JP2002329062A - Office environment proposing method, server device, office environment proposing system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an office environment proposing method supporting an easy and effective improvement of an office environment, a server device, an office environment proposing system, and a program. SOLUTION: A copying machine 300 installed at an enterprise 200 sends periodically the information indicating its use state from a sending device 400 to a center 100. The center 100 accumulates the use state information sent from each sending device 400. When an employee of the enterprise 200 has a requirement for the office environment, he or she operates a terminal 500 and sends the requirement to the center 100 through a website set up by the center 100. The center 100 analyzes the received requirement and the use state information for the copy machine 300 corresponding to the employee and evaluates the office environment. The center 100 presents the analysis results to the whole employees of the enterprise 200 and the related persons of the maker of the copying machine 300 and collects proposals. The center 100 sorts out the applied proposals and presents them to the employees of the enterprise 200.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an office environment proposal method, a server apparatus, an office environment proposal system, and a program, and more particularly to an office environment proposal method, a server apparatus, and a method suitable for improving the use situation of equipment used in an office. Office environment proposal system and program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In many offices, large office equipment such as a copying machine is used. There are various types of office equipment depending on the processing capacity. In order to achieve high work efficiency in the office,
It is necessary to select a model and its quantity that are suitable for the office environment, such as the number of employees, work content, and work volume.

[0003] However, the office environment is not always constant. In other words, changes in factors such as an increase in the number of employees, an accompanying increase in work, an increase in the amount of work, and the like may occur, so that the office environment also changes. Even after the change of the office environment, if the equipment is used under the same conditions as in the past, the balance between the processing capacity and the work amount is broken, and the work efficiency may be affected. However, it is difficult for an office employee to objectively grasp the processing capacity and the amount of use of the equipment, and even if it is possible, it is difficult to find a specific solution. Therefore, a proposal by a device maker or the like is desired.

Conventionally, a method in which a person in charge of a device maker or the like goes to a customer's office to grasp the environment of each office and make a proposal has been mainly used. However, when the number of customers is large, it is difficult to grasp the office environment of all customers in detail. In addition, there is a time limit to grasp the status of all customers, and it has been difficult to quickly respond to changes in the customer's office environment.

On the other hand, a system that is attached to a copying machine or the like and notifies consumption information such as the number of sheets used to a copying machine maker via a telephone line or the like has been established. Information collected by such systems was used to calculate maintenance fees and to detect equipment malfunctions, but was not used to improve the office environment. . In addition, it was not possible to collect information indicating the office environment and even requests from users.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an office environment proposal method, a server device, an office environment proposal system, and a program for supporting easy and effective office environment improvement. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, an office environment proposal method according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an analyzing step of analyzing consumption information of equipment used in an office, and the analyzing step. And a proposal information presenting step of presenting proposal information indicating a proposal according to the analysis result of the analysis to the user of the office via a communication network.

[0008] According to such a configuration, it is possible to analyze consumption information of a device used in the office, such as a copying machine, and to present, for example, a proposal for improving the office environment via the Internet. Therefore, it is possible to provide an appropriate proposal in consideration of the state of use of the device in the office.

To achieve the above object, an office environment proposal method according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a consumption information collecting step of collecting consumption information of equipment used in an office via a communication network; Collecting opinion information indicating an opinion about the office environment from the user via the communication network, consumption information collected at the consumption information collection step, and an opinion collected at the opinion collection step. An analysis step of analyzing information, a proposal information collection step of collecting proposal information indicating a proposal according to an analysis result by the analysis in the analysis step via the communication network, and a proposal information collection step. A proposal information presentation system for presenting proposal information to the user of the office via the communication network. Tsu and up, characterized in that it comprises a.

[0010] The office environment proposal method further allows the user of the office to select desired proposal information from among the proposal information presented in the proposal information presentation step as an adoption candidate proposal, and to select the selected proposal information. A selection proposal collection step of collecting information to be specified, a proposal selection step of selecting proposals to be adopted by classifying the proposal information collected in the selection proposal collection step by a quantity, and a selection screen selected in the proposal selection step. And a step of presenting proposal information to a user of the office via the communication network.

