JP2004005121A - Support system for problem consultation - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system supporting the creation of a consultation sentence and the creation of an answer to consultation when consulting by the use of an electronic mail to allow everyone to lightly consult an expert. <P>SOLUTION: This support system for the problem consultation creates an answer sentence to a question of a person seeking the consultation by the electronic mail, and answers the person seeking the consultation. The support system has a database wherein a professional word and phrase included in the consultation sentence of a problem from the person seeking the consultation, and information about the professional word or phrase and the meaning of the professional word or phrase used when creating the answer sentence are registered in pairs. When creating the consultation sentence and/or the answer sentence, the professional word or phrase, and the information about the professional word or phrase and the meaning of the professional word or phrase can be accessed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a problem consultation support system, and more particularly, to a problem consultation support system in which, in response to a consultant's question by e-mail, an answer sentence is created and the consultant is answered by e-mail.
[0002]
[Prior art]
When a person encounters a problem in their daily life or a specific task, they would like to use books and the Internet to solve the problem, as well as consult with experts related to the problem, including mental solutions. It is often seen that it creates desire.
[0003]
For example, a person with a pre-existing condition may be more likely to experience this pre-existing condition, so besides physical examination by consultation or medication, a physician must be identified (e.g. She is receiving mental treatment, such as confirmation and guidance on living in the future. That is, these people routinely consult with specific experts.
[0004]
In addition, counselors and other occupations are part of their occupations to receive specific professional consultations with reasonable financial rewards.
[0005]
In the form of these consultations, consultations are conducted using telephones, letters, e-mails, etc., in cases where the persons themselves meet and speak orally, or because of intimacy and financial arrangements. It is.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional form of consultation, the person who received the consultation (the respondent) listens to the consultation of the consultant (reads), interprets the contents of the consultation, and provides the optimal answer from the knowledge of the consultant respondent. And responded verbally or in writing. Therefore, the burden on consultation respondents per consultation is large. As a result, in the case of a fee, the cost per consultation is high, and it is difficult for consultants to easily consult.
[0007]
On the other hand, even if a problem can be solved by a simple exchange between the consultant and the consultant, the consultant excessively responds to the problem and requests unnecessarily expert help. There are cases.
[0008]
For example, with the recent progress of nuclear families, an increasing number of women live separately from their parents and become mothers of infants. Such mothers do not have access to a solution for their childcare problems. Therefore, regardless of the size of the problem, they will consult with pediatrics. However, the number of pediatrics has been decreasing year by year, and there are many waiting queues at hospitals. If a major problem occurs, the possibility that the solution will be delayed may increase.
[0009]
Furthermore, when consulting with another person, it is difficult to find a specialist who is appropriate for the content of the consultation (eg, there is no nearby counselor). This also burdens the consultant and hinders obtaining an appropriate answer to the consultation.
[0010]
The present invention has been made with the aim of solving the above problems, and supports the creation of a consultation sentence and the preparation of a response to a consultation when consulting using e-mail. The purpose is to provide a system for consulting the house.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention provides a problem consultation support system for creating an answer sentence and responding to a counselor by e-mail in response to a counselor's question by e-mail in order to achieve the above object. It has a database in which the specialized words included in the consultation sentence of the problem and information related to the specialized words are registered in pairs, and when creating the answer, Provided is a problem consultation support system characterized in that information related to a phrase is accessible.
[0012]
According to the present invention, it is possible to have a database in which a specialized phrase included in a consultation sentence of a problem from a consultant and information related to the specialized phrase are registered and paired, and these are accessible. Therefore, it is easy to create an answer sentence, and the burden on consultation respondents can be greatly reduced.
[0013]
In the present invention, it is preferable that, when creating the consultation sentence, the user is prompted to input the specialized word into a fixed form sentence of the consultation sentence prepared in advance. In this way, if the user is prompted to input a specialized word in the prepared fixed form of the consultation sentence, the burden on the consultant can be greatly reduced, and the consultant can also respond easily. .
