JP2002108871A - System and method for providing information and medium for recording information providing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such problems that when information is provided, who provides information and which information is provided are required to be specified in the case of providing information. SOLUTION: A questioner registers questioner register data to be specified. Then the questioner asks a selected question based on question matter to be questioned and receives the providing of a previously registered answer or a newly generated answer concerning the question. Then information is provided only to the questioner to be specified when information is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information providing system, an information providing method, and a medium on which an information providing program is recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this kind of information providing system, a system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-57066 is known. The technology described in this publication is to accumulate answers in a database and provide various kinds of information via the web or the like. When a user asks a question regarding the provided information, the answer to the user is automatically sent by e-mail. Sent to. In this technology, in order to prevent duplicate creation of the same answer for a question with the same content, the content of the question is automatically deciphered, and the optimal Sending in.

[0003]

A system for providing information via a network is very useful in that information can be provided to everyone with a simple system configuration. However, in the case of, for example, a commercial database, it is often the case that it is not assumed on the information provider side that all unspecified number of users acquire information. Also, in a database constructed so that only employees of a specific company can access, it is usual to prohibit access by anyone other than the employee.
In other words, managing when, who, and what kind of information is provided is an important technology for an information providing system.

[0004] The technology disclosed in the above publication has no viewpoint of specifying a requester or providing information only to a specific requester, and cannot solve this problem. In addition, as a method of permitting access only from a specific person, management using a specific user ID, a password, and the like is generally performed. Leakage of the user ID and the like cannot be prevented, and even if the user ID and the like are checked, it is not clear whether information is provided only to a specific user. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an information providing system, an information providing method, and a medium on which an information providing program is recorded, which can provide information only to an identifiable questioner. .

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided questioner registration data storage means for storing questioner registration data capable of specifying a questioner,
A question / answer data storage unit for storing question data representing a question from a questioner and answer data representing an answer to the question, based on the question data stored in the question / answer data storage unit. A questionnaire output means for outputting questionable questionable items to the questioner via two-way communication, and accepting, via the two-way communication, a questionnaire selected by the questioner based on the output by the questionnaire output means. A questionnaire accepting means, a registered questioner discriminating means for judging whether or not the questioner of the question accepted by the question matter accepting means is the questioner registered in the questioner registration data, and a registered questioner A step of extracting an answer to the question item of the questioner determined to be the registered questioner by the person identification means from the answer data stored in the question / answer data storage means. A data extracting means, it is constituted comprising an answer data output means for outputting the response data the answer data extracting means has extracted via the bidirectional communication.

[0008] In the invention according to claim 1 configured as described above, the questioner registration data storage means stores the questioner registration data which can specify the questioner, and the question / answer data storage means stores the questioner registration data. The question data representing the question from the client and the answer data representing the answer to the question are stored. The question item output means outputs questionable questions to the questioner based on the question data stored in the question / answer data storage means via a two-way communication. As a result, the questioner can select the question item based on the output, and the question item receiving unit receives the question item selected by the questioner based on the output by the question item output unit via the two-way communication. At this time, the registered questioner discriminating means judges whether or not the questioner of the question item received by the question item receiving device is the questioner registered in the questioner registration data. The data extracting means extracts, from the answer data stored in the question / answer data storing means, an answer to the question item of the questioner determined as the registered questioner by the registered questioner determining means. The answer data output means outputs the answer data extracted by the answer data extracting means via two-way communication.

[0007] That is, since a questionable question is presented to the questioner, the questioner only has to select a question in order to obtain desired information, and to select desired information from a large amount of information. No work is required. In addition, based on the questioner registration data that can identify the questioner,
Since it is determined whether or not the questioner of the accepted question is a registered questioner, it is possible to provide information only to a registered questioner, that is, only to a specific questioner. Furthermore, since the questioner can be specified from the questioner registration data, the questioner who has been provided with the information can be specified.

Here, the questioner registration data storage means and the question / answer data storage means only need to be able to store predetermined data, respectively, in that a large amount of data is stored in a frequently accessed state. Although a hard disk is suitable, it is needless to say that the storage medium can be constituted by another storage medium, for example, a magnetic disk or a memory.
Also, question data representing question items can be adopted for questions in various fields, and in this sense, the application field of this system can be said to be very wide. As an application example of this system, for example, when an electronic device or a software maker accepts a question on the web, a FAQ (Frequency
y Asked Questions) and support information, as well as providing information confidential or confidential to certain departments as an access system to the internal database,
Providing product and sales information to business partners and affiliates,
It can be used to provide information from teachers to students at educational institutions on the network. Of course, the present invention can be widely applied to a case where an answer is given to a predetermined question.

The questioner registration data only needs to be able to specify the questioner, and various data can be adopted to specify the questioner.
In the information providing system according to the first aspect of the present invention, the questioner registration data registered in the questioner registration data storage means is a mail address. In the invention according to claim 2 configured as described above, the questioner registration data is a mail address.

That is, an e-mail address is usually given to an individual or the like in order to use e-mail, and in view of sending and receiving private documents by e-mail, it is unlikely that another person will use his / her own e-mail address. . Therefore, in the present system, since the registered interrogator discriminating unit determines the registered interrogator by the mail address as the interrogator registration data that is stored, the interrogator accepts the question by e-mail in the interrogative item accepting unit. If this is done, the use of anyone other than the registered questioner can be excluded. Also, in the case of e-mail via the Internet, a certain degree of personal authentication is usually already performed by connection to a provider or the like before the e-mail can be transmitted and received. Accordingly, it can be said that accepting a question by legitimate e-mail reduces the room for a third party to intervene. Here, it is preferable to use the e-mail address of the e-mail sent via the Internet as the e-mail address, since this system can be accessed from all over the world. In the case where external access is not assumed, such as when the system is applied, the mail address of the LAN mail may be used.

Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the information providing system according to any one of the first and second aspects, the questioner registration data stored by the questioner registration data storage means includes the questioner registration data. Is data registered in advance by a predetermined registration operation when using the present information providing system. In the invention according to claim 3 configured as described above, the requester needs a predetermined registration work when using the present information providing system, and the requester registration data is converted into the questioner registration data by the registration work. The data is stored in the storage means. That is, since the questioner registration data that can specify the questioner is accumulated by the registration work performed in advance, it is necessary to perform a task for specifying the questioner every time a question is asked, for example, a task of inputting an identification ID. There is no.

As described above, the questioner registration data is data that can specify the questioner, and the subsequent questioner can be specified only by the questioner registration data by a single registration operation. There are various methods for performing such registration work. As an example, the invention according to claim 4 uses the information providing system according to claim 3 in order to execute the work for registering the interrogator registration data. A registration request receiving means for receiving a registration request together with the questioner registration data capable of identifying the questioner via two-way communication; and Identification ID output means for providing an identification ID for registration confirmation and outputting the identification ID to the interrogator via two-way communication, and a set of the interrogator registration data and the identification ID as registration confirmation information And a set of registration confirmation information received by the registration confirmation information receiving means received by the identification ID output means. There the question registration data as configuration comprising a questioner registration data registration means for accumulating the said questioner registration data storing means when a proper set of cages.