In the office environment proposal method, the consumption information includes at least information indicating a degree of consumption of a consumable member used in the device, information indicating a resource amount consumed by the device, and a quantity of the device. Information, including information indicating the operating time of the device, wherein the analyzing step obtains information indicating a recycling rate of the device indicated in the consumption information and information indicating a current office environment of the office, and the obtained information It is desirable to analyze the consumption information by using the following.

According to the above-described configuration, for example, consumption information (number of sheets used, power consumption, etc.) of a device such as a copying machine is transmitted to a server device of a maker of the copying machine via a public line or the like. This server receives an opinion on the office environment from the user of the copying machine through, for example, the Internet. Then, the received opinion and the usage information of the equipment used by the person who sent the opinion are analyzed to evaluate the office environment, so that the demands of the office users and the current equipment usage are taken into consideration. Appropriate evaluation.

[0013] Further, since proposals for evaluation can be recruited from, for example, users of the office (floor) and those of the copier maker, a wide range of proposals can be collected.

Further, by letting the office user select the collected proposal opinions in, for example, a voting form, it is possible to select the proposal opinions according to the current situation. Then, since the selected proposal opinion can be presented to, for example, a person who has a decision-making right in the office, the work of adopting the proposal can be performed efficiently and the adopted proposal can be promptly realized. Can be.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a server device for connecting to a communication network, a consumption information storage unit for storing consumption information of equipment installed in an office, An analysis unit that analyzes the consumption information stored in the consumption information storage unit, and controls the connection unit,
A proposal presentation unit that presents proposal information indicating a proposal according to the analysis result by the analysis unit to a terminal of the office user via the communication network.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to function as the server device.

To achieve the above object, an office environment proposal system according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is connected to a device installed in an office and collects consumption information of the device. An office environment proposal system comprising a terminal connected to a communication network and operated by a user of the office, and a server device connected to the communication network, wherein the consumption information collection device collects The consumption information of the device is transmitted to the server device via the communication network, and the terminal transmits opinion information indicating an opinion on an office environment input by a user of the office to the server via the communication network. Transmitting to the device, the server device controls the connection means for connecting to the communication network, and the connection means, Receiving means for receiving the consumption information transmitted by the consumption information collecting apparatus and the opinion information transmitted by the terminal as use state information; analyzing means for analyzing the use state information received by the receiving means; By controlling the means, by presenting the task information indicating the result of the analysis by the analysis means via the communication network,
A proposal recruiting unit for recruiting proposals according to the assignment information, and controlling the connection unit, receiving proposal information applied through the communication network for the recruitment by the proposal recruiting unit, and And a proposal information presenting means for presenting information to the terminal via the communication network.

In the above office environment proposal system,
The consumption information includes at least information indicating a degree of consumption of a consumable member used in the device, information indicating a resource amount consumed by the device, information indicating a quantity of the device, and information indicating an operation time of the device. Preferably, the server further comprises device information storage means for storing information on the device, including at least information indicating a recycling rate of the device, and in this case, the analysis means It is preferable that information on the device indicated by the obtained usage status information is obtained from the device information storage means, and the obtained usage information is analyzed using the obtained information.

In the above office environment proposal system,
The suggestion information presenting means presents the suggestion information to a user of the terminal in a selectable format, and the terminal selects one of the suggestion information presented by the suggestion information presenting means by a user of the terminal. It is desirable to transmit the proposed information, which is designated as an adopted candidate proposal, to the server device, and in this case, the server device receives the adopted candidate proposal information transmitted by the terminal, and By classifying the candidate proposal information by quantity, a proposal selection unit for selecting an adoption proposal, and an adoption proposal for presenting the proposal information selected as the adoption proposal by the proposal selection unit to the terminal via the communication network. Presentation means.

In order to achieve the above object, a program according to a sixth aspect of the present invention causes a computer to function as a server device constituting the office environment proposal system.

[0021]

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

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of an information collecting and providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a copier is taken as an example of a target device, and information is collected from a company that has introduced this copier.

