JP2003099654A - Reservation control system and terminal available for reservation control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reservation control technology with high convenience. SOLUTION: A user A occupying a seat sends information indicating time when the user is to leave the seat to a user B (S100). The user B who wants to occupy the seat applies for reservation of the seat to the user A (S102). The user A and the user B negotiates conditions with each other (S104) and when the negotiation is finalized (S106 Y), reservation information is sent to a reservation control server. The reservation control server updates reservation state. The reservation information is also sent to a point control server (S108), and the point control server updates points of each user (S110). When the user A leaves the seat (S116), the user B takes the seat. Reservation operation of the reservation control server can be distributed to each user so as to reduce load.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a reservation management technique. The present invention particularly relates to a reservation management system that manages a reservation for a place to be occupied and used, such as a seat, and a terminal that can be used in the reservation management system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a chaotic economic situation, there are many IT companies that are suffering from the growing period, but there is no doubt that the IT industry has the explosive power to carry on the economy of the next generation.
In particular, the industry related to mobile terminals continues to grow rapidly due to the improvement of the communication environment through the development of infrastructure and the emergence of various services using mobile terminals, and will continue to drive the IT industry in the future. It seems to be.

[0003]

Now that the number of owners of mobile terminals has increased dramatically, it is desired to introduce an attractive service that enables more convenient and effective use of mobile terminals. The present inventor has come up with a technology for managing reservations for seats and the like using mobile terminals in view of the current situation in which a large number of people always carry mobile terminals.

The present invention has been made from such a background, and an object thereof is to provide a highly convenient reservation management technique.

[0005]

One aspect of the present invention relates to a reservation management system. The reservation management system includes a first terminal owned by a user who is occupying a space and a second terminal owned by a user who wants to occupy a space, and the first terminal is the first terminal. The transmitter includes a transmitter that transmits information indicating when the owner of the terminal finishes occupying the space to the second terminal, and the second terminal includes an acquisition unit that acquires information indicating the time.

The "place" is, for example, seats in various facilities such as transportation such as trains, movie theaters, theaters, restaurants, etc.
It may be a place occupied by the user, such as a unit of use of a facility such as a tennis court or a parking lot. In the case of transportation such as a train, the information indicating the time when the occupation of the space is finished may be, for example, information on the station where the user gets off. The information such as the station is not the "time" itself, but since the time when the user leaves the station can be inferred from the information of the station where the user gets off, the "information indicating the time" is included in such cases. Is used.

[0007] The second terminal may further include a request unit for requesting the first terminal to transmit the information indicating the time period. The second terminal may further include a notification unit that notifies the owner of the second terminal of the information indicating the time. The first terminal may further include a storage unit that stores information indicating the time period in advance, and the transmission unit may transmit the information indicating the time period stored in the storage unit to the first terminal. Good.

The first terminal is the same as the second terminal,
The second terminal may further include a reservation accepting unit that accepts a reservation for exclusive use of the space, and the second terminal may further include a reservation application unit that requests the first terminal to make a reservation for exclusive use of the space.
Reservation and management of venues among individual users, even when the operating entity does not accept reservations such as unreserved seats on trains or seats at restaurants, etc. Can be done.

The first terminal and the second terminal are
The management unit for managing the points of the user is further included, the management unit of the first terminal adds points when the reservation is accepted, and the management unit of the second terminal accepts the reservation application. Points may be subtracted when given. The reservation management system further includes a point management server that manages points of the user, the point management server indicating that the user of the first terminal has transferred the occupation of the space to the user of the second terminal. A management unit may be included that receives the notification and adds the points of the user of the first terminal and subtracts the points of the user of the second terminal. When the number of points reaches a predetermined numerical value, a privilege may be given from the point management entity.

[0010] The first terminal, when accepting reservations for occupation of the venue from a plurality of the second terminals, selects a selection unit for selecting a party to which the occupation of the venue is given, based on a predetermined selection condition. May be further included. The selection unit includes the second
From the terminal in exchange for the transfer of the occupancy of the venue
It is also possible to accept the presentation of the number of points to be provided to the user of the terminal, and refer to the number of points to select the other party to transfer the occupation of the venue. The selection unit may accept personal information of the user of the second terminal from the second terminal, and refer to the personal information to select a party to transfer the occupation of the place. At this time, the person who should give priority to the seat, such as an elderly person, a physically handicapped person, a pregnant woman, or a person accompanied by an infant, may be selected preferentially. By realizing such a system, elderly people can preferentially sit on a seat without providing a priority seat on a train or the like, which is very useful from a public point of view.

