according to the amount of information provided and obtained by the user. An information management / delivery service method comprising: 5. The information management / delivery service method according to claim 1, wherein the information DB stores inquiry and response information provided by a user who is a store, a company, or a customer, and describes a problem and a solution to the problem. In the storage device, an inquiry response condition file that defines in advance what kind of answer is to be given from the content of the problem newly input by the user, the amount of information provided by the user, and the amount of information obtained are stored in the storage device. When the user inputs the content of the question, the content described in the content of the question is analyzed, a certainty factor indicating which inquiry / response information is related in the information DB is calculated, and based on the certainty factor. By providing a solution to the user who entered the problem, and providing services in accordance with the amount of information provided and obtained by the user. Information management delivery service method characterized by determining the use fee. 6. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for executing the method according to claim 1 is recorded.