As shown in the figure, an information collecting / providing system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a public line network 2, a communication network 3, a center 100, and a plurality of companies 200-1.
To 200-n and a plurality of copying machines 300-1 to 300-n
And transmission devices 400-1 to 400-n associated with copying machines 300-1 to 300-n, and terminals 500-1 to 500n
And is composed of

The public network 2 is a normal telephone network.
The information transmitted by the transmitting device described later is transmitted.

The communication network 3 is a network for connecting a plurality of information terminals such as the Internet, for example, a public line network, a dedicated line, a cable television (CATV) network, a cable broadcasting network, and a mobile communication network. , A wireless communication network, etc., for transmitting information between information terminals. In the present embodiment, the Internet is adopted as the communication network 3 and is hereinafter referred to as the Internet 3.

The center 100 is a server operated by a business entity that manufactures and sells the copying machine 300. Information is collected from transmitting apparatuses 400-1 to 400-n described later via the public line network 2 and the terminal 500-1 is connected via the Internet 3 to the terminal 500-1.
~ 500-n.

The configuration of the center 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the center 100.

The center 100 is roughly divided into an information collecting unit 110 for collecting information and an information providing unit 120 for providing information.
And is composed of

First, the configuration of the information collecting unit 110 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the information collection unit 110 includes an information collection control unit 10, a communication unit 11, and a usage information database 12.

The information collection control unit 10 includes, for example, a CPU
(Central Processing Unit) and executes a predetermined operation program stored in a memory or the like (not shown) to execute the information collecting unit 110.
And executes the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG.

The communication unit 11 includes, for example, a modem, TA (Te
A communication device such as a rminal adapter (terminal adapter) and a router, which is connected to the public line network 2 and receives information indicating the use status of the copying machine 300 from a transmission device 400 described later.

The usage status information database 12 is composed of, for example, a rewritable storage device such as a hard disk device, and stores usage status information received from each transmitting device 400 by the communication unit 11 as shown in FIG. FIG.
As shown in (1), information indicating the number of sheets used, the usage rate of each operation mode, the operating time, and the like are recorded in the usage status information.

Next, the configuration of the information providing unit 120 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, the information providing unit 120 includes an information providing control unit 20, a communication unit 21, and a customer information database 22.
, Content creation unit 23, and proposal information database 2
4, a product information database 25, and an input unit 26.

The information provision control unit 20 includes, for example, a CPU
(Central Processing Unit) and executes a predetermined operation program stored in a memory or the like (not shown) to execute the information providing unit 120.
, And executes the processing of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 8, 12, 15, and 17.

The communication unit 21 includes, for example, a modem, TA (Te
rminal Adapter (terminal adapter), a communication device such as a router, is connected to the Internet 3, and provides information to a terminal 500 described later.

The customer information database 22 is composed of, for example, a rewritable storage device such as a hard disk device, and stores attribute information indicating a customer attribute. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that attribute information is stored for each predetermined individual belonging to each company 200. FIG. 4 shows an example of information stored in the customer information database 22. As shown in the figure, the attribute information is classified for each department, and a floor area of each department and an industry code indicating the industry of the department are registered in advance. It is also assumed that information indicating a position, for example, is registered as personal attribute information.

[0037] The content creating section 23 is provided with the information providing section 12.
0 is for creating web page data indicating information to be provided to the terminal 500. For example, CGI (Common G
ateway Interface) is implemented by the information provision control unit 20 executing a program constituting an operation mechanism.
The content creation unit 23 is, for example, an HTML (HyperTex
The Web page data is created in a file format that can be transmitted and received via the Internet 3 such as Markup Language.

The proposal information database 24 is composed of, for example, a rewritable storage device such as a hard disk device, and describes in a HTML format, for example, a fixed phrase indicating a predetermined proposal item obtained in a use situation analysis process described later. Has been accumulated as a proposal file.

The merchandise information database 25 is composed of, for example, a rewritable storage device such as a hard disk device. As shown in FIG. Has accumulated. The product information database 25 contains
Performance information of optional equipment attached to each model is also accumulated. Also, information indicating a recycling rate for each model is recorded.

The input unit 26 is composed of, for example, a keyboard and a mouse.
Proposal information database 24 and product information database 2
5, for adding, correcting, deleting, etc. For example, it is used when adding information of a new customer to the customer information database 22 or adding product information of the product and corresponding proposal information to the product information database 25 or the proposal information database 24 with the release of the new product. .

