JP2002073926A - Method and device for providing schedule book and schedule book provision service system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To save a user the trouble of individually searching information from an information provision server by providing a schedule book interleaved with advertisements and guidance matching the user's liking and schedule. SOLUTION: A scheduling center includes: a means 14 for managing the schedule book data of each user; a means 13 for managing the user information of each user; a means 11 for acquiring and classifying pieces of advertisement and guidance information provided by the information provision server 2; a means 14 for selecting pieces of advertisement and guidance information based on the user information and the schedule book data and in accordance with the characteristics of each user and the contents of the schedule and for interleaving the schedule book data with the selected pieces of information; and a means 15 for sending the schedule book interleaved with the pieces of advertisement and guidance information to the terminal 3 of each user at each user's request.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention manages and manages a schedule book of each user via a computer network.
Regarding the technology to be provided, in detail, a method and an apparatus for providing an advertisement or guidance information of an information provider by inserting it into a schedule book according to each user's preference and schedule status,
And a schedule book providing service system to which the system is applied.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a service for managing and providing a schedule book for each user has been realized for a large number of users via a computer network such as the Internet. In addition, advertisements and guidance information provided by information providers (for example, dates of bargains and release dates of new products)
Is also realized in the service of inserting the information into the schedule book of each user.

[0003]

However, in the prior art, the schedule management service provider unilaterally irrespective of each user's preference and schedule situation.
The advertisement and guidance information provided by the information provider are merely inserted into the schedule book of each user and distributed, and are almost useless for the user. Therefore, there is a problem that the user has to obtain a convenient advertisement or guidance information from an information providing server such as a web site and input the information into the schedule book by himself, which is troublesome.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide, via a computer,
In a system that manages and provides each user's schedule book, each user provides information by automatically providing advertisements and guidance information according to each user's preference and schedule situation There is a need to search for information individually from a server or the like and save the trouble of inputting the information in a schedule book by oneself.

[0005]

According to the present invention, a schedule center for managing user information and a schedule book of a plurality of users and providing the schedule book to the user via a network is provided by an information providing server or the like. Advertisement / guidance information provided by the provider is acquired and classified, and for each user, advertisement / guidance information is selected according to the characteristics of the user and the contents of the schedule. It is characterized by being provided to. Specifically, the user information includes identification information for identifying the user, the user's first and last name,
The schedule book data includes age, gender, place of residence, preference information, and the like, and the schedule book data includes items related to the schedule, such as the start and end dates and times of the user's schedule, the details of the schedule, the location, and remarks. Extract and separate attributes such as information provider, date, type of information, venue and target age, and appearing keywords from advertisement / guidance information, and separate them based on user information and schedule book data. Then, the advertisement / guidance information to be inserted into the schedule book is selected.

Further, in the present invention, the schedule center calculates a billing amount for the information provider according to the state of providing the advertisement / guidance information to the user, and indirectly or directly bills the information provider. Similarly, the charge amount for the user is calculated according to the user's use status of the schedule book, and the user is indirectly or directly charged. Specifically, it calculates the billing amount to be charged to the user according to the usage amount of the schedule book, the storage capacity of the schedule data, and the like, and calculates the score of the advertisement and guidance information inserted in the user's schedule book. Calculate the billing amount for the information provider according to the capacity, the elapsed time of insertion, etc., and request the payment institution to charge each user or information provider at the timing according to the closing date of the payment institution, or , Direct billing to each user or information provider.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of a schedule book providing service system according to the present invention. This system is a schedule center 1,
It comprises a plurality of information providing servers 2, a plurality of user terminals 3, a computer network 4 for connecting them, and a settlement institution 5.

A schedule center 1 manages and provides a schedule book of each user via a computer network 4, and sends advertisements and guidance information (for example, a bargain date or a new product release date) from an information providing server 2. ) Is obtained and inserted into an individual schedule book according to each user's preference, schedule status, provision conditions, and the like, to provide services. This is a central device of the present system. The information providing server 2 is a server to which an information provider (a ticket company, a travel company, or the like) provides advertisement / guidance information. User terminal 3
May be any device having a function of connecting to the schedule center via the computer network 4, a function of displaying the acquired schedule book, and a function of inputting a schedule that the user wants to set in the schedule book. , Mobile terminals, mobile phones, and the like. The computer network 4 connects the information providing server 2, the schedule center 1, and the user terminal 3 to each other, and generally uses the Internet.

