JP2002271259A - Search and notification method, and search and notification device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a search and notification method and a search and notification device which enable the user to now that his opposite number of waiting has come to the place of waiting without fail, no matter where he may stay, and he will not be charged a fee for a telephone call for it. SOLUTION: A communication terminal 2 is equipped with a data communication part 15, which is installed at a place of waiting and is used to perform wireless communication by bluetooth using a portable telephone 4. Command data are inputted via an input part 13 by a user, and it is monitored whether his opposite side number waiting has arrived at the place of waiting. At this time, the data communication part 15 polls all telephones 4 within its communicatable area, making us of bluetooth, and searches a portable telephone 4, which accords with the telephone number of the command data. Then, when an applicable telephone 4 is found, it sends a mail to the effect that his opposite side number of waiting has reached the place of waiting.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a search / notification method and a search / notification apparatus for searching for a search partner using a portable terminal and notifying the user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when two people make a meeting at a certain place at a certain time, one of the persons arrives at the meeting place first, and the other person arrives at the meeting place later. Is common. Therefore, the person who arrives first waits for the person who comes later.

[0003] In the case of a meeting with three or more people, the person who arrives at the meeting place first waits a relatively long time at the meeting place until the last person arrives.

[0004] In recent years, the number of people using a mobile phone has increased for such a meeting. In this case, the situation of the other party can be grasped by confirming the meeting place, the present place, and the like by talking with each other's mobile phones.

[0005]

For example, when two people, at least one of whom does not have a mobile phone, meet up, the person who arrives at the meeting place first will wait for the person coming later. Even if the arrival of a later person is delayed significantly for some reason, there is no way to contact each other, so the first person may have to wait a long time on the spot. Was.

[0006] Further, even if a contact is made using a mobile phone, misunderstandings are likely to occur in the telephone exchange, and there are cases where it is difficult to meet even if the other party is in the immediate vicinity. In particular, there is a problem that further misunderstanding may occur if there is no acquaintance with the meeting partner.

[0007] Further, when it is difficult to meet each other even by contacting each other through a mobile phone, there has been a problem that a call charge by the mobile phone is increased and an expense is increased.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to be able to reliably know that a meeting partner has arrived at a meeting place, regardless of where they are, and to incur no call charges. A search / notification method and a search / notification device are provided.

[0009]

To achieve the above object, according to the search / notification method of the present invention, identification information for identifying a portable terminal to be searched and a search result for a user are provided. Prompting input of notification destination information for notifying the user, searching the portable terminal of the search target based on the identification information input by the user, and transmitting the search result to the notification destination information. And notifying the user using

[0010] According to the invention, the portable terminal of the other party is searched based on the identification information input by the user, and the search result is notified to the user using the notification destination information input by the user. For this reason, the user can know that the other party has arrived wherever he is.

According to the search / notification method of the present invention,
Prompting the input of the telephone number of the mobile phone of the meeting partner and the e-mail address of the mobile terminal of the user; the step of searching for the mobile phone of the meeting partner based on the telephone number entered by the user; Notifying the e-mail address of whether the meeting partner has arrived at the meeting place based on the result.

[0012] According to the invention, the mobile phone of the other party is searched based on the telephone number input by the user, and whether or not the other party arrives at the mail address input by the user is notified. Therefore, the user can know that the other party has arrived at the meeting place wherever he is.

Further, according to the search / notification method of the present invention, in the step of searching for the mobile phone, the mobile phone of the waiting partner is searched using Bluetooth. Since Bluetooth is used, there is no call charge for searching for a mobile phone of a meeting partner, so that spending by users can be reduced.

Further, the search / notification apparatus of the present invention accepts input of identification information for identifying a portable terminal of a partner to be searched and notification destination information for notifying a user of a search result. Input means, search means for searching for the portable terminal of the partner to be searched based on the identification information input by the user via the input means, and a search result by the search means, Notification means for notifying the user using the notification destination information input through the notification device.