Next, the configuration of the copying machine 300 and the transmitting device 400 installed in each company 200 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of the copying machine 300 and the transmitting device 400 according to the present embodiment.

The copying machine 300 includes a control unit 30, a paper sensor unit 31, an operation time acquisition unit 32, and a power consumption calculation unit 3.
And 3.

The control unit 30 is, for example, a CPU (Central
A processing unit (Central Processing Unit), etc., controls each unit of the copying machine 300, and a sheet sensor unit 31, an operating time acquisition unit 32, and a power consumption calculation unit 33, which will be described later.
Is transmitted to the transmitting device 400.

The paper sensor unit 31 counts the amount of paper used in the copying machine 300, such as the number of originals, the number of copies in each operation mode, the amount of use in each paper cassette holding copy sheets, and the like.

The operating time acquisition section 32 is composed of, for example, a timer circuit, and measures and records the operating time of the copying machine 300. When the copier 300 has various operation modes for power saving, the operation time for each operation mode is recorded.

The power consumption calculating section 33 includes the operating time obtaining section 3
In conjunction with 2, the power consumption consumed by the operation of the copying machine 300 is calculated and recorded.

As shown, the transmitting device 400 includes a control unit 40, a receiving unit 41, a storage unit 42, and a transmitting unit 43.
And is composed of

The control unit 40 includes, for example, a CPU (Central
The processing unit includes a central processing unit (CPU), and executes a predetermined operation program stored in a memory (not shown) to control each unit of the transmission device 400 and execute the processing of the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 7.

Receiving section 41 receives usage status information transmitted from copying machine 300.

The storage unit 42 is composed of, for example, a rewritable storage device such as a hard disk device, and stores the usage status information of the copying machine 300 received by the reception unit 41 for a predetermined period.

The transmitting section 43 is connected to the public network 2 and
The information stored in the storage unit 42 is transmitted to the center 100.

In this embodiment, a case where one copying machine 300 is connected to one transmission device 400 will be described for the sake of simplicity. If there is a copier 300 of
A configuration in which a plurality of copying machines 300 are connected to one transmission device 400 may be adopted. In this embodiment, the copying machine 3
Although an example is shown in which the transmission device 400 and the transmission device 400 are configured separately, a configuration in which the function of the transmission device 400 is provided in the copying machine 300 may be adopted.

The terminal 500 is composed of, for example, an information processing device such as a personal computer.
It is assumed that a control unit, a storage unit, an input unit, an output unit, and a communication unit (all not shown) are provided. The terminal 500
The communication unit is connected to the Internet 3. The storage unit stores a browser program for interpreting web page data indicating various web pages provided via the Internet 3. When the control unit executes the browser program, the communication unit transmits the web page data. And outputs it to the output unit.

Next, the operation of the information collecting and providing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. First,
The process of transmitting and storing the usage status information will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Each copying machine 300 transmits information indicating the usage status as shown in FIG. 3 to the transmitting device 400 for each operation, and the transmitting device 400 stores the received information in the storage section 42 (step S101). ). At this time, the copying machine 300
Transmits the signal detected by the sheet sensor unit 31 and the operation time acquisition unit 32 by the control unit 30 and information indicating the operation of the power consumption calculation unit 33 to the transmission device 400.

The transmitting device 400 transmits the information stored in the storage unit 42 to the center 100 at regular intervals. Therefore, the transmission unit 43 transmits the information stored in the storage unit 42 to the center 100 at a preset time (Step S102: YES, S103).

When the transmission of information by the transmission section 43 is completed, the control section 40 clears the information stored in the storage section 42 and waits for the next information reception from the copying machine 300 (step S104).

On the other hand, in the center 100, step S103
The communication unit 11 of the information collection unit 110 receives the usage status information transmitted from each transmission device 400 at step S105, and stores the usage status information in the usage status information database 12 (steps S105 and S10).
6). At this time, the usage status information database 12 includes
The received information is accumulated for each customer.

