JP2004199137A - Ticket issuing system and ticket issuing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ticket issuing system with enhanced economical convenience for small-scale agents. <P>SOLUTION: A shop 2 for requesting the issue of tickets and a center 1 for outputting ticket issue data in response to the ticket issue request are connected to each other by the Internet 3 and a dedicated line 4. The shop 2 is provided with a terminal 2a connected to the Internet 3 and a ticket issuing machine 2b for outputting ticket issue data received via the dedicated line 4. This ticket issue system is provided with a means 1b for transmitting data to the center 1 or receiving data therefrom via the terminal 2a and the Internet 3 in response to the issue request of the terminal 2a, a host computer 1h for generating and outputting the issue data, and a means 1c for performing control in order to output the issue data to the dedicated line 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a ticket issuing system and a ticket issuing method for issuing tickets such as a ticket, an air ticket, and an accommodation ticket, and more particularly to a ticket issuing system and a ticket issuing method using the Internet.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, when a travel agency issues tickets such as tickets, air tickets, accommodation tickets, etc., the travel agency accesses the center of the travel agency to download ticketing data and issues tickets on the ticket surface using a ticketing machine. The data was being printed. In this case, the travel agency and the travel agency are connected online by a dedicated line, and ticketing requests and downloading of ticketing data are performed via the dedicated line. And the travel agency had prepared a dedicated terminal and used it to access the center of the travel agency.
[0003]
On the other hand, a ticketing system using the Internet instead of a dedicated line has been devised. The ticketing system of Patent Document 1 below connects to a reservation system of an airline or the like from an intranet composed of an in-company agency system connected by a local area network (LAN) and a plurality of personal computers (PCs). Issuing tickets. According to the invention described in this document, an in-house user of a company accesses a company agency system using a PC and selects a flight ticket reservation service. As a result, the airline selection screen is sent from the network server of the in-company agency system, and the desired airline is selected, and the PC is connected to the corresponding airline reservation system. At this time, the PC is connected to an airline reservation system via the Internet. When the reservation information is transmitted from the PC to the reservation system and the reservation is confirmed, the reservation data is transmitted from the PC to the net server of the in-house agency system, and further the reservation data is transmitted to the reservation issuing terminal. Thereafter, the reservation data is transmitted from the reservation issuing terminal to the reservation system via the dedicated line, and the ticket is printed by the reservation issuing terminal based on the ticketing data output from the reservation system.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2000-331098 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the conventional technology described above, many ticketing systems up to now have issued a ticketing request to a center of a travel agency through a dedicated line using a dedicated terminal of a travel agency, and downloaded and printed ticketing data. It was necessary to build a dedicated system. However, there are many small-scale agencies among travel agencies, and in the case of small-scale agencies, such a dedicated system cannot be constructed, which is inconvenient. On the other hand, some travel agencies who have been constructing a system exclusively for this purpose have been demanding the versatility of the system.
By the way, the recent spread of the Internet has been remarkable, and it has been used for various purposes not only in individuals but also in companies. The above patent document discloses an example in which the Internet is used for airline ticket reservation and ticketing. However, the ticketing system shown here uses a corporate intranet, and cannot be used as it is in a system between a travel agency and a travel agency which is the subject of the present invention. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make a ticketing system used by a travel agency and a travel agency general-purpose and easy to use, and in particular, to realize it using the Internet and a dedicated line.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the store side that requests ticketing and the center side that outputs ticketing data in response to the ticketing request are connected via the Internet and a dedicated line, and the store side A terminal connected to the Internet, and a ticketing machine that outputs ticketing data received via the dedicated line, provided on the center side, in response to a ticketing request of the terminal, via the terminal and the Internet. An object of the present invention is to provide a ticketing system including means for transmitting and receiving data, a host computer for generating and outputting the ticketing data, and means for controlling the ticketing data to be output to a dedicated line.
Further, a general-purpose computer having a browser function is used as the terminal on the store side.
Further, a web server is used as means for transmitting and receiving the data on the center side.
Further, a gateway server for controlling data transmission and reception between the web server and the host computer is provided on the center side.
Further, the gateway server is provided with a control function for controlling the issuance data output by the host computer to be output to the dedicated line.
[0007]
Further, according to the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, a ticketing system in which a store requesting ticketing and a center outputting ticketing data in response to the ticketing request are connected via the Internet and a dedicated line. In the ticket issuing method, a ticket issuing request and data transmission and reception for the ticket are performed between the store side and the center side via the Internet, thereby generating ticket issuing data at the center side, and thereafter, from the center side by controlling the center side. Another object of the present invention is to provide a ticket issuing method for outputting the ticket issuing data to the store via the dedicated line and outputting tickets and the like from a ticket issuing machine.