Further, the retrieval / notification device of the present invention is a device installed at a meeting place, and monitors the telephone number of the cell phone of the meeting partner, the mail address of the mobile phone of the user, and the arrival of the meeting partner. An input means for receiving an input of a maximum monitoring time, and a mobile phone of a waiting partner based on a telephone number input by the user via the input means within the maximum monitoring time input by the user via the input means. There is provided a search means for searching for a telephone, and a notification means for notifying a search result of the search means to a user's mobile phone using a mail address input by the user via the input means.

[0016]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication system 1 basically includes a communication terminal 2 (search / notification device) installed at a meeting place and at least one mobile phone 4 (portable terminal) within a communicable area of the communication terminal 2. Become. The mobile phone 4 indicates all mobile phones owned by an unspecified number of people, including mobile phones owned by a user (user) using the communication system 1.

Between the communication terminal 2 and each portable telephone 4, wireless communication using a communication system with a communicable distance of about 10 m, that is, Bluetooth (Bluetooth) is possible. That is, each of the communication terminal 2 and the mobile phone 4 is provided with a Bluetooth terminal for using Bluetooth, and various data can be wirelessly transmitted and received through these Bluetooth terminals. It should be noted that there is no charge for communication using Bluetooth.

The communication terminal 2 can be connected to the Internet via a telephone line, and can send an electronic mail (e-mail) from the communication terminal 2 to the mobile phone 4.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication terminal 2.

The communication terminal 2 includes a CPU 11, a display unit 12,
Input unit 13 (input means), control unit 14, data communication unit 1
5, a storage unit 16, and a secondary storage unit 17 (storage means).

The CPU 11 performs various arithmetic processes and counts the monitoring time of the communication terminal 2. The storage unit 16 stores an operation program of the communication terminal 2 and image data created in advance for transmission to the mobile phone 4. The control unit 14 controls the operation of the communication terminal 2 according to the operation program stored in the storage unit 16.

The data communication section 15 has the above-mentioned Bluetooth terminal, and transmits and receives various data to and from the mobile phone 4 using the Bluetooth terminal. That is, the data communication unit 15 also functions as an input unit that receives command data described below from the user's mobile phone 4 using Bluetooth. In addition, the data communication unit 15 polls all mobile phones 4 within the communicable area of the communication terminal 2 by using Bluetooth (by sequentially inquiring the mobile phones based on a specific phone number), and searches for the search target. It also functions as search means for searching for the mobile phone 4.
Further, the data communication unit 15 connects to the Internet via a telephone line, and also functions as a notification unit that transmits the image data stored in the storage unit 16 to the mobile phone 4 by e-mail.

The secondary storage unit 17 stores a data table as illustrated in FIG. In this data table, command data transmitted from the mobile phone 4 using Bluetooth and received via the data communication unit 15 is registered. The command data transmitted from the mobile phone 4 includes the telephone number (identification information) of the mobile phone of the waiting party, the mail address (notification destination information) of the mobile phone (mobile terminal) of the user, and the maximum monitoring time for monitoring the waiting party. is there.

The data table includes an input unit 1
Command data directly input by the user via the keyboard 3 (not shown) is registered. Display 12
Displays command data and the like input by the user via the input unit 13.

Next, the operation of the communication system 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 and FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 4, command data is input by a user using the communication system 1 via the input unit 13 of the communication terminal 2 installed at a meeting place (step 1). The command data may be input from the user's mobile phone 4 via the data communication unit 15 in some cases. In this case, the user inputs command data from the mobile phone 4 using Bluetooth from within the communicable area of Bluetooth, or inputs command data to the communication terminal 2 using the Internet via a telephone line. When inputting command data to the communication terminal 2 using a telephone line, the user can input command data without going to a meeting place.

At this time, the command data input to the communication terminal 2 includes, as described above, the telephone number of the mobile phone 4 of the waiting partner, the mail address of the mobile phone 4 of the user, and the maximum value for monitoring the arrival of the waiting partner. Monitoring time. Further, the command data input to the communication terminal 2 in this manner is stored in the secondary storage unit 1 for each command.
7 is stored in the data table.