Next, the request receiving process by the center 100 of the information collection and provision system 1 according to the present embodiment is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In the present embodiment, a website that presents its information on the Internet 3 is established by the manufacturing and selling company of the copying machine 300, and the information providing unit 120 creates and provides the website. It is assumed that Anyone can access this website via the Internet 3 using the terminal 500 or the like, but a page accessible only by the authorized user of the copying machine 300 (hereinafter referred to as “customer-only page”) is included in the site. It shall be prepared.

First, it is determined whether or not an access request to a customer-specific page has been made (step S201). Here, for example, a text or an image linked to the customer-specific page is arranged on the top page (homepage) of the website, and it is determined whether or not these are selected by a click operation or the like.

If there is no access to the customer-specific page, another general page is presented (step S).
202).

On the other hand, when the access is to the customer-specific page, the information provision control unit 20 sets the page including the identification number input screen as shown in FIG.
Send to When predetermined identification information such as a login name, a password, and a company ID is input from the terminal 500, a customer authentication process is performed based on the input information (step S).
203). Here, the information provision control unit 20 determines whether or not the customer is a legitimate customer by collating the identification information input from the terminal 500 with the customer ID stored in the customer information database 22. As shown in FIG. 9, a display linked to a registration page for an unregistered person to register is also arranged on this page.

In the customer authentication process in step S203, if the identification information input from the terminal 500 does not exist in the customer information database 22 or the combination of the identification information is incorrect, the customer is not authenticated as an authorized customer, and an error occurs. Processing such as providing a page indicating a message or another general page is performed (step S204: No, step S202).

On the other hand, when it is determined that the customer is a legitimate customer (step S204: Yes), processing for providing individual information to the customer is performed. In addition, the center 100
For identifying the accessing terminal 500, for example,
The communication partner in each session is identified by creating and transmitting identification information such as a cookie. In this case, for example, information indicating the user ID transmitted from the terminal 500 in step S203 is used as the identification information. Therefore, the “terminal 500” in this processing
Means the terminal 500 that has accessed the center 100 in step S201.

Here, a menu page displaying a list of customer-specific pages as shown in FIG. 10 is transmitted (step S205). As shown in FIG. 10, in this menu page, a display indicating the name of the provided customer-specific page is arranged so as to be selectable by, for example, hypertext. That is, URL information for designating the page is assigned to each display as invisible information. By selecting a display, the corresponding URL information is transmitted to the center 100.

When the "office environment proposal" item shown in the lower part of FIG. 10 is selected (step S206: Ye)
s), a page for transmitting a request as shown in FIG. 11 (“office environment proposal” page) is transmitted to terminal 500 (step S207). When another item is selected from the menu page (step S206: No)
Proceeds to step S202, and another corresponding page is transmitted.

Here, the page transmission processing in step S207 will be described in detail. First, the communication unit 2 of the center 100
1 receives the URL designating the “office environment proposal” page from the terminal 500, the information provision control unit 20 reads the number of the department to which the user belongs from the customer information database based on the identification information (user ID). , Floor area, etc., and information on the area used by the user in the office. The information provision control unit 20 controls the content creation unit using the acquired information, and creates an “office environment proposal” page as shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, on the "office environment proposal" page, information such as the acquired floor area and the number of employees is displayed in a text box, for example, so as to be modifiable. Thus, for example, when the office environment changes due to an increase in the number of employees or floor expansion, the information in the text box is appropriately corrected.

Also, on the “office environment proposal” page,
A blank text box is provided for entering any requests for office environment. Here, for example, it is assumed that a failure in the office environment and its factor, various requests, and the like are input.

The page data indicating the “office environment proposal” page created in this way is transmitted from the communication unit 21 to the terminal 500 via the Internet 3.

The user operates the terminal 500 and inputs correction items and requests on the displayed “office environment proposal” page (the information input here is hereinafter referred to as “request information”). When the “transmit” button is pressed, the input information is transmitted to the center 100 via the Internet 3.

When the center 100 receives the request information from the terminal 500 (step S208), the received information is stored in the record of the user in the customer information database 22 (step S209), and the office environment analysis processing (step S300) is performed. Then, the process is terminated.