[0014]
Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that, when creating the answer sentence, information relating to the specialized phrase is automatically output to a prepared fixed sentence of the answer sentence. As described above, if the answer content is automatically output to the fixed sentence of the answer sentence, the burden on the consultant can be greatly reduced.
[0015]
Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the consultation respondent can correct and / or add the answer text before replying the created answer text to the consultant. In this way, if the respondent can correct or add the answer before returning the answer, it will be a more accurate answer by the expert.
[0016]
As described above, according to the present invention, in the early stage of consultation (primary care), a consultant can easily consult without worrying about the character and skills of the respondent. Confirmation / correction of the prepared answer text and addition of only the items that require special mention can complete the answer text with low man-hours.
[0017]
Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that, when a consultation sentence created by using an unregistered phrase is received, information can be collected using an external search engine. As described above, when an external search engine is used when a consultation sentence using a specialized phrase not registered in the system is received, information collection becomes easy.
[0018]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a problem consultation support system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an entire system to which a problem consultation support system according to the present invention (hereinafter, abbreviated as “the present support system”) is applied. 1 is a facility 12 on the provider side of the present support system, a home 14 (user's client PC) of a user who is a consultant, and a server center connected to a server 20 in the facility 12. 16 and the Internet 18 connecting the facility 12 and each home 14 (only one is shown).
[0019]
The provider's facility 12 is composed of a server 20 on which the present support system is mounted and terminals (PCs) 22 of a plurality of specialists. The server 20 and the terminals 22, 22,... Are connected by a communication infrastructure such as a LAN. The server 20 in the facility 12 on the system provider side may be connected to the server 16A of the server center 16 provided by the system manufacturer via a dedicated line or the like. This form is generally called B to B to C, and the system manufacturer performs maintenance such as addition / update of information contents of the server 20 in the facility 12 on the system provider side.
[0020]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a part of FIG. 1 in detail, and shows a related state of data. A user (consultant) uses the present support system via the Internet 18 from a terminal of the home 14 (user's client PC). When the user creates a question sentence (consultation sentence), first, the user refers to a collection of technical phrases (technical phrase database) 26 such as the transmission fixed phrase 24 of the support system (step S1). In the phrase collection, specialized phrases that can be used for questions are registered in advance. This technical term database 26 is provided by the present support system.
[0021]
The storage location of the technical term database 26 has been downloaded in advance in the figure, and shows a state where it is installed on the client (consultant) side. However, if there is room in the communication line, it may be installed on the server 20 side of the facility 12 on the provider side of the support system, and only necessary words and phrases may be downloaded to the client (consultant) side. A question e-mail 28 is created using the transmission fixed form sentence 24 (step S2). If there is no target phrase in the fixed phrase for transmission 24, the user freely enters a sentence to create the question e-mail 28 in the same manner as a normal e-mail.
[0022]
The created question e-mail 28 is transmitted to the server 20 of the facility 12 (step S3). The transmitted e-mail is received by the server 20 (step S4), and the contents of the question are first analyzed by a function called a consultation analysis engine 30 (step S5). The consultation analysis engine 30 is a data group referred to as a specialized information database 32, 32, in which answers to questions are registered in advance. This data group corresponds to the above-mentioned fixed phrase for transmission.
[0023]
When a phrase not in the technical phrase database 26 is described in the question e-mail 28, the support system uses an external search engine (for example, a robot-type Internet search engine, a search engine for existing products, etc.) for searching the Internet 18 or the like. Words are automatically collected using the command line 34 (step S6).
[0024]
The information collected by the specialized information databases 32, 32... And the automatic Internet search (automatic patrol) is automatically copied to a fixed reply sentence 36 and described in an answer template 38 (step S7). The answer template 38 of the answer is data registered in advance or information automatically searched, so that the particle or the like is basically inappropriate.
[0025]
In addition, since the present support system employs automatic mechanical analysis, accurate answers to questions cannot be guaranteed (that is, the present support system does not include automatic grammar recognition). Therefore, when replying the reply e-mail 40, the expert refers to the reply e-mail 40 as a final check, and corrects / adds if necessary (step S8). Thereafter, the reply e-mail 40 is sent to the consultant via the Internet 18 (step S9).