The reservation management system further includes a reservation management server for centrally managing the reservation status of the venue, the reservation management server including a reservation database for storing the reservation status of the venue, and the first terminal. Alternatively, it may include an updating unit that receives information on the reservation of the occupancy of the venue from the second terminal and updates the reservation database.
Even when it is necessary to centrally manage the reservation status of places such as reserved seats on trains, by making it possible to reserve seats among individual users, the reservation work is distributed and the burden on the operator Can be reduced.

[0012] Another aspect of the present invention relates to a terminal. This terminal is a terminal that can be carried by a user, and via a communication unit that controls wireless communication with another terminal, and the communication unit,
A transmitting unit that transmits information indicating the time when the occupation of the place being occupied by the user ends to another terminal.

Yet another aspect of the present invention also relates to a terminal. This terminal is a terminal that can be carried by a user, and a communication unit that controls wireless communication with another terminal, and a time when the occupation of the place occupied by another user is terminated via the communication unit. An acquisition unit that acquires the information indicating the information from the terminal of the user, and a notification unit that notifies the user of the information indicating the time period.

It should be noted that any combination of the above constituent elements, and the expression of the present invention converted between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

[0015]

1 shows the configuration of a reservation management system 10 according to a first embodiment. In the reservation management system 10, the mobile terminals 200a, 2 used by the user
00b and 200c each have a function of connecting to the Internet 20 via a wireless network 30 such as a mobile phone network, and connect to the reservation management server 100 and the point management server 300 via these networks. Mobile terminals 200a, 200b, and 200c
May be a portable terminal having a function of connecting to the Internet 20, such as a mobile phone terminal, a PDA terminal, or a notebook personal computer. The mobile terminals 200a, 200b, and 200c further include
It has a function of directly wirelessly communicating with each other without going through the wireless network 30.

The reservation management system 10 of this embodiment is
Seats and places in transportation such as trains, movie theaters, parking lots, restaurants, etc.
Be represented by ) Occupancy and reservation status is managed. The overall situation is managed by the reservation management server 100 in a centralized manner, while seat reservation negotiations are made possible among individual users to distribute the seat reservation business. In this sense, the reservation management system 10 of the present embodiment may be called a distributed reservation management system. Depending on the type of place subject to reservation management, reservation management server 100 may not be provided and reservation management may be performed only by negotiation between individual users. Reservation management server 100 and point management server 3
00 may be operated by a service provider such as a transportation facility or a movie theater, or may be operated by a third party.

FIG. 2 describes a series of processes in the reservation management system 10 as exchanges among the reservation management server 100, the point management server 300, the user A and the user B. Details will be described later, and an overview is given here. Hereinafter, when the term "user" is used, the user himself and the user's terminal are not particularly distinguished.

The user A occupying the seat is the user terminal 2
The inter-terminal communication function of 00 is used to transmit the time when the user leaves the office to other users in the vicinity (S100). The user B desiring to occupy a seat uses the inter-terminal communication function of the user terminal 200 to request the reservation of the seat to the user A who is occupying the seat (S102). User A and User B
Negotiate the conditions with each other (S104), and if the negotiation is successful (Y of S106), the reservation information is transmitted to the reservation management server 100 (S108). The reservation information may be transmitted by the user A who is the seat transfer side or the user B who is the seat transfer side. Reservation management server 100
Receives the reservation information and updates the database storing the reservation status (S110). The reservation information is also transmitted to the point management server 300 (S112). The point management server 300 exchanges seats in exchange for user B.
Point of user A is transferred to point of user A (S11
4). That is, the points of the user B are subtracted, and the points of the user A are added by the number of points. The number of points at this time may be determined according to the nature of the seat, the occupancy time, the distance to sit and move in the case of transportation, or may be determined during the negotiation in S104. When the user A leaves the seat, the user B sits on the seat (S1
16).

FIG. 3 shows the internal structure of the user terminal 200. In terms of hardware components, this configuration is realized by a CPU, memory, a program loaded in the memory, etc. of an arbitrary computer, but here, a functional block realized by the cooperation thereof is drawn. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by only hardware, only software, or a combination thereof. The user terminal 200 includes a communication unit 210, a control unit 230, and a storage unit 25.
0, an input unit 260, a display unit 270, a microphone 280, and a speaker 290.

The communication unit 210 includes an antenna 212 for transmitting / receiving a signal, a receiving unit 214 for decoding a received signal, and a transmitting unit 2 for modulating and transmitting data.
16 to control communication with other devices via the wireless network 30 and wireless communication with other user terminals 200a. For wireless communication between terminals, wireless communication technology using infrared rays or radio waves in a relatively narrow range may be used. The communication unit 210 may be pre-installed in the user terminal 200, or the user terminal 200.
It may be provided as a card-type unit that is detachably inserted into a slot provided in.