[0009] When the settlement institution 5 requests from the user a billing amount according to the usage amount of the schedule book or the like, or a billing amount according to the amount of the inserted advertisement or guidance information from the information provider, This is an organization that undertakes billing requests from the schedule center 1. For example, a credit company for credit settlement, a bank for bank account withdrawal, a payment system at a convenience store for convenience store payment, or a payment system of a telephone company or telecommunications carrier for billing superimposed on telephone charges and communication charges. Equivalent to. Generally, the schedule center 1 and the settlement system of the settlement organization 5 are connected by a dedicated line.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the schedule center 1, which comprises an information collection / analysis unit 11, an information selection unit 12, a user information management unit 13, a schedule management unit 14, a schedule book providing unit 15, and a charging processing unit 16. . The function of each part is as follows.

Information collection / analysis unit 11: Obtains various information including advertisement / guidance information from the information providing server 2, and provides information providers, dates, types of information (types of advertisement / guidance / news, etc.), holding Attributes such as the ground and the target age, and keywords that appear are extracted and classified.

An information selection unit 12: information classified by the information collection and analysis unit 11, user information of each user managed by the user information management unit 13, and a schedule book of each user managed by the schedule management unit 14. From the data, the information to be inserted into the schedule book is selected according to the characteristics of each user and the contents of the schedule. The selection should include keywords that appear in the information frequently viewed by the user, match the type of information frequently viewed by the user, be close to the place of residence of the user, or be adapted according to the age and surname of the user Or an existing selection method such as whether a schedule is available at the provision date and time.

The user information management unit 13 is a database that holds user information for each user and management information regarding information providers that provide advertisements and guidance. The user information includes identification information for identifying the user (user identifier, password, user terminal identifier, etc.), user name and
Age, gender, place of residence, identification information of the payment institution for billing the usage fee (payment institution name, branch code or card type if a credit card, etc.) and the individual consisting of the account number (or credit card number, etc.) Information, preference information such as a type representing frequently browsed information and keywords, and the like are included. The management information of the information provider includes an identifier (such as a user ID), a company name, a person in charge, a contact address (such as a telephone number and an address), identification information of a payment institution for requesting a referral fee, and an account number and credit. Card number, etc. are included.

The schedule management unit 14 is a database for managing schedule book data of each user. Schedule book data is provided for each user. The items include start / end date and time, details of the schedule, location, remarks, and the like. For each schedule book data of each user, advertisement / guidance information according to the characteristics of the user selected by the information selection unit 12 and the contents of the schedule is added.
Using the user terminal 3, the user registers a schedule in his / her own schedule book data, and receives a schedule book to which advertisement / guidance information is added.

Schedule providing unit 15: Provides each user with the schedule book data. In this case, the schedule book at the user terminal 3 is provided after being converted into an appropriate data format / protocol according to the form of browsing / operation. Further, when schedule change / registration schedule information is received from the user terminal 3, it is passed to the schedule management unit 14.

Billing unit 16: Calculates the billing amount to be charged to the user according to the usage amount of the schedule book and the storage capacity of the schedule data, or the score of the advertisement or guidance information inserted in the user's schedule book. -Calculate and save the charge amount for the information provider according to the capacity, the elapsed time of insertion, etc. Then, the charge amount of each user or information provider is transmitted to the settlement institution 5 as billing information at a timing according to the closing date of the settlement institution 5 or the like. It should be noted that the billing amount may be directly charged to each user or information provider.

Next, the operation of the schedule center 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. A. Collection of Advertisement / Guidance Information (FIG. 3) The information collection / analysis unit 11 of the schedule center 1 collects advertisement / guidance information to be presented to the user from the information providing server 2 (step a). Alternatively, the information provider itself transmits the advertisement / guidance information to be presented to the information collection / analysis unit 11 of the schedule center 1 directly using the information provider terminal or the like. The information collection / analysis unit 11 calculates information providers, dates, types of information (types of advertisements, guidance, news, etc.), attributes of venues, target ages, target genders, etc. from the acquired advertisement / guidance information. , Extract appearing keywords,
Classify and save.

B. Insertion of advertisement / guidance information into schedule book (FIG. 4) The information selection unit 12 acquires the attributes of each user from the user information management unit 13 at an appropriate timing (step b), and sends the information to the schedule management unit 14. Then, the schedule set within the target period is inquired and acquired for each user's schedule book data (step c). Then, advertisement / guidance information is selected from the information collection / analysis unit 11 based on the contents of the schedule set in the schedule book data and the attributes of the user (step d). In this case, whether the keyword that appears in the information frequently viewed by the user includes keywords, matches the type of the information frequently viewed by the user, or relates to the place of residence of the user or the place where the set schedule is performed Advertisement / guidance information is selected by combining existing selection methods, such as whether there is any information, whether it is suitable for a set scheduled period, or whether the age and gender of the user are to be targeted. The information selection unit 12 sends the user identifier and the list of the selected advertisement / guidance information to the schedule management unit 14 (Step e). In addition, the selected advertisement /
Information for calculating the introduction fee in the billing processing unit 16 is transmitted, such as the identifier of the information provider from which the guidance information is provided and the number of selected advertisement / guide information (step f). The schedule management unit 14 adds the list of advertisement / guidance information sent from the information selection unit 12 to the schedule book data corresponding to the identifier of the designated user and stores it.

