JP2004112617A - Material distribution method in video conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To share material data to be used in a video conference using a simple method and also in a manner, without loading a line. <P>SOLUTION: A list of prospective participants in a conference is registered onto a video conference participation DB (database) in a reservation group server 20, when a reservation registering part 11 of a terminal station 1 makes a reservation for the video conference. When a material registration part 12 of the terminal station 1 registers material data 62 into a storage area 62 on the server 20, a material processing part 26 acquires e-mail addresses of the prospective participants from a conference participation DB 24 and embeds a list of the e-mail addresses onto the material data 62. When the material data 62 are delivered to a distribution part 27 with a predetermined timing, the distribution part 27 develops the list of the e-mail addresses and sends the material data 62 to the e-mail addresses included in the list of the e-mail addresses. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for sharing material data in a video conference system.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art There is a video conference system that performs bidirectional or multipoint communication by videophone or voice (IP) telephone using a network such as the Internet or a telephone line.
[0003]
In the services provided by the video conference system, such as distance learning and consultation, the terminal stations used by teachers, students, chairs, consultants, consultants, etc., who are participants in the video conference, may share materials with each other. .
[0004]
Conventionally, the following methods exist for sharing materials in a video conference.
1) Material sharing using Web
2) Sharing by using a multipurpose information exchange board
3) Application sharing
In the methods 1) and 2), a Web page or still image data is transmitted from a terminal station during a video conference to another terminal station.
[0005]
The method 3) differs from the methods 1) and 2) in that the terminal mutually prepares a material file in advance. Then, in each terminal, an application related to the material file is started. In this application, it is possible to share mouse and menu selection operations with each other by exchanging operation information of mouse and menu selection between terminal stations via a network.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
<Issues of material distribution before the meeting>
The method 3) requires a process in which each terminal station prepares a material file in advance. In this process, no special method is used. For example, a method of sending a file in advance of a conference using an electronic mail or the like is used.
[0007]
When a multi-point video conference is to be held by three or more participants, generally, the participants do not freely connect with each other, but at a location virtually set on a server on the network, for example, a virtual location. A video conference is held when each prospective participant simultaneously accesses a meeting room, a virtual classroom, and a virtual open space (patio).
[0008]
In the case of so-called video conferencing in a company or the like, the chairperson or convenor often calls each prospective participant electronically or physically, for example, by e-mail or telephone. And so on. At the time of convening, an operation to determine the convened person is performed from a list (database) of employees belonging to the company or its section.
[0009]
Then, in order to distribute materials necessary for the conference to each prospective participant before the video conference is held, electronic files (words (R) ), Excel (R), PowerPoint (R), PDF, videos and photos) must be manually distributed electronically (emails etc.) or physically (disks etc.).
[0010]
In addition, if the participant changes in the middle, or if there is someone present on behalf of the participant, the materials must be manually transferred to the prospective participant after the change. , Very inconvenient.
[0011]
<Material distribution during the meeting>
Also, it may be necessary to send materials during the meeting. For example, in the case of making a design decision in a meeting, etc., it is not possible to send materials in advance for the contents to be finally decided in the meeting. Others, such as questionnaires and test questions, are not desirable to be sent in advance. Alternatively, certain materials may be required temporarily during a meeting. Furthermore, the members who participate in the conference may not be determined in advance.
[0012]
Therefore, the process of sending materials during the meeting is essential. However, the above methods 1) and 2) involve transmitting a material file (eg, Word (R), Excel (R), PowerPoint (R), PDF, etc.) having a large amount of data. It may affect the video and audio communication bands used in the conference. Therefore, it is not preferable to use these methods while the video conference is in progress.
[0013]
In the case of videoconferencing, video and audio conversations are conducted over the Internet while using a specific line capacity, so sending materials may cause deterioration in video / audio communication performance. This causes the image to stop.
[0014]
Conventionally, for a material to be sent during a conference, a method using a still image having a relatively small capacity, a method of transmitting only Web page URL information to a partner terminal, and downloading a page using a protocol such as HTTP at the partner terminal are used. In order to minimize the influence on the line capacity by taking the above method, a method has been adopted. For this reason, there are restrictions on the form of materials that can be distributed during the meeting.
[0015]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to easily share materials at various timings, such as before or during a conference, using a simple method that does not impose a load on the line capacity.