The input unit 260 receives input information from the outside with a keyboard, a mouse, various buttons and the like. The display unit 270 displays text information, image information, and the like. The microphone 280 inputs voice information from the outside. The speaker 290 outputs audio information to the outside.

The storage unit 250 includes a leaving time storage section 252 for storing information regarding the user's leaving time.
When the present system is used to manage the seats of a train, the leaving time storage unit 252 may store information on the station where the user gets off. For example, the contactless I
When a storage device such as a C card is built-in, and the commuter pass information is stored in the storage device and the user terminal 200 is used as a commuter pass, the leaving time storage unit 252 stores the commuter pass information. It may be a device. When the present system is used for reserved seats on trains, facilities such as tennis courts, restaurants, etc., which require or require reservations for use of seats or places, the away time storage unit 25
2 may store the end time designated at the time of reservation. The input unit 26 indicates when the user leaves his / her seat.
It may be registered via 0 or the like.

The away information transmitting / receiving unit 232 transmits the away information of the user to the other terminal 200a, and the other terminal 20.
0a receives the leaving information of the user. As the leaving information, the leaving time stored in the leaving time storage unit 252 may be read and transmitted, or the user himself may input and send the leaving information. The leaving information requesting unit 234 requests the other terminal 200a to transmit the leaving information of the user. Thus, the leaving information may be voluntarily transmitted from the user who is occupying the seat to the surrounding users, or may be transmitted when a user who desires to occupy the seat makes a request. When the leaving information transmitting / receiving unit 232 receives the leaving information from the other terminal 200a, the notifying unit 238 notifies the user of the leaving information via the display unit 270, the speaker 290, or the like. This allows the user to
You can find out when and when to leave your seat, and if someone is about to leave, you can secure that seat. When a reservation is required to secure a seat, or when it is desired to secure a seat surely, the reservation application transmitting / receiving unit 236 allows the user who is occupying the seat or the reservation management server 100 to reserve the seat. You may apply for

The reservation application transmission / reception unit 236 transmits a seat reservation application to the other terminal 200a, and also the other terminal 20a.
Reservation application is accepted from 0a. The negotiation unit 240 negotiates the conditions with the user of the other party when applying for a seat reservation or when applying for a seat reservation. The negotiating unit 240 may negotiate the number of points exchanged for the transfer of the occupation of the seat. Selector 242
When accepting seat reservations from multiple users,
Select the person to give up your seat. At this time, a condition for selection may be set in advance. The selection unit 242 may select the user who has presented the highest number of points as a result of the negotiation in the negotiation unit 240. The selecting unit 242 may acquire the personal information of the user of the other party and refer to the personal information to select the other party to give up the seat. For example, elderly people, people with physical disabilities, pregnant women, people with infants, etc.
You may preferentially select the person who should give priority to the seat.

FIG. 4 shows the internal structure of the reservation management server 100. This configuration can also be realized in various forms by only hardware, only software, or a combination thereof. The reservation management server 100 mainly includes the communication unit 10
2, a main control unit 104, and a storage device 106.
The communication unit 102 controls communication with other devices via the Internet 20. The communication unit 102 includes hardware such as a modem required for communication, and a driver and other programs for controlling communication. The storage device 106 stores various databases necessary for the operation of the reservation management server 100. The reservation database 120 stores the reservation status of train seats and the like.

The reservation information accepting unit 112 accepts the reservation information fixed between the users from the user terminal 200. For example, user A gets off at station C and leaves the seat at user B.
Will accept information such as the reservation made by. The updating unit 114
The reservation database 120 is updated based on the reservation information received from the user. The reservation information accepting unit 112 may accept not only the user but also the reservation information generated in the normal reservation business of the operating entity. When there is a charge for using a seat, such as a reserved seat on a train, the user who newly reserves the seat may be charged a consideration.

FIG. 5 shows the internal structure of the point management server 300. This configuration can also be realized in various forms by only hardware, only software, or a combination thereof. The point management server 300 mainly includes a communication unit 302, a main control unit 304, and a storage device 306. The communication unit 302 controls communication with other devices via the Internet 20. The storage device 306 stores various databases necessary for the operation of the point management server 300. The point database 320 stores the point acquisition status of each user.

The point information accepting section 312 accepts from the user terminal 200 information on the point exchange, which is caused by the provision of seats. The management unit 314 updates the point database 320 based on the point information received from the user. The management unit 314 receives the number of points given and received, adds the points of the user who has handed over the seat by the number of points, and subtracts the points of the user who has taken over the seat by the number of points. Point management server 3
The management entity of 00 may give a privilege to the user when the point of the user reaches a predetermined numerical value.