When the command data is input in step 1, the maximum monitoring time for monitoring the command is read from the data table of the secondary storage unit 17, and the CP is read.
Counting by a timer (not shown) of U11 is started,
Monitoring of the waiting partner is started (step 2).

When it is determined that the maximum monitoring time has elapsed since the start of monitoring in step 2, that is, the start of polling described later (step 3: YE)
S), image data for outputting an image as shown in FIG. 7B via the user's mobile phone 4 is extracted from the storage unit 16 and copied to the data communication unit 15 (step 4). Then, the image data is transmitted from the data communication unit 15 to the mail address of the mobile phone 4 of the user via the Internet (step 5). At this time,
The mail address of the user's mobile phone 4 is read from the data table of the secondary storage unit 17.

The mail transmitted from the communication terminal 2 in step 5 is received by the user's mobile phone 4 (step 6), and a message as shown in FIG. Is done. The user sees this message and knows that the meeting partner has not arrived at the meeting place within the monitoring time.

At this time, the communication terminal 2 transmits the mail to the user's mobile phone 4 in step 5 and then deletes the command data relating to the command stored in the data table of the secondary storage unit 17 (step 5). 7).

On the other hand, from the start of counting by the timer in step 2 until the maximum monitoring time elapses (step 3; NO), the mobile phone 4 of the waiting partner is communicated via the data communication unit 15 of the communication terminal 2. A polling process for searching is performed.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the polling process,
The communication terminal 2 reads out the telephone number of the mobile phone 4 of the waiting partner from the data table stored in the secondary storage unit 17 to the data communication unit 15 and transmits the telephone number to the plurality of mobile phones 4 within the Bluetooth communicable area. The mobile phone 4 is sequentially connected (step 8), and waits for the completion of the connection of the mobile phone 4 (step 9). That is, the communication terminal 2
Means that the telephone number is periodically transmitted to all the mobile phones 4 existing in the communicable area within the maximum monitoring time.

[0035] Among the mobile phones 4 within the Bluetooth communicable area, the mobile phone 4 receives the telephone number from the data communication unit 15 of the communication terminal 2 (step 11). It is determined whether or not they match (step 12), and the result is transmitted to the data communication unit 15 of the communication terminal 2 (steps 13 and 14). The result of the determination is transmitted as “YES” or “NO” as a response result.

The communication terminal 2 that has received the response result from the mobile phone 4 within the communicable area (step 15) disconnects the connection with the mobile phone 4 of the other party that has received the response result (FIG. 6;
Step 16) Wait for completion of disconnection of the mobile phone 4 to be connected (Step 17) and analyze the response result (Step 1)
8).

In step 18, the communication terminal 2
Receives “YES” and determines that the telephone number of the waiting partner and the telephone number of the mobile phone 4 of the connection destination match (step 18; YES), via the mobile phone 4 of the user, FIG. Image data for outputting an image as shown in a) is extracted from the storage unit 16 and is output to the data communication unit 15.
(Step 19). Then, the image data is transmitted from the data communication unit 15 to the mail address of the user's mobile phone 4 via the Internet (step 20). At this time, the mail address of the user's mobile phone 4 is read from the data table of the secondary storage unit 17.

The mail transmitted from the communication terminal 2 in step 20 is received by the user's mobile phone 4 (step 2).
1) A message as illustrated in FIG. 7A is displayed via the user's mobile phone 4. The user sees this message and knows that the meeting partner has arrived at the meeting place. In other words, the user does not need to be at the meeting place, and can know that the meeting partner has arrived at the meeting place wherever he is.

At this time, the communication terminal 2 transmits the mail to the user's mobile phone 4 in step 20, and then deletes the command data related to the command stored in the data table of the secondary storage unit 17 (step 20). 2
2).