[0016]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 is a method for distributing material data in a video conference system, comprising: a) managing a mail address of a prospective participant for each reserved video conference; , B) a step of storing material data for each video conference in a predetermined storage area in a time zone before the video conference is held; and c) storing material data in a time zone before the video conference is held. Generating an e-mail address list of prospective participants of the video conference using the material data, and embedding the e-mail address list in the material data; and d) delivering the mail at a predetermined timing before the video conference is held. The functional unit receives the material data in which the mail address list is embedded, and sends the resource to the mail address of each prospective participant. A step of sending the data, characterized in that it comprises a.
[0017]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the method for distributing materials in the video conference system according to the first aspect, the predetermined timing in the step d) can be selectively set.
[0018]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of distributing material data in a video conference system, comprising: a) managing a mail address of a prospective participant for each reserved video conference; and b) holding a video conference. A step of storing the material data for each video conference in a predetermined storage area in a time zone before the video conference is performed, and c) a case where a change occurs in a prospective participant in a time zone before the video conference is held. Sending the material data to the e-mail address of the prospective participant after the change.
[0019]
The invention according to claim 4 is a method for distributing material data in a video conference system, wherein a) a step of managing reservation information of prospective participants for each reserved video conference, and b) a video conference is held. Storing the video data for each video conference in a predetermined storage area in a time zone before the video conference is performed, and c) obtaining the material data from the prospective participants in a time zone before the video conference is held. Upon receiving the request, by referring to the reservation information, identify the video conference that the prospective attendee of the acquisition request is to participate in, and enable only the material data corresponding to the video conference to be viewed, It is characterized by having.
[0020]
The invention according to claim 5 is a method for distributing material data in a video conference system, comprising: a) a step of storing material data for a video conference in a predetermined storage area; and b) each scheduled participation in the video conference. Receiving a connection request from a user to a video conference, c) obtaining a network address of the connection request source, and d) performing a video conference connection process with the connection request source and transmitting video and audio data. Transmitting the material data to the network address of the connection request source before the actual conference by the exchange is started.
[0021]
The invention according to claim 6 is a method for distributing material data in a video conference system including a terminal station and a base station for relaying and transmitting video and audio data transmitted from each terminal station to another terminal station. A) holding a video conference and exchanging video and audio data between the terminal stations; and b) during the video conference, one terminal station transmits video and audio data to the base station. On the other hand, the one terminal station directly transmits material data used in a video conference to another terminal station without passing through the base station.
[0022]
The invention according to claim 7 is the method for distributing materials in a video conference according to claim 6, further comprising: b-1) transmitting the material data to the base station when directly transmitting the material data to another terminal station. Performing a thinning process of an image.
[0023]
The invention according to claim 8 is the method for distributing materials in a video conference according to claim 6 or claim 7, further comprising: b-2) when transmitting the material data directly to another terminal station, Performing a process of thinning out a voice to be transmitted to the station.
[0024]
The invention according to claim 9 is a method for distributing material data in a video conference system, wherein: a) a video conference is held and a log of the video conference is recorded; and b) after the video conference is held. , Referring to the log and transmitting material data to the participants of the video conference.
[0025]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0026]
FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of the video conference system. The video conference system includes a plurality of terminal stations 1 that exchange video and audio data with each other, receives video and audio data transmitted from each terminal station 1 via a network such as the Internet, and receives the received video and audio data. And a base station 2 for relaying data to another terminal station 1. In the figure, four terminal stations 1A to 1D exchange video and audio data via a base station 2 and hold a video conference.
[0027]
In the video conference system, each terminal station 1 performs a conference while exchanging video and audio in real time. In a video conference, material data (word processing data, image data, graph data, etc.) referred to by conference participants is distributed via a network. Each participant in the teleconference communicates by exchanging video and audio, and proceeds with the conference while referring to the distributed materials. The timing of distribution of this material data varies, such as before and during the video conference. In the present invention, an appropriate distribution method is realized according to the distribution time of the material data.
[0028]
<1. How to distribute materials before holding a video conference>
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing functional blocks of the terminal station 1 and the base station 2. First, a reservation registration unit 11 in the terminal station 1 performs a reservation process for participation in a video conference. When a processing start request is issued from the reservation registration unit 11 to the reservation processing unit 21 provided in the reservation system server 20 of the base station 2, the reservation processing unit 21 acquires the current reservation information by referring to the reservation DB 23, The obtained summary information is returned to the reservation registration unit 11.