With the above configuration and operation, the user
Since it is possible to grasp the reservation status of a place such as a seat and information on which seat is available and when, it is possible to appropriately secure the seat. Even for users who give up their seats, there is a merit that they can earn points by providing seats. Also, for the entity that manages the seat, part or all of the seat management work or the reservation work can be distributed to each user, so that the work load can be reduced.

The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. This embodiment is merely an example, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the combination of each constituent element and each processing process, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention.

Even if the components provided in each terminal or server are provided in a terminal or server different from the illustrated example, the same system may be realized in some cases.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, the information regarding the user's absence can be obtained from the reservation management server 100 via the user terminal 20.
0 may be notified. The function of the point management server 300 may be distributed to each user terminal 200. That is,
A point management unit and a point storage unit may be provided in the user terminal 200, and when the negotiation is established between the users, the points may be added or subtracted according to the result. In this way, the flexibility of the configuration of this system is high.

[0032]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a highly convenient reservation management technique.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a reservation management system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a flow of processing in a reservation management system.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a user terminal.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a reservation management server.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a point management server.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 reservation management system, 100 reservation management server,
112 reservation information reception unit, 114 update unit, 12
0 reservation database, 200 user terminals, 21
0 communication unit, 232 leaving information transmitter / receiver, 2
34 Away information request section, 236 Reservation application transmission / reception section,
238 notification section, 240 negotiation section, 242 selection section, 252 away information storage section, 300 point management server, 312 point information reception section, 314
Management department, 320 point database.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A first terminal owned by a user who is occupying a space, and a second terminal owned by a user who wants to occupy a space, wherein the first terminal is the first terminal. A transmission unit that transmits information indicating the time when the owner of the vehicle ends the occupation of the space to the second terminal, the second terminal acquiring the information indicating the time, and the time And a notification unit for notifying the owner of the second terminal of information indicating that the reservation management system. 2. The second terminal to the first terminal,
The reservation management system according to claim 1, further comprising a request unit that requests to transmit the information indicating the time. 3. The first terminal further includes a storage unit that stores in advance information indicating the time period, and the transmission unit includes the information indicating the time period stored in the storage unit in the first terminal. The reservation management system according to claim 1, wherein the reservation management system transmits the reservation management system to the reservation management system. 4. The first terminal further includes a reservation reception unit that receives a reservation for occupation of the venue from the second terminal, and the second terminal is connected to the first terminal to the venue. The reservation management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a reservation application unit for applying for reservation of exclusive occupation. 5. The first terminal and the second terminal further include a management unit that manages user points, and the management unit of the first terminal adds points when the reservation is accepted. 5. The reservation management system according to claim 4, wherein the management unit of the second terminal subtracts points when the reservation application is accepted. 6. The reservation management system further includes a point management server that manages user points, wherein the point management server allows the user of the first terminal to occupy the space of the user of the second terminal. 5. The management unit for adding the point of the user of the first terminal and subtracting the point of the user of the second terminal in response to the notification that the user of the second terminal has given the claim. Reservation management system. 7. The first terminal, when accepting reservations for the occupation of the venue from a plurality of the second terminals, selects a partner to which the occupation of the venue is transferred, based on a predetermined selection condition. 7. The method according to claim 4, further comprising a selection unit.
Reservation management system described in any of. 8. The selecting unit accepts, from the second terminal, presentation of the number of points to be provided to the user of the first terminal in exchange for the transfer of the occupation of the place, and refers to the number of points. The reservation management system according to claim 7, wherein a party to which the occupation of the place is given is selected. 9. The selecting unit receives personal information of a user of the second terminal from the second terminal, and refers to the personal information to select a party to transfer the occupation of the place. The reservation management system according to claim 7. 10. The reservation management system further includes a reservation management server that centrally manages the reservation status of the venue, the reservation management server, and a reservation database that stores the reservation status of the venue, Reservation according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising: an updating unit that accepts information regarding the reservation of the occupancy of the venue from the terminal or the second terminal and updates the reservation database. Management system. 11. A terminal which can be carried by a user, and which shows a communication unit for controlling wireless communication with another terminal, and a time when the user occupies a place occupied by the user via the communication unit. A transmission unit that transmits information to another terminal, and a terminal. 12. A terminal that is portable to a user, and a communication unit that controls wireless communication with another terminal, and a time when the occupation of a place occupied by another user ends via the communication unit. The terminal including: an acquisition unit configured to acquire information indicating the information from the terminal of the user; and a notification unit configured to notify the user of the information indicating the time.