C. User browsing the schedule book (FIG. 5) The user transmits a schedule browsing request from the user terminal 3 to the schedule providing unit 15 of the schedule center 1 (step g). Here, the schedule center 1 sends identification information for identifying a user (a user identifier such as a user ID and a password) and information specifying a period to be acquired (a month or a week). The schedule providing unit 15 authenticates the user by inquiring of the user information managing unit 13 whether the identification information sent from the user terminal 3 is correct (step h). As a result of authentication,
If the identification information is not valid, the user terminal 3 is replied to the user terminal 3 that the authentication has failed. When the identification information is valid, the schedule book data for the designated period (month, week, etc.) is acquired from the schedule management unit 14 from the user terminal 3 (step i), and is formatted so that the user terminal 3 can browse it. Etc. and transmit it to the user terminal 3 (step j). In this schedule book data, advertisement / guidance information according to the characteristics of the user and the contents of the schedule is inserted. Further, the schedule providing unit 15 sends information for calculating the usage fee charged by the user, such as the identifier of the corresponding user, the date and time, and the number of provided items, to the charging processing unit 16 (step k).

D. Registration of Schedule Schedule by User (FIG. 6) The user transmits a schedule schedule registration request from the user terminal 3 to the schedule providing unit 15 of the schedule center 1 (step 1). Here, identification information (user identifier and password such as a user ID or an identifier of a user terminal) for identifying a user in the schedule center 1 and schedule information to be changed / registered (start date and time and end date and time) , Event location, event details and notes). The schedule providing unit 15 authenticates the user by inquiring of the user information managing unit 13 whether the identification information sent from the user terminal 3 is correct (step m). If the authentication result shows that the identification information is not valid,
The user terminal 3 is notified that the authentication has failed. If the identification information is valid, the user identifier and the schedule information sent from the user terminal 3 are sent to the schedule management unit 14. The schedule management unit 14 registers the schedule information in the schedule book data corresponding to the user identifier sent from the schedule providing unit 15 and, as a response, the registration result (registration success or failure) and the currently registered schedule information. Is transmitted to the schedule providing unit 15 (step n). The schedule providing unit 15 transmits the registration result from the schedule management unit 14 to the user terminal 3 (Step o). Further, the schedule providing unit 15 sends information for calculating the usage fee charged by the user, such as the identifier of the corresponding user, date and time, and the number of registered schedule information, to the charging processing unit 5.

E. Billing to User / Information Provider (FIG. 7) The billing processor 16 calculates the usage fee of each user and the introduction fee of each information provider at an appropriate timing. For billing calculation methods, pay-as-you-go calculation based on the number of offers and the time of offer, or a flat rate for a certain period (for example,
It is assumed that the existing billing calculation method is used. Next, the billing processing unit 16 sends the user information management unit 13 the settlement institution identifiers (payment institution names and branch codes or the type of card in the case of a credit card) of each user and each information provider and their account numbers ( Alternatively, a credit card number or the like is acquired (step q), and a request for a charge is made to the settlement institution 5 (step r). In some cases, the billing processing unit 16 directly bills the user or the information provider.

FIG. 8 shows a specific processing image according to the present invention, in which the schedule center 1 obtains the characteristics of the user (here, Mr. Tanaka) and the schedule contents from various advertisement / guidance information provided by each information providing server 2. Is selected, and the schedule book in which the advertisement / guidance is inserted is presented on the user terminal 3 (Mr. Tanaka's terminal).

Here, when the present invention is implemented using WWW (World Wide Web), the user terminal 3 needs
The schedule providing unit 15 of the W browser and the schedule center 1 stores the WWW server and the schedule book in HTML.
(Hyper Text Markup Language) in combination with a program (CGI program) for copying. The user terminal 3 and the schedule providing unit 15
Is the Internet, and is realized by a data communication protocol based on HTTP.

The user terminal 3 is a personal information portable terminal (PD)
A; Personal Data Assistance). In this case, the schedule providing unit 15 of the schedule center 1 has communication means corresponding to the communication mechanism provided in the user terminal 3. Examples of the case where the schedule center 1 and the user terminal 3 are connected online include wireless communication such as infrared rays, USB (Universal), and the like.
This is realized by communication means corresponding to a serial bus or a serial line. When transmitting schedule book data from the schedule providing unit 15 to the user terminal 3,
The data is transmitted after being converted into data corresponding to the data format of the schedule application mounted on the user terminal.

Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the program for realizing the processing processes shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 is a computer-readable recording medium such as a floppy disk or a CD. −
It is also possible to provide it by recording it in a ROM, a memory card, or the like. By installing the program recorded on this recording medium into the computer of the schedule center 1, the desired functions are realized.

[0026]

As apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following effects. (1) The user can receive advertisements and guidance suitable for each user according to personal information such as the user's residence, preferences, and registered schedule information. (2) The schedule center operator can receive a usage fee from the user and an introduction fee for advertisement and guidance from the information provider. (3) The information provider can provide advertisements and guidance information to be provided to appropriate users.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a schedule book providing service system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a schedule center.

FIG. 3 is a processing flow of collecting advertisement / guidance information.

FIG. 4 is a processing flow of inserting advertisement / guidance information into a schedule book.

FIG. 5 is a processing flow of a schedule book browsing request from a user.

FIG. 6 is a processing flow of a schedule registration request from a user.

FIG. 7 is a processing flow of billing a user or an information provider.

FIG. 8 is a specific image of a service according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Schedule center 2 Information providing server 3 User terminal 4 Computer network 5 Payment institution 11 Information collection and analysis part 12 Information selection part 13 User information management part 14 Schedule management part 15 Schedule provision part 16 Billing processing part

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A schedule book providing method for managing user information and a schedule book of a plurality of users and providing the schedule book to the user via a network, the method including advertisement / guidance information provided by the information provider. Various types of information (hereinafter collectively referred to as advertisement / guidance information) are acquired and classified, and for each user, advertisement / guidance information is selected according to the characteristics of the user and the content of the schedule, and inserted into a schedule book. A schedule book providing method characterized by providing the schedule book to the user. 2. The schedule book providing method according to claim 1, wherein the user information includes identification information for identifying the user, first and last name, age, gender, place of residence, and preference information of the user. The data consists of items related to the schedule, such as the start / end date and time of the user's schedule, the details of the schedule, the location, and remarks. The information provider, date, type of information, venue and target Attributes such as age, appearing keywords are extracted and separated, and based on the user information and the data in the schedule book, advertisement / guidance information to be inserted into the schedule book is selected for each user. How to provide a schedule book. 3. The schedule book providing method according to claim 1, wherein a billing amount for the information provider is calculated in accordance with a state of providing the advertisement / guidance information to the user, and the charge amount is directly or directly related to the information provider. A method for providing a schedule book. 4. The schedule book providing method according to claim 1, wherein a billing amount for the user is calculated in accordance with the usage status of the schedule book by the user, and the user is indirectly or directly billed. A method for providing a schedule book, comprising: 5. A schedule book providing apparatus for managing schedule books of a plurality of users and providing the schedule books to the users via a network, comprising: means for managing schedule book data of each user; Means for managing information; means for acquiring and classifying advertisement / guidance information provided by an information provider; and, based on the user information and the schedule book data,
For each user, means for selecting advertisement / guidance information according to the characteristics and schedule content of the user and inserting it into the schedule book data, and inserting advertisement / guidance information according to the request from the user A means for providing a user with a schedule book, and a charge amount for an information provider is calculated according to the status of providing advertisements and guidance information to the user, and is used in accordance with the status of use of the schedule book by the user. A schedule book providing device, comprising: means for calculating a billing amount for a user. 6. A schedule center for managing user information and schedule books of a plurality of users and providing the schedule books to the users, a plurality of information providing servers for providing information and advertisement information to the information providers, A schedule book providing service system consisting of a plurality of user terminals receiving schedule book provision requests from the schedule center and a computer network connecting the user terminals with a schedule schedule registration request and a schedule book browsing request to the schedule center. The schedule center has a function of acquiring and classifying advertisement / guidance information provided by an information provider from the information providing server, and based on user information and schedule book data,
For each user, a function to select advertisement / guidance information according to the characteristics and schedule content of the user and insert it into the schedule book data, and to provide advertisement / guidance according to the schedule book browsing request from the user terminal The function of transmitting the schedule book with the information inserted to the user terminal, calculating the amount charged to the information provider according to the status of providing the advertisement and guidance information to the user, and using the user's schedule book A schedule book providing service system having a function of calculating a billing amount for a user according to a situation and requesting a desired clearing house to make a payment at a predetermined timing. 7. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for realizing the schedule book providing method according to claim 1 is recorded.