[0029]
Upon receiving the current reservation information, the reservation registration unit 11 displays a conference room reservation screen 51 as shown in FIG. The conference room reservation screen 51 has a role of displaying current reservation information and a function of inputting a reservation for a new conference room.
[0030]
Here, it is assumed that three virtual meeting rooms (meeting room 1 to meeting room 3) are registered in the reservation DB 23. Accordingly, on the conference room reservation screen 51, reservation information on the conference rooms 1 to 3 is displayed.
[0031]
Here, when the operator of the terminal station 1 mouse-clicks a reservation column of any conference room on the conference room reservation screen 51 (FIG. 3 shows a state where the reservation column of the conference room 1 is clicked. 4), a participant selection screen 52 as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed.
[0032]
On the participant selection screen 52, a list of all users called from the user DB 30 is displayed. In the user DB 30, a list of all users who can participate in the video conference (for example, an employee list in the case of a company) is registered. In the user DB 30, a mail address of each user is registered.
[0033]
Here, the operator of the terminal station 1 selects a conference participant from the user list using a mouse or the like. In FIG. 4, a mark is displayed in the “selection” column 521 for the selected user. Assuming that the maximum number of participants in this video conference system or the virtual conference room is four, the number of participants other than the convener itself, that is, up to three marks can be displayed in the "selection" column. . Alternatively, if another third party (such as a secretary) is allowed to be called by proxy, the maximum number of participants, that is, up to four marks, may be displayed.
[0034]
After selecting a prospective participant in the conference, the operator of the terminal station 1 selects the material registration button 522, so that the reservation information of the conference is registered in the reservation DB 23. Further, information of each selected prospective participant is registered in the conference participation DB 24. In the conference participation DB 24, identification information such as an ID number of a prospective participant is registered. The registration information of each prospective participant can be acquired by referring to the user DB 30 using the identification information as a key. The information registered in the user DB 30 may be appropriately extracted and registered in the conference participation DB 24.
[0035]
In this manner, the reservation information is registered in the reservation DB 23 in units of conferences, and the identification information of the prospective participants for each reserved conference is registered in the conference participation DB 24.
[0036]
At the point in time when the reservation information of the conference is registered, the prospective participants can register the material data 62 (shown in FIG. 2 and the like). The material registration unit 12 of the terminal station 1 transfers the material data 62 to the base station 2 by a predetermined operation performed by a prospective conference participant. A protocol such as FTP or HTTP is used for the transfer. In the base station 2, the material data 62 is registered in the storage area 25 of the reservation server 20.
[0037]
Here, the material data 62 registered in the storage area 25 is managed for each reserved conference. The management method is not particularly limited. For example, a separate folder may be provided for each meeting and stored, or information for specifying the meeting may be embedded as header information of the material data. Good.
[0038]
When the material data 62 is registered in the storage area 25 in this way, the material processing unit 26 included in the reservation server 20 performs the process of embedding the mail address list 61 in the material data 62.
[0039]
The mail address list embedding process will be described with reference to FIGS. When the material data 62 managed for each conference is registered, a list of prospective participants for each conference has already been registered in the conference participation DB 24. The material processing unit 26 acquires a list of prospective participants of the conference corresponding to the registered material data 62 by referring to the conference participation DB 24.
[0040]
The confirmation screen 53 shown in FIG. 5 is a screen for referring to a list of prospective participants registered in the conference participation DB 24. This confirmation screen 53 can be referred to from the terminal station 1 at an arbitrary timing. For example, before transferring the material data 62 to the base station 2, the operator of the terminal station 1 can refer to the confirmation screen 53 and confirm the prospective participant to whom the material is to be distributed.
[0041]
Upon acquiring the list of prospective participants, the material processing unit 26 searches the user DB 30 using the identification information of each prospective participant registered in the prospective participant list as a key, and enters the e-mail address of each prospective participant. Then, a mail address list 61 of the prospective participants is generated.
[0042]
Further, the material processing section 26 embeds the mail address list 61 in the material data 62 as shown in FIG. As the embedding process, for example, there is a method of writing the mail address list 61 in the header portion of the material data 62, a method of writing in the right holder description area, or a method of writing in a general-purpose area open to the user.