The office environment analysis processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the information provision control unit 20 analyzes the received request information, and when the registration information (number of employees, floor area, etc.) presented at step S207 has been corrected (step S301: Yes), The customer information database 22 is accessed, and the record is corrected (step S302).

After the correction on the database is completed, or
When the information has not been corrected (step S301: N
o), access the usage information database 12 based on the user ID of the user, and obtain usage information of devices installed on the floor (department) of the user (step S303). At this time, information indicating the recycling rate of the device indicated by the use status information is acquired from the product information database 25.

Next, the information provision control unit 20 performs another similar office environment based on the information (such as the number of employees and floor area) of the user's office environment registered in the customer information database 22. The user IDs of the users are obtained, and based on the obtained user IDs, the usage status information of these users is obtained from the usage status information database 12, and the information indicating the recycling rate of the used product is obtained from the product information database 25. Calculate the average value for each item. Here, “similar office environments” are assumed to be of the same type of business and of similar employee size. This is because the usage status of the copying machine 300 differs depending on the type of business.

Then, the use environment information of the user acquired in step S303 is compared with the calculated average value to evaluate the office environment of the user (step S304).

Here, each information of the user is, for example, “less” when it is 70% or less than the average value, “more” when it is 130% or more, and “standard” in other cases.
It will be evaluated at the stage. And the information provision control unit 2
0 indicates that the evaluation result was not “standard”.
The comment information corresponding to the item and the evaluation result is obtained from the proposal information database 24.

Next, the information provision control unit 20 determines in step S
A page showing the analysis result in step 304 is created (step S305). FIG. 13 shows a display example of the analysis result page. As shown in the figure, the attributes to be analyzed are indicated (company name, business type, employee size, etc.), and step S304
As a result of the analysis, the comparison rate and the comment are displayed for the items whose evaluation is not “standard”. Further, a text box for inputting a solution to the presented evaluation is arranged.

The information provision control unit 20 determines in step S 305
The analysis result page created in (1) is set so that it can be viewed only by the person in the department to which the user belongs (step S306). In this case, for example, in the authentication processing in step S203, a customer menu page provided with a link to the analysis result page is created and presented only when identification information of a target person is input. As a result, only the persons concerned (office persons) of the department to be analyzed (floor) can be browsed. As a result, proposals can be solicited from all parties in the office being analyzed.

The information provision control unit 20 further indicates that the analysis result page can be browsed in order to encourage the browsing target person (that is, a person in the same department as the user) to browse, as shown in FIG. An e-mail is created and transmitted to the target person (step S307), and the process ends.

Next, the proposal information collecting process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The information provision control unit 20 determines in step S305
The analysis result page created in step (1) is presented only to persons involved in the copier 300 manufacturer (maker) (step S40).
1). Here, the stakeholders are, for example, the head office of the company,
Domestic offices, overseas offices, sales companies, affiliates, etc. In this case, similarly to the case of the customer-only page, it is assumed that a person who can access is restricted by providing the related-party-only page on the website established by the center 100.
Further, for example, by presenting the information on a dedicated network in the company, the information may be viewed only by persons related to the manufacturer. By presenting the analysis result page not only to the office personnel but also to the manufacturers, various proposals can be widely recruited.

The proposal information is received from the analysis result page presented in steps S306 and S401 (step S401).
402: Yes), when the number of proposals reaches the predetermined number, the information provision control unit 20 creates a proposal information page indicating each received proposal information and displays a list of proposal items, as shown in FIG. Then, a proposal list page is created (step S403).

As shown, the proposal list page includes
For example, the proposal name (title), summary, and proposer of the received proposal are shown. The display of the proposal name is described, for example, in a hypertext format, and links to the corresponding proposal information page. Also, voting check boxes corresponding to the respective items are arranged. The voting process using this check box will be described later.

The information provision control unit 20 uses the same method as in step S 306 to view the created proposal list page so that only persons (office persons) of the department (floor) to be analyzed can view it. Present (Step S
404). This allows the office personnel to view the proposal for improving their own office environment.

At the same time, the information provision control unit 20 sends an e-mail indicating that the proposal information is presented to the person concerned in the office, thereby prompting the user to browse the proposal information (step S405).