[0013] In the invention according to claim 4 configured as described above, the registration request receiving means, the identification ID output means, the registration confirmation information receiving means, and the questioner registration data registering means are used to execute the registration work. I have it. The registration request receiving means receives a registration request via the two-way communication together with the questioner registration data capable of specifying the questioner.
Upon receiving the registration request, the identification ID output means assigns an identification ID for registration confirmation to the received interrogator registration data, and outputs the identification ID to the interrogator via two-way communication. . The questioner receiving the request returns a set of the questioner registration data and the identification ID, and the registration confirmation information receiving means transmits the set of the questioner registration data and the identification ID as the registration confirmation information via the two-way communication. Accept. The questioner registration data registering means stores the questioner registration data when the set of registration confirmation information received by the registration confirmation information receiving means is an appropriate set as given by the identification ID output means. It is stored in the questioner registration data storage means.

That is, in this registration work, the identification I
D is provided for registration confirmation and presented to the questioner, and the questioner registration data is accumulated when the requester returns the identification ID and the questioner registration data in an appropriate pair. The identification ID here is used only at the time of registration,
Since it is not used for providing information, even if the identification ID leaks to a third party, the answer data itself does not leak. Also, since the identification ID must be returned in a proper set with the questioner registration data, if the questioner registration data itself cannot be used by another person, that is, if the questioner registration data is an e-mail address, the identification ID is used. Even if the ID is leaked, no unauthorized registration is performed.

Further, according to the above-mentioned interrogator registration data, the interrogator can be specified, so that it can be used for various purposes in managing the information providing system. As an example, the invention according to claim 5 is the information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the questioner registration data is output by the response data output means. This is a configuration used to identify the target of the accompanying billing. In the invention according to claim 5 configured as described above, the answer data output means uses the questioner registration data to identify a billing target associated with outputting the answer data.

That is, as described above, the present information providing system can be widely applied to various situations. Need to decide.
Here, in the case of charging for each questioner, it is necessary to specify the questioner, and the questioner can be easily specified by using the questioner registration data. In addition, in order to perform billing, various other data, for example, information such as a credit card number and a billing address may be required, and such information is also included in the questioner registration data. If the information is registered in advance by the above-mentioned registration work, it is not necessary to input such information every time a question is asked, which is preferable.

In the present system, it is sufficient that an answer can be provided to the requester by outputting the stored answer data, and there are various configurations for that. As an example, the invention according to claim 6 is based on claims 1 to 5 described above.
6. The information providing system according to claim 5, wherein the question / answer data storage unit stores the answer data in a plurality of data formats.
In the invention according to claim 6 configured as described above, the answer data is stored in a plurality of data formats.

That is, a computer can express predetermined contents in various data formats, and can respond to various requests by storing answer data in a plurality of data formats. The data format includes not only a format that can be handled by a specific application, but also a standardized format for expressing images and sounds, a method of describing data in a file, and the like. Here, the simplest answer to a certain question may be a written answer to a written question, but such an embodiment can be easily realized if the answer data is in a text format.

However, the data format for providing the document is, of course, not limited to the text format, and other modes can be adopted. For example, a “doc” file (Microsoft) that is a file handled by “Microsoft Word”
is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States) and "Acr
"pd Reader", a file handled by "obat Reader"
It is also possible to construct response data by using an "f" file (Acrobat is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc. in the United States) or the like.

Further, the answer to the question is not necessarily limited to a document, but can be constructed with various things. For example, a color image compression format "gi
The answer data may be constructed using a “f” file, a “jpeg” file, a “wav” file, a “ram” file, or the like, which is a voice compression format. Further, when a mathematical expression or a calculation result is required as the answer data, a data format for displaying a predetermined graph or table may be used. Further, various modes can be adopted as a data description method in the file. For example, the answer data may be constructed in an “html” file. Needless to say, various other forms can be adopted, including various forms such as a binary representation form such as a binary form, and a code system such as JIS and UNICODE.

According to the present system, a questionable question is presented to the questioner, so that the questioner may select a question in order to obtain desired information. Therefore, there are various modes for presenting a question to a requester. According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, as an example of the configuration, in the information providing system according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the question output means may present the question in a hierarchical structure. There is an output configuration.

In the invention according to claim 7 configured as described above, the questions are presented in a hierarchical structure. In other words, if the number of question items reaches a considerable number, it would be very inconvenient to select a question if all the question items were presented in parallel. Questions can be found. Here, as the hierarchical structure, it is sufficient that the question items can be presented in stages, and the question items are classified hierarchically such as a large classification, a middle classification, a small classification, etc. Various modes can be adopted, such as presentation by moving the hierarchy such as a link in a web browser.

There are various modes for the questioner to select the question item presented in this way, and the invention according to claim 8 as an example of the configuration is any one of claims 1 to 7 described above. In the information providing system described in the above, while the question items receiving means described the above question items,
The sender's e-mail address accepts the e-mail which is the above-mentioned interrogator registration data, thereby accepting a question. In the invention according to claim 8 configured as described above, the questionnaire is accepted by the mail whose sender's mail address is the questioner registration data.

That is, since the questioner registration data is an e-mail address, the questioner registration data can be acquired by the questionnaire accepting means without the questioner explicitly indicating the questioner registration data for each question. . In addition, it is necessary and sufficient to describe the question in the body of the email when answering the question. Of course, a configuration that realizes an optional function by making other descriptions is possible. further,
As described above, an environment in which an e-mail can be transmitted is preferable in that it is very unlikely that a third party other than the individual questioner who owns the e-mail address is involved.

Further, as another example of a mode for the questioner to select the presented questionnaire, the invention according to claim 9 is an information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The question item output means outputs the question items in a selectable manner while displaying the list, the question item reception means receives the question item selected by the questioner by the list display, and the registered questioner determination means After accepting the question item, the user is required to input the questioner registration data.

In the ninth aspect of the present invention, the question output means outputs the question in a selectable manner while displaying the list, and the questioner visually recognizes the list of questions. While selecting questions. And
The question item accepting means accepts the question item selected by the questioner in the list display, and the registered questioner discriminating means inputs the questioner registration data after accepting the question item. In other words, it is also possible to select a question from a browser by displaying the question on a web page or the like. Even in this case, if the questioner registration data is continuously input, the questioner can be registered. You can check if you are the questioner.

Needless to say, even in this case, it is necessary that the questioner registration data be in a form that is difficult to leak to a third party. For example, the questioner registration data is an email address,
It is possible to adopt a mode in which the registrant discriminating means confirms that the user is a registered questioner by transmitting an e-mail by a browser option. Needless to say, even though the list is displayed here, it is not always necessary to display a list of all question items, and it is possible to sequentially display a predetermined hierarchy of question items having a hierarchical structure.

Various questions are supposed to be presented as described above, and the manner of selection is also various. According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the information providing system according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, the question item accepting unit converts the data format of the answer data into a desired format. The configuration is such that a request for conversion can be accepted. In the invention according to claim 10 configured as described above,
It is possible to accept a request for converting the data format of the answer data into a desired format as a question item. That is, since the data format of the answer data can be various as described above, it is convenient if the requester can request conversion to a desired data format as one of the options of the question item.

Of course, the answer obtained at this time is an answer in the converted data format. Here, since it is difficult to prepare a conversion request to any data format as a question in advance, the requester may be able to request a question that is not prepared in advance. The above-mentioned question item accepting means only needs to be able to accept the question item selected by the questioner based on the output by the question item output device. It can be said that the question was selected except for the possible questions. Therefore, it can be said that the question item receiving means has received the question item selected by the questioner based on the output by the question item output means.