[0026]
By the above method, the counselor can create an easy-to-answer question sentence without a great deal of labor (because this support system automatically performs this). In addition, since the consultant only needs to check the text of the answer template 38 of the answer in a state where the answer to the question has been completed to some extent, the burden of answering the consultation can be greatly reduced.
[0027]
In addition, among the results searched by the Internet search engine 34, the contents which are not corrected or corrected by the expert are registered in the special information database again (step S10). The registered answer question (question e-mail 28) is also registered in the transmission fixed phrase (step S10).
[0028]
The server center 16 can update the specialized information databases 32, 32,... And increase the number of questions and answers (step S11).
[0029]
FIG. 3 shows an example of the transmission fixed phrase 24, the specialized information database 32, and the like. The illustrated one is an example of the transmission fixed phrase 24 and the specialized information database 32 in the child care consultation. The genres of consultation on child care include discipline, illness, meals, and play, and are registered in advance as a genre database (DB) 50.
[0030]
Each genre has a database 52, 52... In which details related to the genre are further registered. For example, in the discipline state database 52, specialized words such as night crying and unbalanced eating are registered. In the disease state database 52, specialized terms such as fever and eczema are registered. Depending on the content of the consultation in the technical term database 26 of the home 14, a more detailed database can be prepared to specify the content of the consultation in more detail.
[0031]
On the other hand, in the specialized information database 32 of the facility 12, answers for all combinations of the databases constituting the specialized phrase database 26 of the home 14 are registered in advance (Answer 1 to Answer 6 ...). For example, in answer 1, "Let's try to make regular breastfeeding intervals of about 3 hours?"
[0032]
In the display of “consultation content” in FIG. 3, words in the right frame described as “genre” and “state” are input by referring to the genre database 50, and in addition to words not present in the genre database 50. It is also possible to input directly. In this case, an Internet search is performed using the description on the left side of the frame as a guide to create an answer.
[0033]
Further, in the display of "consultation content" in FIG. 3, the frame in the right side described as "details" is a portion for creating a free question sentence, which is transmitted to the consultation respondent in the same manner as a normal e-mail.
[0034]
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow of the consultation analysis engine. The consultation analysis engine 30 first automatically analyzes the consultation of the received (step S4) question e-mail 28 (step S5). The consultation sentence is composed of a part in which the genre and state are described in a fixed format (a fixed sentence provided by the system), and a part of a freely created sentence (a non-fixed sentence) corresponding to the above “details” section. Have been.
[0035]
The consultation analysis engine 30 first separates the fixed sentence from the fixed sentence (step S5-1). Since the atypical sentence cannot be automatically analyzed, a column that the respondent describes by hand is automatically created (step S5-2). It is determined whether the fixed phrase is a word registered in advance or not registered (step S5-3). If it is a registered word, an answer is extracted with reference to the specialized information database 32 (step S5-4). For unregistered words, answer information is collected by word search on the Internet (step S5-5).
[0036]
Next, the response format corresponding to the transmission fixed phrase is output with reference to the reply fixed phrase database 36 (step S5-6). The result of the above-mentioned automatic analysis, the answer information collected from the Internet, and a manual input field are added to this format to form an answer template 38 (step S5-7).
[0037]
The respondent (expert) refers to the answer template 38 together with the consultation sentence (question email 28), adds and corrects if necessary, creates a reply email 40 (step S8), and A reply is sent (step S9).
[0038]
【Example】
Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a problem consultation support system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. As a first embodiment, an example will be described in which a system user (consultant) is a mother having an infant and a system provider (consultant respondent) is a pediatric doctor and nurse. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment. Note that the same or similar elements as those in FIGS. 1 to 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.
[0039]
In the figure, an image (agent) displayed as an image is shown on the client PC of the home 14 so that, for example, there is a nurse for consultation in the computer. When creating the fixed phrase for transmission 24, the agent guides the words registered in the system in a conversational manner so as to be easily selected.
[0040]
With this agent, the consultant can abstract the consultation partner (consultant respondent) to an unspecified person, and in the stage of primary care, the effect of being able to consult casually without worrying about the partner can be expected.