Next, the proposal selection process using the voting check box arranged on the proposal list page will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

An office-related person browses the proposal list page presented in step S404, further browses each proposal information from the list, and checks a check box corresponding to a proposal deemed suitable for office environment improvement. Then, when the "vote" button is pressed, information (for example, URL) specifying the checked proposal item is transmitted to the center 100 (step S501).

The information provision control unit 20 totals the information designating the transmitted proposal items (step S502), and narrows down the proposals to be adopted candidates according to the quantity (step S5).
03). That is, a proposal with a large number of votes is sorted out by a predetermined number.

Next, the information provision control unit 20 creates an adoption candidate proposal page indicating the selected proposal (step S5).
04). The information provision control unit 20 further presents the created recruitment candidate proposal page so that only a predetermined person can view the page (step S505). In this case, the predetermined related person is, for example, a person who has a right of decision in the relevant department (customer information database 2).
2), the person who transmitted the request in step S208, and the related parties on the manufacturer side, for example, a person in a department that can execute the proposal. The viewing restriction method in this case is the same as that described above.

The information provision control unit 20 simultaneously executes step S
In order to urge the target person who has been permitted to browse at 505 to browse, an e-mail indicating that the recruitment candidate proposal page is presented is transmitted to the target person (step S506), and the process ends.

Thereafter, for example, the above-described manager of the department determines whether or not to adopt the proposal indicated on the recruitment candidate proposal page. In this case, the proposal items indicated on the recruitment candidate proposal page presented to the manager of the department may be displayed in a hypertext format or the like so as to be selectable, and the proposal for which recruitment has been decided may be selected from the screen. . Here, when a proposal item is selected, information designating the proposal may be transmitted to the center 100, and may be further transferred to a maker-side department capable of implementing the proposal.
As a result, the proposal that has been decided to be adopted can be promptly realized, and also contributes to the sales activities of the manufacturer.

In the above embodiment, the center 100 collects the usage information of the copying machine 300, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the configuration may be such that usage status information collected by other means is stored in the center 100 and the stored information is analyzed.

In the above-described embodiment, a copying machine has been described as an example of a product to be analyzed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to any product. in this case,
The method of transmitting the usage status information to the center 100 is arbitrary. For example, the usage status information may be input on a web page presented by the center 100. According to such a configuration, the present invention can be employed even when a configuration in which the usage status information of the target product is automatically transmitted to the center as in the above embodiment cannot be employed.

The information processing apparatus for realizing the center 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention can be realized by using a general computer system without using a dedicated system. For example, an information providing site for executing the above-described processing is configured by installing the program for executing any of the above-mentioned programs from a medium (such as a flexible disk or a CD-ROM) storing the program in a general-purpose computer. be able to.

The means for supplying the program to the computer is arbitrary. For example, the information may be supplied via a communication line, a communication network, a communication system, or the like.
For example, a bulletin board (BBS) of a communication network
And superimpose the program on a carrier wave via a network for distribution. Then, by starting this program and executing it in the same manner as other application programs under the control of the OS, the above-described processing can be executed.

[0099]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Proposals for improving the office environment can be easily and widely collected and presented to office users.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information collecting / providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a center shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of information transmitted by the transmission device illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in a customer information database shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in a product information database shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a copying machine and a transmission device illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining usage information transmission / storage processing according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a request receiving process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of an identification information input page transmitted in the request receiving process shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of a menu page transmitted in the request receiving process shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a request transmission page transmitted in the request reception process illustrated in FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an office environment analysis process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

13 is a diagram showing a display example of an analysis result page transmitted in the office environment analysis processing shown in FIG.