[0030] Further, according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the information providing system according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, the question item accepting means sets the data format of the answer data together with the question item. It is configured to be able to receive specified information. That is, when the answer to a certain question is prepared in a plurality of data formats, select the data format desired by the questioner,
Answers can be received in that data format.

As described above, since it is assumed that the question from the questioner is other than the question stored in the question / answer data storage means, it is necessary to provide appropriate answer information in such a case. According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the information providing system according to any one of the first to eleventh aspects, the question / answer data storage means stores data from a registered respondent in advance. Upon receipt, the question data and the answer data can be additionally stored.

[0032] In the invention according to claim 12 configured as described above, the question / answer data storage means can receive data from a registered respondent in advance and additionally store the question data and answer data. It is. That is, the respondent who prepares the answer to the question is registered in advance, and the data created by the registered respondent can be received, a new question can be newly established and stored, and the answer data can be stored. As a result, it is possible to provide an answer to any question from the questioner.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the information providing system according to any one of the first to twelfth aspects, the question item accepting means is stored in the question / answer data storing means. When a question other than the question data is received, the question is transferred to a predetermined registered respondent. In the invention according to claim 13 configured as described above, when a question other than the question data stored in the question / answer data storage unit is received, the question is sent to a predetermined registered respondent. Forward. That is, when a new question is received, the question is transferred to the registered respondent so as to newly establish an answer to the question. Therefore, it is possible to promptly respond to a new question.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the information providing system according to the thirteenth aspect, the question item accepting means sends the question item to a transfer destination predetermined according to a hierarchical division of the question item. It is configured to transfer matters. In the invention according to claim 14 configured as described above, since the above-mentioned question is transferred to a predetermined destination according to the hierarchical division of the question, it is possible to create an answer to the question. Questions can be forwarded to possible respondents, and respondents do not need to consider every question.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the information providing system according to the thirteenth aspect, the question item receiving means extracts a keyword from the received question item, and registers a transfer destination registration answer from the received keyword. The configuration is such that a person is determined and transferred. In the invention according to claim 15 configured as described above, keywords are extracted from the received question items, so that the field of the question items can be accurately grasped. Furthermore, since the registered respondents of the transfer destination are determined and transferred from the same keyword, the questions can be transferred to the respondents who can prepare the answers to the questions, and There is no need to consider questions.

[0036] Further, in the invention according to claim 16, in the information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 15, the answer data extracting means extracts a plurality of answer data for a specific question item and newly sets the answer data. And the response data output means outputs the generated new response data via two-way communication. In the invention according to claim 16 configured as described above, the answer data extracting unit extracts a plurality of answer data for a specific question and generates new answer data. Then, the answer data output means outputs the generated new answer data via two-way communication.

That is, the answer to a specific question need not necessarily be only one, and it is not necessary to limit the answer to only one registered respondent. If a plurality of pieces of answer data can be extracted in this way, if the plurality of pieces of answer data can be extracted, a question can be answered by reflecting the plurality of pieces of answer data. In addition, with this configuration, when a question other than the question data stored in the question / answer data storage unit is received, the user is prompted to transfer the question to a plurality of registered respondents to create an answer, thereby obtaining an answer. It is also possible to combine the plurality of pieces of response data obtained and create an answer to the question item.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the information providing system according to any one of the twelfth to sixteenth aspects, the answer data output unit stores the question data by the question / answer data storage unit. When the answer data is additionally stored, the additionally stored answer data is output to the questioner of the answer. In the invention according to claim 17 configured as described above, when question data and answer data are newly added and stored, they are output to the questioner of the answer. In other words, if the questioner selects a question other than the question data stored in the question / answer data storage means, even if the answer is not obtained immediately after the question, the relevant question is not delayed after the answer data is stored. Get answers to your questions.

As described above, the questioner can obtain an answer to the question item and can provide information only to the questioner registered in advance, but when managing this system, when, who, It would be convenient if it was possible to know after the fact that such information was provided. The invention according to claim 18 is an example of a configuration for that purpose.
18. The information providing system according to claim 17, wherein the answer data output unit generates and accumulates a log related to the output answer.

In the invention according to claim 18 configured as described above, a log relating to the output answer is generated and accumulated by the answer data output means. In other words, when and by whom logs
It is possible to know later what kind of information was provided. Here, various contents can be adopted as the contents described in the log, and the output time, output destination,
In addition to the contents of the answer data, various information such as the frequency of use of the same questioner, whether or not billing has been performed, and the sex and age of the questioner can be recorded as logs.

In a system for outputting an answer to such a question, a predetermined program is executed by a computer constituting the system, and the program proceeds according to a predetermined control procedure corresponding to the above-described means. Above, it is natural that the invention lies in the procedure. Therefore, the present invention can be applied as a method, and the invention according to claim 19 has basically the same operation. That is, the present invention is not necessarily limited to a substantial system, and is also effective as a method. Of course, it is needless to say that the device configuration described in claims 2 to 18 can be adapted to the method.

Further, since the above-described predetermined programs are executed in the computer constituting the present system as described above, the invention can be regarded as a medium on which these programs are recorded. Therefore, in the invention according to the twentieth aspect, the same operation is basically obtained. Of course, it is needless to say that the device configuration described in any one of claims 2 to 18 can correspond to the medium on which the program is recorded. Here, the computer-readable recording medium may be a magnetic recording medium or a magneto-optical recording medium, and any recording medium to be developed in the future can be considered in the same manner. Also, the duplication stages of the primary duplicated product, the secondary duplicated product, and the like are equivalent without any question. Further, although different from the above-described medium, if the supply method is performed using a communication line, the communication line is used as a transmission medium and the present invention is used.

[0043]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, based on questioner registration data capable of specifying a questioner, whether or not the questioner of the accepted question is a registered questioner Information can be provided only to a specific questioner, and since the questioner can be specified from the questioner registration data, the questioner who received the information can be specified. An information providing system can be provided. Further, according to the invention of claim 2, it is possible to prevent the questioner registration data from leaking to a third party and prevent the third party from accessing the present system as a registered questioner.

Further, according to the invention of claim 3,
Since the interrogator registration data that can identify the interrogator is stored by a registration operation performed in advance, the interrogator does not have to be bothered for each inquiry for confirming the registered interrogator. Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 4, since the identification ID is used for the registration confirmation in the registration work, it is possible to prevent unauthorized registration and unauthorized access. Further, according to the invention according to claim 5, the billing target can be easily identified. Further, according to the invention of claim 6, it is possible to meet various requests. Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 7, the questioner can find a desired question very easily.

Further, according to the invention of claim 8,
It is not necessary for the requester to specify the requester registration data for each question, and it is necessary and sufficient to describe the question in the body of the e-mail when the question is asked. Further, according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to receive a question in a general-purpose access mode. Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 10, it is possible to respond to various requests of the inquirer. Further, according to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to respond to various requests of the requester. Further, according to the twelfth aspect, it is possible to provide an answer to an arbitrary question from a questioner.