[0041]
The e-mail (question e-mail 28) received at the pediatric department corresponding to the facility 12 is an answer template 38 (see FIG. 2) automatically created by the support system by a doctor, a nurse, or a dedicated person who is a consultation respondent of the facility 12. , And if necessary, add / modify it to make a reply e-mail 40 and return it to the consultant.
[0042]
In addition, the consultation respondent can give an answer from anywhere other than within the pediatric facility 12 as long as connection with the server 20 is possible (for example, the terminal (PC) 22a, 22a. use).
[0043]
As a second embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a dedicated terminal (communication robot) specialized in an agent function will be described. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment. Note that the same or similar elements as those in FIGS. 1 to 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.
[0044]
Usually, a function of a robot for communication has a sensor for collecting voices and images in the robot, and a reaction when a user performs some action on the robot is programmed in the robot. With this program, the user strokes and talks to the robot, and feels emotion and pleasure in the reaction (movement, voice, etc.) of the robot.
[0045]
However, the built-in program has a limit in its behavior, and the user is immediately bored with the same reaction alone.
[0046]
In the case where the problem consultation support system according to the present invention is applied to the communication robot 60, the fixed form for transmission includes various sensors (voice sensors, video sensors, On / Off sensors, etc.) (not shown) built in the communication robot 60. Is replaced by a signal.
[0047]
That is, the present embodiment is a communication robot that performs a reaction with respect to an action by a user, in which action information, which is a signal obtained from a detector by the action of the user, and reaction information when the reaction is performed. A communication robot having a database registered as a pair, wherein, when the action is performed, a reaction is automatically performed based on reaction information from the database.
[0048]
In the present embodiment, sensor information is analyzed by the sensor analysis engine 30 (corresponding to a consultation analysis engine), and a requested reaction is automatically selected (corresponding to step S7 in FIG. 2).
[0049]
When there is reaction information on the server 20 side, if it is expected that execution of a reaction for a user (corresponding to a consultant) is delayed depending on the communication infrastructure (the Internet 18 or the like), a general reaction is It may be registered in the communication robot 60 in advance.
[0050]
Here, by updating the contents of the database 32 (corresponding to the dedicated information database) in which the reaction information is stored by the system provider (corresponding to step S11 in FIG. 2), the communication robot that the user does not get tired of 60.
[0051]
As described above, the example of the embodiment of the problem consultation support system according to the present invention has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the example of the above embodiment, and various modes can be adopted.
[0052]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a database in which a specialized phrase included in a consultation sentence of a problem from a consultant and information related to the specialized phrase are registered. Since these are accessible, it is easy to create a response sentence, and the burden on consultation respondents can be greatly reduced. In addition, if the user is prompted to input a specialized phrase when creating a consultation sentence, the burden on the consultant can be greatly reduced, and as a result, anyone can easily consult with a specialist.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a system to which the present invention is applied; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a part of FIG. 1 in detail; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a fixed phrase for transmission and a specialized information database; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a consultation analysis engine. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment.
10: Overall system, 12: Facility, 14: Home, 16: Server center, 18: Internet, 20: Server, 22: Terminal

Claims (5)

This is a problem consultation support system that creates an answer sentence and responds to the consultant by e-mail in response to the consultant's question by e-mail.
It has a database in which a professional phrase included in a consultation sentence of a problem from a consultant and information related to the specialized phrase are registered,
A problem consultation support system, wherein, when creating the answer sentence, information related to the specialized phrase is accessible. 2. The problem consultation support system according to claim 1, wherein when the consultation sentence is created, an input of the specialized word is urged to a prepared fixed phrase of the consultation sentence. 3. The problem according to claim 1, wherein, when creating the answer sentence, information relating to the specialized phrase is automatically output to a prepared fixed sentence of the answer sentence. 4. Point consultation support system. 4. The problem consultation support system according to claim 3, wherein the consultation respondent can correct and / or add the answer text before replying the prepared answer text to the consultant. 5. The problem according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein when receiving a consultation sentence made using an unregistered phrase, information can be collected using an external search engine. Point consultation support system.

Images