[0043]
In addition to writing the mail address list 61 directly into the material data 62, link information that can refer to the mail address may be embedded.
[0044]
Next, the material processing unit 26 copies the material data 62 in which the mail address list 61 is embedded into a predetermined reference area provided in the distribution unit 27 at a predetermined timing. The predetermined timing can be selected from options prepared as described later. Here, for example, it is assumed that the timing at which the material data 62 is copied is at the time of a meeting notification. The time of the conference notification is a time period in which a confirmation notification of the video conference is given to each prospective participant prior to the holding of the video conference.
[0045]
When the material data 62 is copied to the reference area provided in the distribution unit 27, as shown in FIG. 7, the distribution unit 27 acquires the mail address list 61 and performs address expansion (pre-mail transmission processing).
[0046]
Further, the distribution unit 27 has a mail transmission function, and transmits a mail with the material data 62 attached to each of the expanded mail addresses (mail automatic distribution).
[0047]
In this way, the distribution unit 27 performs the automatic distribution of the e-mail triggered by the copy of the material data 62 ((1) in FIG. 7), so that the distribution of the material data 62 to each prospective participant is performed. It can be automated. By adjusting the time zone for copying the material data 62, the time zone for automatic distribution can be adjusted.
[0048]
Since the process of embedding the mail address list 61 in the material data 62 is performed, even if the process of copying the material data 62 is performed, the mail address list 61 moves as a set, so that the subsequent process is simplified. Things.
[0049]
In the above-described processing, the material data 62 is automatically distributed by e-mail with the trigger that the material data 62 is copied to the reference area of the distribution unit 27 as a trigger. As another method, in the present embodiment, the material data 62 is distributed with the update of the conference participation DB 24 as a trigger ((2) in FIG. 7).
[0050]
As described above, the list of prospective participants for each conference is registered in the conference participation DB 24. According to the method of distributing the material data 62 ((1) in FIG. 7), the distribution of the material data 62 is performed with the copying of the material data 62 as a trigger. In the case where a planner is added, it is necessary to additionally distribute the material data 62 to the planned conference participant.
[0051]
Therefore, upon acquiring the update information of the conference participation DB 24, the material processing unit 26 checks whether there is material data 62 already delivered for the meeting to be updated, and checks the material data already delivered. If the data 62 exists, the material data 62 is retransmitted to the updated prospective participant. At this time, the material data 62 may be distributed only to the added prospective participants.
[0052]
By performing such processing, even when a change is made to a prospective participant in the conference, a complicated operation such as manually transferring the material data 62 to the prospective participant after the change can be omitted. .
[0053]
As described above, before the video conference is held, the distribution unit 27 distributes the material data 62 to each prospective participant. In the present embodiment, the material data 62 is distributed by the request from the terminal station 1 side. It is also possible to browse.
[0054]
When the operator of the terminal station 1 performs a predetermined operation, the browsing unit 13 provided in the terminal station 1 sends a browsing request of the material to the material processing unit 26. At this time, the browsing unit 13 notifies the material processing unit 26 of the identification information of the browsing request source user.
[0055]
The material processing unit 26 searches the conference participation DB 24 based on the identification information of the user who has made the browsing request, and specifies the conference for which the user has reserved participation. Then, the material processing unit 26 refers to the storage area 25, confirms the existence of the material data 62 registered for the specified conference, and specifies the material data 62 specified in the predetermined storage area of the material processing unit 26. Is stored. At this time, the material processing unit 26 generates a folder for each user and stores the link information 62a in each folder.
[0056]
Thus, the browsing unit 13 can refer to the material data 62 stored in the storage area 25 using the link information 62a in the folder.
[0057]
For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a case in which the meeting in which Jiro Suzuki is scheduled to participate is identified as a meeting at X time on August 24 and a meeting at Y time on August 31. When the material data 62 regarding these two meetings is registered in the storage area 25, two link information 62a are generated in the folder of Mr. Jiro Suzuki generated in the material processing unit 26. When the browsing unit 13 accesses the link information 62a, it is possible to refer to the material data 62 for the conference at the link destinations of August 24 X and August 31 Y. If the meeting scheduled to be attended by Mr. Natsuhiko Kato is only the meeting at Y on August 31, one link information 62b is generated as shown in the figure.