Further, according to the invention of claim 13, it is possible to promptly respond to a new question. Further, according to the invention of claim 14, the question can be transferred to the respondent who can prepare the answer to the question, and the respondent can examine all the questions. No need to add. Further, claim 1
According to the fifth aspect, the question can be transferred to the respondent who can prepare the answer to the question, and the respondent does not need to consider all the questions. . Further, according to the sixteenth aspect, it is possible to answer a question item by reflecting a plurality of pieces of answer data.

Further, according to the seventeenth aspect of the present invention, an answer to the question can be obtained without delay after the answer data is accumulated. Claim 18
According to the invention described in (1), it is possible to know later when and who provided what kind of information. further,
According to the invention according to claim 19, it is determined whether or not the questioner of the accepted question is a registered questioner based on the questioner registration data capable of specifying the questioner. Since the information can be provided only to the questioner and the questioner can be specified from the questioner registration data, an information providing method capable of specifying the questioner who has received the information can be provided. Further, according to the invention of claim 20, since it is determined whether or not the questioner of the accepted question is a registered questioner based on the questioner registration data which can specify the questioner, Information can be provided only to the questioner of the questionnaire, and the questioner can be identified from the questioner registration data, so a medium that records an information providing program that can identify the questioner who received the information is provided. can do.

[0048]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network including an information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the information provider provides information while managing the server 40, and the questioner or the respondent can ask a question or generate an answer via the Internet network 10. That is, FIG.
, Various computers can be connected to the Internet network 10, and as one of them, a questioner client 20a, a responder client 30a, and a server 40 which are constituted by PCs are connected.

The server 40 is connected to the Internet network 10
, The questioner and the respondent can access the server 40 from various networks. As an example, in FIG. 1, the Internet network 10 is further connected to a mobile phone network 11 to form a wider area network, and a questioner client 20 b and a respondent are connected via an antenna connected to the mobile phone network 11. The client 30b is configured to be able to secure a communication line. Here, the questioner client 20b and the respondent client 30b are mobile phones. That is, as an embodiment of the present invention, it is necessary and sufficient to be able to send and receive e-mails at the terminals used by the questioner and the respondent, as described later, so that a mobile phone can be used as a client. it can.

Needless to say, a PC that can execute various applications (APLs) is likely to benefit from all the functions realized by the system according to the present invention. Those provided can be selected as needed. In this sense,
Clients are not limited to the PCs and mobile phones mentioned above,
In the present embodiment, it is only necessary to be able to finally access the Internet network 10, and a game machine or a portable information terminal may be used.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of a questioner client constituted by a PC. FIG. 1 is an example of the configuration of the questioner client 20a, and any computer to which the questioner can connect to the Internet network 10 can be the questioner client 20a. In the figure, a questioner client 20a includes a communication interface (I / F) 21, a hard disk 23, and a display 2.
2a and an input device 22b. An operating system (OS) 22 is executed by such a configuration and a CPU or the like (not shown).
It is possible to execute various APLs stored in the hard disk 23 by performing a predetermined input operation with the input device 22b while visually recognizing “a”. In the present embodiment, the A
As a PL, a mailer 24 for asking questions and receiving answer data and a browser 2 for visually recognizing questionable questions
5 and a predetermined document or table based on the received response data,
An APL 26 for visually recognizing an image or the like is stored.

The communication I / F 21 is capable of accessing the Internet 10 via TCP / IP to perform two-way communication, and exchanges various data and files via the Internet 10. . That is, the inquirer can send and receive e-mails by performing a predetermined operation on the input device 22b and activating the mailer 24. The mailer 24 responds to the operation of the inquirer by using the SMTP and POP via the Internet network. 10
Send and receive mail via. Further, the interrogator can start the browser 25 by performing a predetermined operation on the input device 22b, access the server 40 using the browser 25, and send the question items output from the server 40 to the web. Can be viewed as one of the pages.

Specifically, in the present embodiment, the requester makes the server 40 recognize the request he or she desires by the characters described in the subject of the mail when transmitting the mail, and the selected question is included in the mail text. Is described. For example, when registering the user's own e-mail address as questioner registration data, the subject is described as "Registration Request". When asking a question, the subject is described as "Answer Request" and registered in the body of the mail. Questions that have already been completed or new questions are listed.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of a respondent client 30a constituted by a PC. FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of the respondent client 30a, and any computer to which the respondent can connect to the Internet network 10 can be the respondent client 30a. In the figure, a respondent client 30a includes a communication I / F 31, a hard disk 33, a display 32a, and an input device 3.
2b. Such configuration and CP not shown
U or the like, the OS 32 is executed, and the respondent performs a predetermined input operation with the input device 32b while visually recognizing the display 32a.
It is possible to perform In the present embodiment, as the APL, a mailer 34 that receives unregistered questions and transmits created new answer data and an APL 35 for creating new answer data are stored.

The communication I / F 31 can access the Internet 10 by TCP / IP to perform two-way communication, and exchange various data and files via the Internet 10. . That is, the respondent can send and receive e-mail by performing a predetermined operation on the input device 32b and activating the mailer 34. The mailer 34 responds to the operation of the respondent by using the SMTP and POP via the Internet network. 10
Send and receive mail via. Furthermore, the respondent performs APL3 by performing a predetermined operation using the input device 32b.
5 can be started, and the reply data to be transmitted by the mailer 34 is created using the APL 35.
Here, various APLs can be adopted as the APL 35,
When creating the answer data in a text format, a text editor or the like is used. In addition, word processing software for creating document data and software for creating images and tables can be adopted.

In the present embodiment, the respondent can recognize that a response data creation request has been made to himself by the subject of the mail. That is,
As will be described later, when the server 40 receives a question not existing in the database, the server 40 forwards a question request mail from the requester, so that the respondent can make a request for creation when the subject of the received mail is “Fwd: Answer Request”. Recognize that there is. Also, when transmitting the new response data after creation, the received mail is to be transferred, and the server 40 responds when the subject “Re: Fwd: Answer Request” is returned from the respondent. Recognize that additional answer data should be stored.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of the server 40. In the figure, a server 40 is provided with a communication I / F 41 and a hard disk 43, and under the control of an OS 42 executed by a CPU or the like (not shown), presents question items, accumulates question data, outputs response data, and the like. It is configured to be executable. The communication I / F 41 can access the Internet network 10 by TCP / IP and perform two-way communication.
Or a mail transmitted from the respondent client 30a, or a mail can be transmitted to the questioner client 20a or the respondent client 30a. In addition, htm for displaying question items like a web page
The L-file 50a can be output, so that the questioner can recognize the questionnaire using a web browser.

The hard disk 43 has an information providing APL5
0, an html file 50a, a database 44, and a log file 48, and data to be received via the communication I / F 41 can be newly added to the database 44. The database 44 is provided with questioner registration data 45, question data 46, and answer data 47, and the questioner registration data 45 stores an e-mail address of a person registered as a questioner by a registration process described later. . Further, in the present embodiment, billing is performed in response to a questioner asking a question, and in order to specify a billing target, a credit number of the mail address owner is associated with a mail address. It is designed to be stored. Of course, it is also possible to store the address of the questioner and other data in association with each other.