As described above, according to the present invention, all mobile phones 4 in the communicable area of the communication terminal 2 are polled based on the telephone number of the mobile phone of the waiting partner, and the waiting partner arrives at the waiting place. Notify the user of the mobile phone by e-mail. For this reason, the user can know that the meeting partner has arrived at the meeting place wherever he is, and there is no misunderstanding because there is no telephone exchange. Further, when searching for the mobile phone 4 of the other party, since the user uses the Bluetooth to use the form phone 4 owned by the user and does not talk with the waiting party, no call fee is charged and the user's expense can be reduced.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified within the scope of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the communication terminal 2 installed at the meeting place is used to search for the cell phone 4 of the meeting partner and notify the cell phone 4 of the user has been described. For example, a mobile terminal other than the mobile phone 4 may be used.

[0043]

As described above, the search and retrieval of the present invention
Since the notification device has the above-described configuration and operation, it is possible to surely know that the meeting partner has arrived at the meeting place, no matter where they are, and no call charge is required.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication terminal incorporated in the communication system of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a data table stored in a storage unit of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a processing operation by the communication system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a processing operation by the communication system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a processing operation by the communication system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 shows an example of a screen displayed via a mobile phone.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 communication system 2 communication terminal 4 mobile phone 11
... CPU, 12 display unit, 13 input unit, 14 control unit, 15 data communication unit, 16 storage unit, 17 secondary storage unit unit.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A step of prompting the user to enter identification information for identifying a mobile terminal of a partner to be searched and notification destination information for notifying a search result to a user; Searching for the mobile terminal of the partner to be searched based on the identification information; and notifying the user of the search result using the notification destination information. Notification method. 2. The search / notification method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of prompting the input, the user is also prompted to input a maximum monitoring time for searching for the portable terminal of the search target. 3. The telephone number of the mobile phone of the meeting partner,
And prompting the user for the email address of the mobile terminal of the user, searching for the mobile phone of the waiting party based on the telephone number entered by the user, and determining the location of the waiting party based on the search result. Notifying the e-mail address of whether or not the mail has arrived at the search / notification method. 4. The search / notification method according to claim 3, wherein the step of prompting the input also prompts the user to input a maximum monitoring time for monitoring whether or not the waiting partner has arrived at the waiting place. . 5. The search / notification method according to claim 3, wherein, in the step of searching for a mobile phone, a mobile phone of a waiting partner is searched using Bluetooth. 6. Input means for receiving input of identification information for identifying a mobile terminal of a partner to be searched, and notification destination information for notifying a user of a search result. Search means for searching for the mobile terminal of the partner to be searched based on the identification information input by the user, and a search result input by the search means to the notification destination input via the input means. A search / notification device, comprising: notification means for notifying a user using information. 7. The search / notification device according to claim 6, wherein the input unit also receives an input of a maximum monitoring time for searching for a portable terminal to be searched by the search unit. 8. A storage unit having a data table for storing the identification information, the notification destination information, and the maximum monitoring time input through the input unit in association with each other, Within the maximum monitoring time read from the table, based on the identification information read from the data table, the mobile terminal of the search target is searched for, and the notifying unit reads the notification destination information read from the data table. The search / notification device according to claim 7, wherein the search / notification device notifies the user of a search result by the search means. 9. A search / notification device installed at a meeting place, inputting a telephone number of a cell phone of a meeting partner, a mail address of a mobile phone of a user, and a maximum monitoring time for monitoring arrival of the meeting partner. Input means for accepting, and a search for searching for a mobile phone of a waiting party based on a telephone number input by the user via the input means within a maximum monitoring time input by the user via the input means. Means for notifying a search result by the search means to the user's mobile phone using the mail address input by the user via the input means. -Notification device. 10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the input means includes a data communication unit for receiving the telephone number, the mail address, and the maximum monitoring time input from a user's mobile phone. Search and notification device. 11. The apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising storage means having a data table for storing said telephone number, mail address, and maximum monitoring time inputted through said input means. Search and notification device described. 12. The search / notification apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said search means searches for a mobile phone of a waiting partner using a Bluetooth terminal provided in said data communication unit.