[0058]
<2. How to distribute materials just before the video conference is held>
The method of distributing the material described above is a pre-processing before a video conference is held. Next, a method of distributing materials when a video conference is held (immediately before the conference) will be described.
[0059]
When the time for holding the conference reserved in the reservation DB 23 comes, the conference connection unit 16 of each terminal station 1 performs a connection process to the relay server 40 of the base station 2.
[0060]
In the relay system server 40, upon receiving the connection request, first, the authentication processing unit 41 performs an authentication process of the connection request source. The authentication process is performed based on the password transmitted from the conference connection unit 16 and the like.
[0061]
If the authentication is successful, the process is passed to the relay control unit 42. The relay control unit 42 specifies the connection request source user by referring to the user DB 30 based on the authentication information.
[0062]
Then, based on the specified user information, the relay processing unit 42 refers to the reservation DB 23 and the conference participation DB 24, specifies a virtual conference to be connected, and notifies the conference connection unit 16 of the connection destination information.
[0063]
Upon receiving this notification, the audio / video transmission / reception unit 17 of the terminal station 1 performs a connection process to the audio / video relay processing unit 44 of the relay server 40, whereby a session is established and the connection state of the video conference is completed.
[0064]
Then, the authentication processing unit 41 acquires the IP address of the connection request source, and notifies the material processing unit 26 of the specific information of the conference to which the prospective participant connects and the acquired IP address.
[0065]
The material processing unit 26 acquires the corresponding material data 62 from the material data 62 registered in the storage area 25 based on the notified specific information of the meeting. Then, the distribution unit 27 transfers the material data 62 acquired by the material processing unit 26 to the IP address acquired by the material processing unit 26 as a destination. This transfer process uses a protocol such as FTP or HTTP.
[0066]
The process of distributing the material is performed immediately after the terminal station 1 performs the connection process, that is, immediately before the conference is held and the data is exchanged by video and audio. Therefore, it is necessary to distribute data such as questionnaires, examination questions, and decision-making items that are not allowed to be distributed before the meeting (such as one hour before or the day before, such as a certain period before the meeting starts). Are suitable.
[0067]
Since it is immediately before the data exchange by video and audio is actually performed, there is no adverse effect on the band for the call processing of the video and audio. In addition, since communication is performed between the reservation server 20 and the terminal station 1, which are different systems from the video and audio sessions set up between the relay server 40 and the terminal station 1, the video Thus, the influence of the voice on the band is reduced.
[0068]
<3. How to distribute materials during a video conference>
Next, a method of distributing materials in a state where a video conference is in progress while actually exchanging video and audio data will be described.
[0069]
As described above, the material data 62 is distributed from the base station 2 to each terminal station 1 before the start of the conference or in a time zone immediately before the start. However, in a state where a conference is actually held and video and audio data are exchanged, it is necessary to secure a communication band for video and audio in order to maintain a smooth progress of the video conference.
[0070]
As described above, when the connection process of the video conference is performed, the base station 2 can acquire the IP address of the terminal station 1 that has issued the connection request. Therefore, when the base station 2 notifies each terminal station 1 of the IP address of each terminal station 1, each terminal station 1 can acquire each other's IP address.
[0071]
Then, in a state where the video conference is actually started and data exchange of video and audio is being performed, the material transmitting / receiving unit 15 of each terminal station 1 transmits the peer information between the terminal stations 1 without passing through the base station 2. The data data 62 is exchanged at the to-peer. A broken line shown in FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an exchange route of the material data 62 during the video conference. By performing such processing, the base station 2 can reduce not only the load on the line but also the load on the CPU processing of the relay processing.
[0072]
The above processing can reduce the load on the line in the base station 2, but the line on the terminal station 1 side affects the communication band. Specifically, on the transmission side of the material data 62, the bandwidth of the uplink is limited, and on the reception side of the material data 62, the bandwidth of the downlink is limited. Therefore, the transmission and reception of the material data 62 affect the data exchange of video and audio.
[0073]
Therefore, when the base station 1 transmits the material data 62 by the material transmitting unit 15, the thinning processing unit 18 included in the video / audio processing unit 17 performs the thinning processing of the transmission image (for example, the method of reducing the frame rate, the resolution, or the like). To reduce the amount of transmission data. Alternatively, the decimation processing unit 18 performs the decimation processing of the transmission voice (for example, there is a method of reducing a silent region or a method of reducing a sampling bit rate or a quantization bit rate) to reduce the amount of transmission data. It is.