The question data 46 is data representing a question item.
By writing the information in a predetermined position in the ml file, the questioner can present question items on a web page when the requester accesses the file via the browser 25. The answer data 47 is stored while being associated with the answer to each question data, and there are various data formats. In other words, answers that are suitable for explanations in text are stored as text data or word processing software files, and answers that are suitable for explanations in images or tables are data for displaying image files or tables. Is stored. Here, the answer data in text format is described in the text of the e-mail sent to the questioner, and if the answer data is a predetermined file, it is attached to the e-mail sent to the questioner. You.

The question data 46 is specifically classified by question genre, as shown in FIG. 5, and has a hierarchical structure. In the figure, question items are classified into genres A to C, and so on as a large classification, and further sub-classifications such as genre A-1 as a lower hierarchy. In the figure, “Q
-3, Q-4 "and the question item of genre A-1 is" Q-1, Q-2 ". In each genre, a respondent who answers a question in the genre is determined, and respondents a to c are associated with genres A to C. Further, the database 44 includes the respondents a to c
When a question item that is not stored as question data in each genre is received, a mail addressed to the mail address is transmitted. In this way, each of the question data 46 accumulated in a hierarchical structure is provided with "answer-1 to answer-4" as answer data, and an answer corresponding to each question is received. Data is sent by email.

The log file 48 is a file in which a log such as the output of the answer to the question is written, and data as shown in FIG. 6 is written. That is, in the log file, the question item and the e-mail address of the questioner who received the response data to the question item and the date and time are written out. It is possible to identify who received what information. Of course, the data to be written to the log file is not limited to the data shown in FIG. It can also be used for customer management and the like.

The information providing APL 50 is always activated in order to make the server 40 function as the information providing system according to the present invention, and controls the reception of question items and the output of answer data. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information providing APL 50. In the figure, the information providing APL 50 mainly includes an information providing unit and a registration processing unit. The registration processing unit includes a registration request reception unit 56, an identification ID output unit 57, a registration confirmation information reception unit 58, and a questioner registration data registration unit 59. It manages registration work for registering as user registration data.

The registration request receiving unit 56 is connected to the communication I / F 41
The registration request receiving unit 56 performs a process for receiving an e-mail from the questioner client 20a via the "Registration Requests".
When the mail "t" is received, the identification ID output unit 57 is activated as a registration request. The identification ID output unit 57 assigns an identification ID for registration confirmation to the mail address of the mail, and outputs the identification ID to the mail address via the communication I / F 41. The requester is determined to return the assigned identification ID and the e-mail address in a correct set upon registration, and the registration confirmation information receiving unit 58 transmits the identification ID via the communication I / F 41.
And an e-mail address as registration confirmation information. The questioner registration data registration section 59 confirms that the registration confirmation information is a correct group. When the registration confirmation information is a correct group, the mail address is stored in the database 44 of the hard disk 43, and The mail address is added as the data 45. The questioner whose mail address has been registered as the questioner registration data in this way can receive information provision only by sending a mail using the mail address thereafter.

In the case where a pay site is constructed, if it is determined that the identity verification using only the mail address is not sufficient, the identity can be confirmed by inputting a predetermined ID. However, in the case of a site that is not frequently used, the requester may forget the ID. In such a case, it is preferable to provide a system that performs the same operation as the above-described registration work at every access. In this case, for the first registration, an identification ID for the purpose of registering the original e-mail address only is given, and the registration of the credit card number or the billing address is completed by this registration. Is the ID for obtaining answer information
Is given. Therefore, although a different ID is assigned for each access, the ID is restricted to use only once, so that there is no problem even if the requester forgets the ID.

On the other hand, the information providing unit of the information providing APL 50 includes a question item output unit 51, a question item accepting unit 52, a registered questioner discriminating unit 53, an answer data extracting unit 54, and an answer data output unit 55. And is responsible for receiving question items and outputting answer data. The question item output unit 51 is a CGI program that accesses the database 44 to extract the question data 46 and writes the question data 46 at a predetermined position in the html file 50a. In response, the html file 50a is output. That is, the questioner client 2
By receiving the html file in the browser 25a of Oa, the question item can be browsed as one of the web pages.

The question item receiving section 52 receives the mail transmitted from the questioner client 20a, and the subject of the received mail is "Ans
When the request is "were Request", the question described in the mail is accepted. In addition, since this system provides information only to registered questioners,
It is determined whether or not the questioner of the question item received by the question item reception unit 52 has already been registered, and the mail address of the mail received by the registered questioner determination unit 53 is the questioner of It is determined whether or not it is registered in the registration data 45. When it is determined that the e-mail address of the e-mail is already registered, an answer to the received question is transmitted. Here, the question accepting unit 52 refers to the question data 46 of the database 44 and When a question not stored in the question data 46 is asked, the received mail is transferred to the respondent so as to create a new answer.

On the other hand, when the question items stored in the question data 46 are asked, the answer data extracting unit 54 is activated and extracts answer data corresponding to the question items from the answer data in the database 44. Thereafter, the answer data output unit 55 sends the extracted answer data to the requester by e-mail. At this time, the response data output unit 55 writes a log based on a series of processes performed by the above-described information providing unit, and the log of the process is added to the log file 48. In the present embodiment, each of the above-described portions corresponds to each of the above-described claims, and
Since the questioner registration data 45, the question data 46, and the answer data 47 are stored in the database 44, the hard disk 43 constitutes the questioner registration data storage means and the question / answer data storage means of the claim.

FIGS. 8 to 11 show the above-described configuration and the processing flow of the present embodiment executed by the information providing APL 50. FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of the processing of the server 40 executed in the information providing APL 50. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a registration process executed by a registration processing unit of the information providing APL 50, FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a response output process executed by the information providing unit of the information providing APL 50, and FIG. APL
50 is a flowchart of the transfer process executed in the process of the answer output process.

In FIG. 8, the server 40 is an information providing AP.
L50 is always executed, and in step S100, the interrogator client 20a is transmitted via the communication I / F 41.
Waiting to receive email from. Upon receiving any mail, the subject of the received mail is referred to in step S110, and the subject is referred to as “Reg.
If the request is "installation Request", the registration process of step S120 is executed, and if the subject is "Answer Request", the answer output process of step S130 is executed.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the registration process shown in step S120. In this registration process, the source mail address of the received mail is temporarily stored in the database 44 of the hard disk 43 in step S200. Further, in the present embodiment, the credit number of the interrogator is specified in the mail for billing at the time of the registration request, and the credit number is also temporarily stored. In step S210, an identification ID for registration confirmation is given to the temporarily accumulated mail address.
In step S220, the mail received in step S100 is returned with the identification ID specified in the mail content. At this time, the interrogator operating the interrogator client 20a receives the mail specifying the identification ID via the mailer 24.
Is transmitted to the server 40.

The server 40 waits for the reception of the mail specifying the identification ID transmitted from the questioner in step S230, and after receiving the mail, determines in step S240 the source mail address of the mail. The specified identification ID is a correct set, that is, the source mail address is the one temporarily stored in step S200, and the specified identification ID is the same in step S2.
At 10, it is determined whether or not the mail address is given to this mail address. If it is not determined in step S240 that the pair is correct, a mail specifying an error message is returned to the transmission source mail address in step S250. If it is determined in step S240 that the pair is correct, the process proceeds to step S260.
Then, the temporarily stored mail address is stored in the questioner registration data 45 of the database 44 as a formal registration. At this time, the temporarily stored credit number is also stored as a formal registration while being associated with the mail address. When the e-mail address is stored as a regular registration, an e-mail for notifying the requester is transmitted in step S270. on the other hand,
FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the answer output process shown in step S130. In this process, the source email address of the email received in step S100 is extracted in step S300. Step S
At 310, it is determined whether or not the extracted source mail address has been registered in the questioner registration data 45 of the database 44. If it is not determined in step S310 that the mail address has been registered, an error message is returned in step S315, and step S38 is performed.
At 0, the log relating to the processing so far is written to the log file 48.