14 is a diagram showing a display example of an e-mail transmitted in the office environment analysis processing shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a proposal information collecting process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

16 is a diagram showing a display example of a proposal list page presented in the office proposal information collection processing shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a proposal sorting process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information collection and provision system 2 Public line network 3 Internet 100 Center 200-1 to 200-n Company 300-1 to 300-n Copier 400-1 to 400-n Transmission device 500-1 to 500-n Terminal

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H027 DA39 DA45 DA50 EJ04 EJ06 EJ08 EJ13 EJ15 5B021 AA01 EE04 KK00 NN00 5B089 GA13 JB15 KA13 KB04

Claims (10)

[Claims] An analysis step for analyzing consumption information of equipment used in an office, and proposal information indicating a proposal in accordance with an analysis result by the analysis in the analysis step is transmitted to a user of the office via a communication network. An office environment proposal method, comprising: a proposal information presentation step of presenting a proposal. 2. A consumption information collecting step of collecting consumption information of a device used in an office through a communication network, and opinion information indicating an opinion on an office environment from a user of the office through the communication network. Collecting an opinion, collecting the consumption information collected in the consumption information collecting step, analyzing the opinion information collected in the opinion collecting step, and analyzing the analysis result in the analyzing step. A proposal information collecting step of collecting proposal information indicating the proposed proposal through the communication network, and a proposal of presenting the proposal information collected in the proposal information collection step to a user of the office via the communication network. An information presentation step, comprising: an office environment proposal method. 3. The user of the office selects desired proposal information from among the proposal information presented in the proposal information presenting step as an adoption candidate proposal, and collects information specifying the selected proposal information. A selection proposal collection step; a proposal selection step of selecting proposals to be adopted by classifying the proposal information collected in the selection proposal collection step by a quantity; and the communication of the proposal information selected in the proposal selection step. 3. The office environment proposal method according to claim 2, further comprising: a selection proposal presentation step of presenting to a user of the office via a network. 4. The consumption information includes at least information indicating a degree of consumption of a consumable member used in the device, information indicating a resource amount consumed by the device, information indicating a quantity of the device, and information of the device. The analysis step includes obtaining information indicating a recycling rate of the device indicated in the consumption information and information indicating a current office environment of the office, and using the obtained information to perform the consumption. 4. The office environment proposal method according to claim 2, wherein information is analyzed. 5. A connection unit for connecting to a communication network, a consumption information storage unit for storing consumption information of devices installed in an office, an analysis unit for analyzing consumption information stored in the consumption information storage unit, A proposal presentation unit that controls the connection unit and presents proposal information indicating a proposal according to the analysis result by the analysis unit to a terminal of the office user via the communication network. Server device. 6. A program for causing a computer to function as the server device according to claim 5. 7. A consumption information collection device connected to a device installed in an office and collecting consumption information of the device; a terminal connected to the communication network and operated by a user of the office; A server device connected to a network, comprising: an office environment proposal system, wherein the consumption information collection device transmits the collected consumption information of the device to the server device via the communication network; The terminal transmits opinion information indicating an opinion on an office environment input by a user of the office to the server device via the communication network, wherein the server device connects to the communication network, Controlling the connection means, the consumption information transmitted by the consumption information collection device and opinion information transmitted by the terminal Receiving means for receiving the usage information as analysis information; analyzing means for analyzing the usage information received by the reception means; controlling the connection means; and transmitting the task information indicating the result of the analysis by the analysis means to the communication network. By presenting the proposal information via the communication network, the proposal recruiting means for recruiting proposals corresponding to the assignment information, and controlling the connection means, And a proposal information presenting means for presenting the received proposal information to the terminal via the communication network. 8. The consumption information includes at least information indicating a degree of consumption of a consumable member used in the device, information indicating a resource amount consumed by the device, information indicating a quantity of the device, and information of the device. Including information indicating the operation time, the server further includes a device information storage unit that stores information about the device, including at least information indicating a recycling rate of the device, wherein the analysis unit receives the information received by the reception unit. The office environment proposal system according to claim 7, wherein information on the device indicated by the use status information is acquired from the device information storage unit, and the use status information is analyzed using the acquired information. 9. The proposal information presenting means presents the proposal information to a user of the terminal in a selectable format, the terminal comprising: The proposal information selected by the user is transmitted to the server device as the candidate proposal, and the server device receives the candidate proposal information transmitted by the terminal, and receives the received candidate candidate. Proposal selection means for selecting proposals to be adopted by classifying proposal information by quantity, and proposals for adoption proposals for presenting proposal information selected as proposals to be adopted by the proposal selection means to the terminal via the communication network. The office environment proposal system according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising: 10. A program for causing a computer to function as a server device constituting the office environment proposal system according to claim 7.