[0074]
In this way, when transmitting the material data 62, the amount of video and audio data to be transmitted and received is reduced, and a smooth video conference can be performed. Generally, in a broadband network, the capacity in the up direction is small and the capacity in the down direction is large, so that the method of limiting the band on the transmission side is effective.
[0075]
The video / audio relay processing unit 44 of the relay system server 40 also includes a thinning processing unit 45. Thereby, the relay server 40 may perform the thinning processing of the video or audio. Specifically, the relay system server 40 performs a thinning process on the video or audio data to be relayed to the terminal station 1 that receives the material data 62 among the video or audio data to be relayed. The thinning process may be the same as the above-described process on the base station 1 side.
[0076]
As described above, performing the thinning process on the base station 2 side has a drawback that a processing load is applied on the base station 2 side, but the load on the line (downlink line) with the terminal station 1 on the receiving side is reduced. It is possible to reduce it.
[0077]
<4. How to distribute materials after the meeting>
At the end of the video conference, the log of the video conference is recorded in the conference LOG 43 of the relay server 40. Here, information (participant identification information, e-mail address, etc.) regarding the participants who have participated in the video conference is recorded.
[0078]
Therefore, even after the conference, it is possible to obtain the information of the final participant who actually participated in the conference by referring to the conference LOG43.
[0079]
Then, by using the conference LOG43, the minutes and the poster data can be automatically distributed. The distribution method is described in <1. Method of Distributing Materials Before Holding Video Conference> is substantially the same as the method described in <1. That is, when the material data 62 such as the minutes is registered in the storage area 25 after the end of the meeting, the material processing unit 26 embeds the mail address list 61. However, in the above-described method, the mail address of the prospective participant in the conference is acquired by referring to the conference participation DB 24. However, in this processing, the final conference participation is performed by referring to the conference LOG 43. The e-mail address list 61 is generated by acquiring the e-mail address of the user.
[0080]
Then, the distribution unit 27 sends material data 62 such as minutes to each participant.
[0081]
<5. Selection of timing for distributing materials>
In the above-described embodiment, an example of the timing of distributing the material data 62 registered in the storage area 25 has been described, but this timing can be freely selected.
[0082]
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing all selectable timings. In this figure, the timing before the conference is held is further divided into three timings: reservation, reservation confirmation, and conference notification.
[0083]
First, when the material data 62 is registered (UP) at the time of reservation or confirmation of reservation, the distribution (Down) of the material data 62 can be selected from confirmation of reservation, notification of a meeting, and time of holding a meeting. That is, the material data 62 registered in the storage area 25 is passed to the distribution unit 27 during the time period selected in each of these timings, and the distribution unit 27 performs distribution processing.
[0084]
When the material data 62 is registered (UP) during the meeting, the distribution (Down) of the material data 62 can be selected during or after the meeting. If registered after the meeting, it will be distributed after the meeting.
[0085]
FIG. 10 is a setting example of the distribution timing selected from the distribution timing options shown in FIG.
[0086]
Material data 62 registered at the time of reservation and confirmation of reservation is distributed at the time of holding a conference. The material data 62 registered during the meeting is distributed during the meeting, and the material data 62 registered after the meeting is distributed after the meeting.
[0087]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the mail address is embedded in the material data, the material distribution process can be automated. Further, since the material data and the mail address exist as a set, the processing can be simplified.
[0088]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the distribution timing of the material data is selected, the distribution timing of the material can be changed according to the user's request.
[0089]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the material data is distributed according to the change of the prospective participant, a cumbersome operation of manually distributing the material data to the prospective participant after the change becomes unnecessary.
[0090]
According to the invention described in claim 4, since only the material data corresponding to the conference to be attended can be referred to in response to the browsing request from the prospective participant, the prospective participant can refer to the material data at any timing. It is. In addition, it is possible to prevent the reference data from being referred to by other scheduled participants.
[0091]
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the material data is distributed after the video conference connection processing and before the video and audio data are exchanged, so that the material data can be distributed without adversely affecting the video and audio communication band. It is.