If it is determined in step S310 that the mail address has been registered, step S320
The question items described in the mail received in step S100 are extracted. In step S330, it is determined whether or not the extracted question has been registered in the question data 46 of the database 44. If it is not determined that the question has been registered, a transfer process is performed in step S340, and the question is determined. Forward to respondents. Step S33
If it is determined at 0 that the question has been registered,
In step S350, the answer data associated with the question item is extracted as shown in FIG. 5, and in step S360, the extracted answer data is described or attached to an e-mail and transmitted to the above-mentioned source e-mail address. .

After the response data is transmitted in the transfer process in step S340 or in step S360, the mail transmission is charged in step S370. Here, in this embodiment, since the credit number of the questioner is associated with the e-mail address as described above, the data is transmitted to the credit company so that the credit number is charged in a predetermined manner. And so on. Of course, in addition to performing the charging process every time the mail is transmitted, charging may be performed according to a data transfer fee, or may be performed at predetermined intervals.
It is also possible to use a settlement institution other than a credit company. Further, in step S380, questions about the series of processes are written in the log file 48.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the transfer process shown in step S340. Since this transfer process is performed when the question from the questioner is not registered in the question data 46, first, the genre of the question is determined in order to determine the transfer destination of the question. For this purpose, in step S400, a keyword is extracted from the mail content received in step S100. Here, there are various methods for extracting keywords. For example, in the case of a Japanese sentence, question items are extracted for each segment, and in the case of an English sentence, each question is extracted for each word.

On the other hand, a plurality of keywords are associated in advance with each genre of the question data 46, and in step S410, the keywords extracted in step S400 match the keywords associated with the question data 46. It is determined whether or not. Then, it is assumed that the genre having the highest number of matching keywords among the extracted keywords is the genre of the question item. When the genre of the question is determined in this way, in order to prompt the respondent to create answer data by transferring the question to the respondent associated with the genre, the respondent is asked to answer the question in step S420. Forward the email with.

The respondent who uses the respondent client 30a receives the transferred mail via the mailer 34, and creates answer data for the question using the APL 35. After the respondent creates the answer data, the answer data is sent to the server 40 via the mailer 34.
, And the server 40 waits for the response data to be received in step S430. When the reply of the answer data is received in step S430, the question data in the received mail is extracted in step S440, the question items are added and accumulated in the question data 46 of the database 44, and the answer data is extracted. Then, it is added to and accumulated in the answer data 47 of the database 44. Therefore, after this, when the same question as the question is asked in the present system, the answer data can be extracted from the database 44 and transmitted. Further, in step S450, an e-mail in which the response data added or accumulated in step S440 is described or attached is transmitted in step S1.
At 00, the mail is transmitted to the source mail address of the received mail. Therefore, even if the question of the questioner is not registered in the database 44, the answer data is transmitted to the questioner without delay immediately after the answer to the question is accumulated.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present invention realized by the above configuration and flowchart will be described. FIG. 12, FIG.
3 shows an example of mail contents transmitted and received when a user who intends to use the present system registers his / her mail address as a premise for asking a question. FIG. 14 shows an example of e-mail contents transmitted and received when a questioner asks a question and obtains an answer, and FIG. 15 shows an example of e-mail contents transmitted and received when preparing answer data for a new question item for the respondent. Is shown. In the figure, the mail address of the server 40 is “Server@****.ne.jp”
The e-mail address of the questioner is "Client1 @
*****. ne. jp ", and the e-mail address of the respondent is" Reply1@******.ne.jp ".

In order for the requester to register a mail address, it is necessary to send a mail indicating that the request is a registration request from the requester client 20a to the server 40, which corresponds to the new message 24a in FIG. That is, in the new message 24a, "Server @ ***"
*. ne. jp "as the destination, and the subject as" Reg
It indicates that the request is a registration request as “installation Request”. Further, in the present embodiment, a credit number for specifying a charging target is specified at the same time as the registration of the mail address, and the credit number is described in the contents of the mail.

When the requester sends the new message 24a from the mailer 24 of the requester client 20a,
The same mail is received by the server 40, and the subject is set to “Registration” in step S110 of FIG.
n Request ”is determined. As a result, the registration process of step S120 is executed, and “Client1@****.ne.jp”, which is the source mail address of the received mail, is temporarily stored in step S200. Further, in step S210, an identification ID "12345" is given to this mail address, and in step S220, a mail specifying the identification ID "12345" is returned to "Client1@****.ne.jp". I do.

When this e-mail is returned, the requester receives the e-mail shown in the received message 24b of FIG. 12 through the mailer 24 of the requester client 20a, and can know the assigned ID "12345". . Thereafter, the requester needs to transmit the identification ID “12345” to the server 40 using his / her mail address “Client1@****.ne.jp” for registration confirmation. A mail in which the identification ID “12345” is specified in the mail content as in the message 24c is created. When the e-mail specifying the identification ID “12345” is transmitted to the server 40 in this way, the server 40 receives the e-mail in step S230, and specifies in step S240 the source e-mail address of the e-mail. The combination with the identification ID is determined. In this example, the mail address “Client1@****.ne.
jp "and the identification ID" 12345 "are determined to be a proper set, and the mail address is formally registered in the questioner registration data 45 in step S260. As a result, an e-mail indicating that it has been officially registered is transmitted in step S270, so that the requester received an e-mail such as a received message 24d shown in FIG. Recognize that.

As described above, the registered questioner can ask a question only by sending an e-mail and accept answer data as a registered questioner. In addition, the requester can recognize the question items as shown in FIG. 5 by browsing a web page (not shown) using the browser 25 described above. When asking a question, the questioner client 20a
Needs to send an e-mail to the server 40 indicating that it is a response request.
Corresponds to this. That is, in the new message 24e, the destination is "Server@****.ne.jp" in order to transmit the mail to the server 40,
The subject is "Answer Request", which clearly indicates that it is a response request.

In this e-mail, the contents of the e-mail indicate which question is to be answered, and in FIG. 14, an answer request for "Q-1" is made. When the inquirer sends the new message 24e from the mailer 24 of the inquirer client 20a, the mail is received by the server 40, and the subject is set to “Answer Re” in step S110 in FIG.
quest "is determined. As a result, the answer output process of step S130 is executed, and step S3
00, the source mail address of this mail is "C
client1 @ ****. ne. jp ”is extracted. In step S310, the mail address "Client
1 ＠ ****. ne. jp "is registered in the questioner registration data 45 of the database 44,
In step S320, "Q-1" is extracted as a question item. The question data 46 includes "Q-1" as shown in FIG.
Since the answer "Answer-1" is associated, "Answer-1" is extracted as answer data in step S350, and a mail in which the answer data is described in the mail content is returned in step S360.