[0092]
According to the sixth aspect of the invention, during the holding of the conference, the material data is directly transmitted from the terminal station to another terminal station, so that the material data can be exchanged without adversely affecting the video and audio communication bands. .
[0093]
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when exchanging the material data between the terminal stations, the image data is thinned out, so that the transmission data amount of the image data can be reduced and the band of the terminal station side line can be secured. It is possible.
[0094]
According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, when material data is exchanged between the terminal stations, the audio data is thinned out, so that the transmission data amount of the audio data can be reduced and the bandwidth of the terminal station side line can be secured. It is possible.
[0095]
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, since the material data is distributed after the conference by referring to the conference LOG, the distribution processing of the minutes and the like can be easily performed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of a video conference system.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a terminal station and a base station according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conference reservation screen.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a participant list screen.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of a process of extracting a mail address LIST.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a storage format of a mail address LIST.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of a material automatic distribution process.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flow of a material browsing process.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the distribution timing of selectively prepared materials.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of distribution timing of materials.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 terminal station
2 base stations
17 Video / audio transmission / reception unit
18 Thinning processing section
23 Reservation DB
24 Conference participation DB
26 Data Processing Department
27 Distribution Department
30 User DB
44 Video / Audio Relay Processing Unit
45 Thinning-out section
61 Email Address List
62 Material Data

Claims (9)

A method of distributing material data in a video conference system,
a) managing the email address of the prospective participant for each scheduled video conference;
b) a step of storing material data for each video conference in a predetermined storage area in a time zone before the video conference is held;
c) generating a mail address list of prospective participants of the video conference using the stored material data in a time zone before the video conference is held, and embedding the mail address list in the material data;
d) At a predetermined timing before the video conference is held, the mail distribution function unit receives the material data in which the mail address list is embedded, and sends the material to the mail address of each prospective participant. Sending the data;
A material distribution method in a video conference system, comprising: The material distribution method in the video conference system according to claim 1,
A method for distributing materials in a video conference system, wherein the predetermined timing in step d) can be set selectively. A method of distributing material data in a video conference system,
a) managing the email address of the prospective participant for each scheduled video conference;
b) a step of storing material data for each video conference in a predetermined storage area in a time zone before the video conference is held;
c) sending the material data to the e-mail address of the prospective participant after the change when the prospective participant changes during the time period before the video conference is held;
A material distribution method in a video conference system, comprising: A method of distributing material data in a video conference system,
a) managing reservation information of prospective participants for each reserved video conference;
b) a step of storing material data for each video conference in a predetermined storage area in a time zone before the video conference is held;
c) In the time period before the video conference is held, when a request for acquisition of material data is received from a prospective participant, the reservation requesting participant is expected to participate by referring to the reservation information. A step of identifying a video conference and making it possible to view only the material data corresponding to the video conference;
A material distribution method in a video conference system, comprising: A method of distributing material data in a video conference system,
a) a step of storing material data for a video conference in a predetermined storage area;
b) receiving a request to connect to the video conference from each prospective participant in the video conference;
c) obtaining a network address of a connection request source;
d) A connection process of a video conference is performed with the connection request source, and the material data is transmitted to the network address of the connection request source before an actual conference by exchanging video and audio data is started. Process and
A material distribution method in a video conference system, comprising: A method of distributing material data in a video conference system including a terminal station and a base station that relays and transmits video and audio data transmitted from each terminal station to another terminal station,
a) holding a video conference and exchanging video and audio data between the terminal stations;
b) During the video conference, one terminal station transmits video and audio data to the base station, while the one terminal station transmits material data used in the video conference to another base station without passing through the base station. Transmitting directly to the terminal station;
A material distribution method in a video conference, comprising: The method for distributing materials in a video conference according to claim 6, further comprising:
b-1) performing a thinning process of a video to be transmitted to the base station when directly transmitting the material data to another terminal station;
A material distribution method in a video conference, comprising: The method for distributing materials in a video conference according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising:
b-2) a step of, when directly transmitting the material data to another terminal station, a process of thinning out a voice transmitted to the base station;
A material distribution method in a video conference, comprising: A method of distributing material data in a video conference system,
a) a video conference is held and a log of the video conference is recorded;
b) after the holding of the video conference, referring to the log and transmitting material data to the participants of the video conference;
A material distribution method in a video conference system, comprising:

Images