Here, "answer-1" is text data. In this case, a text-based answer is described in the mail body as shown in the received message 24f of FIG.
If the answer data is a predetermined file, the file is attached to the received message. In this way, the questioner can obtain the answer to the question item "Q-1" by opening the received message 24f by the mailer 24, and only has to perform a task of asking a question and sending an e-mail to obtain an answer. After providing the answer in this manner, in step S380, the log file 4 shown in FIG.
8 is written out, so “Client1 @ **
**. ne. The questioner using the mail address “jp” can receive the answer to the question item “Q-1” and can grasp the date and time when the answer was received.

On the other hand, when the inquirer transmits the same message in the new message 24e shown in FIG. 14 with “Q-5” not registered in the question data 46 as a question item, the server 40 proceeds to step S330. It is determined that the question item “Q-5” is not registered in the question data 46. Therefore, in this case, the question is transferred to the registered respondent in step S340. Therefore, step S
At step 400, a keyword is extracted from the text of the question "Q-5", and at step S410 the question "Q-5" is extracted.
The genre of "5" is determined. As a result, the respondents to the genre of this question item are found, and the mail address “Reply1 @@” registered in advance in step S420.
*****. ne. jp ”.

FIG. 15 shows the transfer message 34a, and the registered respondent receives the mail via the mailer 34 of the respondent client 30a. As a result,
Since the respondent can grasp the question "Q-5", the APL 35 is activated to prepare an answer to the question "Q-5". When the answer is prepared by text, the respondent replies to the server 40 by writing the answer data "answer-5" in the mail text as shown in the reply message 34b of FIG. Needless to say, the respondent can also create answer data other than text data, and when creating answer data in a predetermined file, the answer file is attached to a reply message and transmitted.

When the reply message 34b is transmitted to the server 40, the server 40 receives the mail in step S430, and adds and accumulates the question "Q-5" in the question data 46 in step S440. At the same time, the answer data "answer-5" is additionally stored in the answer data 47. Thereafter, the question "Q-5" is presented as a question that can be asked. In addition, since the server 40 sends an e-mail describing the answer data "Q-5" in step S450 to the requester who made the above-mentioned question request, the requester can obtain an answer without delay after the answer data is accumulated. Can be.

In the above description, a case was described in which there was only one piece of answer data for the question item. However, in operating this system, the answer data for the question item is not necessarily limited to one. One answer can be generated and provided to the questioner. In addition, the manner in which a new question is transferred to prompt the answerer to answer is not limited to the above-described extraction of the keyword, and various modes can be adopted. FIG. 16 shows a flowchart of the transfer process in the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 17 shows an example when one answer file is obtained from a plurality of answer data in the second embodiment.

In the second embodiment, hardware and software can be realized in substantially the same manner as in the first embodiment, but the transfer process shown in step S340 differs in the processing flow of the information providing APL 50. I have. That is, in the present embodiment, when a question about a question not stored in the question data 46 is made, the question is transferred to all registered respondents instead of prompting a specific respondent to answer. Then, one answer data to be transmitted as an answer is generated from the obtained plurality of answer data. For this purpose, a transfer process 2 shown in FIG. 16 is executed instead of step S340 in FIG. 10 described above, and a mail describing the question items received in step S500 is transferred to all respondents.

Answers are successively returned from the plurality of respondents, and in step S510, it is awaited that reply data necessary and sufficient to generate one answer data is returned. When the predetermined plurality of data are returned, in step S520, the question is added and stored in the question data 46, and the plurality of response data obtained for the question is added and stored in the answer data 47 while being associated with each other. I do. Then, in step S530, an answer file as one answer data is generated from the plurality of obtained answer data, and the generated answer file is transmitted to the questioner of the question in step S540. Of course, when a subsequent request for the question is made,
An answer file may be generated from the stored answer data, and the answer file may be transmitted. If a new answer is required each time a question is requested, the process corresponding to step S520 may not be performed. Further, if the answer data 47 is deleted at regular intervals, the answer file is normally generated based on the accumulated answer data, and the answer data is updated upon a question after a certain period has elapsed. This is convenient for obtaining an answer that changes every fixed period.

As described above, when one answer file is generated from a plurality of answer data, various opinions can be shown for one question item, and the present system can be used in more various situations. become. The example illustrated in FIG. 17 illustrates an operation of generating an answer file for displaying one table from a plurality of pieces of answer data, and a form file 46a is stored in the database 44 in advance. This form file 46a is a form for expressing the monthly results of a certain department X to Z in a single table. The column for inputting the monthly results of each department is blank, and the total of the monthly results for each department is described. The column is blank. That is, in this example, the questioner makes an answer request for the question item in order to compile the monthly results of each department, and the respondent answers the monthly results of each department. The total monthly result of Z can be obtained.

More specifically, in step S500, a mail is sent to respondents in each department to reply to their monthly results, and in step S510, responses x to
Wait for z to be returned. Then, step S52
At 0, the question data and the answer data (answers x to z) are stored in the database 44, and an answer file is generated at step S530. At this time, the form file 4
The answers x to z are entered in blanks for each department in 6a, the sum of these is automatically calculated, and the sum is written in a column for describing the total of monthly results. In step S540, an e-mail with the same answer file attached is sent to the requester.
Therefore, the questioner who obtained this answer file is
By simply asking a question by e-mail, the automatically totaled results can be obtained. Of course, such a use mode is an example, and it can be widely used in a situation where a requester requests data and the like and a plurality of data answered by the respondent are totaled.

In the first and second embodiments, the requester inputs a question to the mailer and asks a question. However, in the configuration in which the requester selects a question, a browser or the like is used. It is troublesome to start the mailer after confirming the question items and input the question items by yourself. The interface used by the interrogator is not limited to the mailer described above, and various interfaces can be adopted to contribute to user friendliness. FIG. 18 shows a state where question items are provided in a hierarchically browsable manner by a browser. In this example, the requester can activate the mail transmission function attached to the browser by clicking on the question item displayed on the browse page.

That is, when the question item “Q-4” is selected and clicked on the browser screen of FIG. 18 with the mouse pointer, the mail transmission screen shown in FIG. 19 is automatically displayed. , Question "Q-
"4" is automatically described as the content of the sent mail, and the subject is automatically set to "Answer Re
quest ". Therefore, the requester sets "Client1@********.n" as the source mail address.
e. When "jp" is input and the transmission button is clicked, an e-mail of the content is transmitted, and a question request can be made. As a result, the selection of the question item and the request for the question can be executed in conjunction with each other. If the question screen button shown at the lower right of FIG. 18 is prepared, the contents of the transmitted mail in FIG. Can be input and an e-mail can be transmitted. In this case as well, the selection of the question item and the e-mail transmission can be performed in conjunction with each other.

As described above, in the present system, once the interrogator performs the registration work, the desired information can be obtained only by sending an e-mail, and the information provider receives the information provision by e-mail address. Questioner can be identified. Such a system is applicable to a very wide range of situations, and is not limited to only the above-described embodiments. For example, it can be used when distributing information that can be known only to some persons such as confidential or confidential to a specific department using the Internet. Furthermore, the present invention can also be used for distributing product information, sales information, and the like between affiliated companies and business partners. In this case, individual information such as performance, including the stock status of products, can be provided only to affiliated companies and business partners. In this case, a predetermined link is provided in a normal web site, and by checking the e-mail address when accessing this site, access from outsiders is excluded in advance. As described above, the information distribution by electronic mail is used. In addition,
If an unregistered e-mail address is entered at the time of access, access is not permitted. Therefore, it is possible to provide information on the information which is not confidential but which should not be leaked to outsiders while clarifying the distribution destination.

As described above, in the present invention,
After registering the questioner registration data that can identify the questioner,
The questioner asks a question selected based on questionable questions, and receives an answer registered in advance or a newly created answer to the question. Therefore, in providing the information, the information can be provided only to the identifiable questioner.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network configuration including an information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a questioner client.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a respondent client.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a server.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a hierarchical structure of question data.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of log file contents.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information providing APL.

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of processing of a server.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a registration process.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an answer output process.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a transfer process.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a mail transmitted and received when registering a mail address.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a mail transmitted and received when registering a mail address.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of an e-mail sent and received when asking a question and obtaining an answer.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of an e-mail sent and received when creating answer data.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a transfer process according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of obtaining one answer file from a plurality of answer data.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a state where question items are provided in a hierarchically browsable manner. .

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a mail transmission screen automatically displayed.

[Description of Signs] 10 Internet network 11 Cellular network 20a, b Questioner client 21 Communication I / F 22 OS 22a Display 22b Input device 23 Hard disk 24 Mailer 25 Browser 30a, b Respondent client 31 Communication I / F 32a Display 32b Input device 33 Hard disk 34 Mailer 40 Server 41 Communication I / F 42 OS 43 Hard disk 44 Database 45 Questioner registration data 46 Question data 47 ... Response data 48 ... Log file 50 ... Information providing APL 51 ... Question items output unit 52 ... Question items reception unit 53 ... Registered questioner determination unit 54 ... Response data extraction unit 55 ... Response data output unit 56 ... Registration request reception unit 57: identification ID output unit 58: registration confirmation information reception Part 59: Questioner registration data registration part

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A questionr registration data storage means for storing questioner registration data capable of specifying a questioner, question data representing a question from the questioner, and answer data representing an answer to the question. Question / answer data storage means; and question item output means for outputting questionable questions to the questioner via two-way communication based on the question data stored in the question / answer data storage means. A question item accepting means for accepting, via two-way communication, a question item selected by the questioner based on the output by the question item output means; Registered interrogator discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the interrogator is registered in the registration data; Answer data extracting means for extracting answers to the above from the answer data stored in the question / answer data storing means, and answer data outputting means for outputting the answer data extracted by the answer data extracting means via two-way communication An information providing system comprising: 2. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein said questioner registration data registered in said questioner registration data storage means is a mail address. 3. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein said questioner registration data stored by said questioner registration data storage means is such that said questioner uses said information providing system. An information providing system, wherein the information is data registered in advance by a predetermined registration operation. 4. The information providing system according to claim 3, wherein, in order to execute the registration work of said questioner registration data, said questioner registration data can be identified through two-way communication together with said questioner registration data. A registration request receiving means for receiving a registration request, and when the registration request receiving means receives the registration request, an identification ID for registration confirmation is given to the interrogator registration data, and the identification is performed through two-way communication. Identification ID output means for outputting an ID to the questioner; registration confirmation information receiving means for receiving a set of the questioner registration data and the identification ID as registration confirmation information via two-way communication; When the set of registration confirmation information received by the receiving means is an appropriate set as given by the identification ID output means, the questioner registration data is stored in the questioner registration. Information providing system characterized by comprising a questioner registration data registration means for accumulating the over data storage means. 5. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein said questioner registration data identifies a billing target associated with output of said answer data by said answer data output means. An information providing system characterized by being used to perform. 6. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein said question / answer data storage means stores said answer data in a plurality of data formats. Information providing system. 7. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein said question item output means outputs said question items so as to be presented in a hierarchical structure. Offer system. 8. The information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the inquiry receiving means describes the inquiry and the e-mail address of the sender is the inquiry registration data. An information providing system characterized by receiving a question by receiving a certain mail. 9. The information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the question output means outputs the question in a selectable manner while displaying the list, and receives the question. The information providing system is characterized in that the means receives a question item selected by the questioner in the list display, and the registered questioner determination means inputs the questioner registration data after receiving the question item. 10. The information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the questionnaire receiving means receives a request for converting a data format of the answer data into a desired format. An information providing system characterized by being able to do. 11. The information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the question item accepting means can accept information specifying a data format of the answer data together with the question item. An information providing system, characterized in that: 12. The information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the question / answer data storage unit receives data from a pre-registered respondent, An information providing system characterized by being able to additionally store data. 13. The information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the question receiving unit receives a question other than the question data stored in the question / answer data storing unit. An information providing system for transferring the questionnaire to a predetermined registered respondent when the questionnaire is received. 14. The information providing system according to claim 13, wherein said questionnaire receiving means transfers said questionnaire to a transfer destination predetermined according to a hierarchical division of said questionnaire. Information providing system. 15. The information providing system according to claim 13, wherein the question item receiving means extracts a keyword from the received question item, and determines and transfers a registered respondent of a transfer destination based on the keyword. An information providing system characterized by the following. 16. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein said answer data extracting means extracts a plurality of answer data for a specific question and generates new answer data.
The information providing system, wherein the answer data output means outputs the generated new answer data via two-way communication. 17. The information providing system according to claim 12, wherein said answer data output means further stores question data and answer data by said question / answer data storage means. An information providing system for outputting the additionally stored answer data to a questioner of the answer. 18. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein said response data output means generates and accumulates a log relating to said output response. system. 19. Accumulating questioner registration data capable of identifying a questioner, question data indicating a question from the questioner, and answer data indicating an answer to the question, and responding to a request from the questioner. An information providing method for providing an answer to a matter through two-way communication, wherein a questionable matter that can be asked based on the accumulated question data is output to the questioner through two-way communication. An output process, a question receiving process for receiving the question item selected by the questioner based on the output in the question output process via two-way communication, and a questioner of the question received in the question receiving process. A registered questioner discriminating step for discriminating whether or not the questioner is registered in the questioner registration data, and a quality of the questioner who is determined to be a registered questioner in the registered questioner discriminating step. An answer data extracting step of extracting an answer to the matter from the stored answer data, and an answer data output step of outputting the answer data extracted by the answer data extracting step via two-way communication. Information provision method. 20. A medium in which an information providing program for providing an answer to a question item through a two-way communication in response to a request from a questioner is recorded, and accumulates questioner registration data capable of identifying the questioner. A question / answer data storage function that stores questioner registration data storage function, a question / answer data storage function that stores question data representing the questions from the questioner, and an answer data that represents the answer to the question, and a question / answer data storage function A question output function that outputs questionable questions to the questioner based on the above question data via two-way communication, and a question selected by the questioner based on the output by the question output function And a question registered in the above questioner registration data by the questioner who received the question via the two-way communication. A registered questioner discriminating function for discriminating whether or not the question is answered by the registered questioner discriminating function is stored in the question / answer data storing function. An information providing program for causing a computer to realize an answer data extracting function for extracting the answer data extracted from the answer data and an answer data output function for outputting the answer data extracted by the answer data extracting function via two-way communication. Medium on which is recorded.