[0008]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram according to the present invention, and shows a configuration in which a ticket issuing machine that issues tickets such as a ticket, an air ticket, and an accommodation ticket is installed in a store of a travel agency. 1 is a center of a travel agency, and a plurality of devices are connected by a local area network (LAN). Among them, 1a is a firewall (abbreviated as FW) provided to prevent unauthorized intrusion from the outside (Internet 3 described later). Reference numeral 1b denotes a web server (abbreviated as a web server), which is used for transmitting information on documents and images via the Internet. Reference numeral 1c denotes a gateway server (abbreviated as a GW server), which has an interface function between the Web server 1b and another device. Reference numeral 1d denotes a database server (abbreviated as DB server), which manages a plurality of databases storing various types of information. Reference numerals 1e and 1f denote databases managed by the DB server 1d, which store authentication information and log information, respectively. Reference numeral 1g denotes a relay device for connecting the host computer 1h to a LAN (indicated by reference numeral 1i), and performs a communication protocol, data conversion, and the like. 1h and 1i are a host computer and a LAN, respectively, as described above.
[0009]
The above is the configuration of the center 1 according to the present invention.
On the other hand, the configuration of the travel agency is as follows. Reference numeral 2 denotes a store, in which a personal computer (abbreviated as PC) 2a and a ticket issuing machine 2b are installed as those according to the present invention. The ticket issuing machine 2b is a device that prints ticket issuing data received from the center 1 on a ticket surface and issues tickets such as a ticket, an air ticket, and an accommodation ticket. The PC 2a is a normal personal computer and has browser software installed therein, so that information on a Web server 1b provided in the center 1 can be browsed. 2c and 2d are LANs. Although not shown, it is assumed that a countermeasure for preventing unauthorized access to the PC 2a from the Internet 3 to be described later is also taken at the store side.
[0010]
The configuration of the center 1 and the store 2 is as described above. Here, the network configuration used in this system will be described. Reference numeral 3 denotes the Internet. The center 1 is connected to the FW 1a, and the store 2 is connected to the LAN 2c. Reference numeral 4 denotes a dedicated line, and the center 1 is connected to the LAN 1i and the store 2 is connected to the LAN 2d. How to use the Internet 3 and the dedicated line 4 will be described in detail in the following description of the operation.
[0011]
Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a schematic operation of the system shown in FIG.
First, the operator starts up a browser of the PC 2a as a client terminal on the side requesting reservation / ticketing, and connects to a website provided by a travel agency. Various services such as reservation and ticketing are prepared for the travel agency on this web site, and the operator selects a reservation / ticketing service here. Note that the reservation / ticketing service refers to a service for issuing a ticket together with the reservation. When the reservation / ticketing service is selected in this way, a reservation / ticketing operation starts (operation (1)). When the reservation / ticketing operation is started, the WEB server 1b of the center 1 transmits display data prepared in advance to the PC 2a in response thereto, whereby an input screen for reservation / ticketing is displayed on the PC 2a (operation). (2)). Thereafter, the operator selects desired data from the selection items in accordance with the display of the PC 2a in accordance with the customer's request, or inputs necessary information to perform a reservation / ticketing operation.
[0012]
When the input for reservation / ticketing is completed in this way and the confirmation is completed, the operator clicks a "Send" button on the screen of the PC 2a. Clicking of the "send" button is detected by the web server 1b, data and the like input from the PC 2a are taken into the web server 1b, transmitted to the relay device 1g via the GW server 1c, and transmitted to the host computer 1h. (Operation (3)). Thereafter, processing is performed by the host computer 1h, and the response data is taken into the WEB server 1b by the reverse flow, and a response screen is displayed on the PC 2a. For example, the reservation result and reservation contents are displayed on the screen (operation (4)). On the other hand, ticketing data processed and generated by the host computer 1h is sent to the GW server 1c, further transmitted to the ticketing machine 2b via the dedicated line 4, and printed on the ticket surface in the ticketing machine 2b (operation (5)). ▼).
[0013]
Next, the above operation will be described in more detail. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the WEB server 1b and the GW server 1c. Hereinafter, the flow of the operation will be sequentially described with reference to FIG.
As already described with reference to FIG. 2, first, the power is turned on to the PC 2a, and the installed browser software (hereinafter abbreviated as a browser), for example, Internet Explorer of Microsoft Corporation is started. In FIG. 3, this operation is indicated by the block "browser activation" indicated by reference numeral 16 at the lower left. Here, it is assumed that the PC 2a is set to be connected to a website provided by a travel agency at the same time when the browser is started. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a web site provided by a travel agency may be designated and connected after activating a browser. Thus, the browser is activated, and the PC 2a is connected to the website provided by the travel agency.
[0014]
On the other hand, inside the WEB server 1b, an application (abbreviated as an authentication AP) 8 for authenticating the user is activated. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 12 denotes an HTTP server which controls a protocol for transmitting and receiving data. The authentication AP 8 generates screen data for displaying the authentication screen, and the screen data is transmitted to the PC 2a. At this time, the screen data is transmitted from the WEB server 1b to the PC 2a via the HTTP server 12 and the Internet 3. The data transmitted from the Web server 1b to the PC 2a and the data transmitted from the PC 2a to the Web server 1b are both transmitted via the HTTP server 12 and the Internet 3, but the description thereof will be omitted in the following description. Omitted for convenience.
When the screen data is transmitted from the web server 1b to the PC 2a in this way, the authentication screen is generated by the browser in the PC 2a based on the screen data and displayed on the PC 2a. Here, a screen display example of the authentication screen 17 is shown in FIG. The example of FIG. 1 uses an authentication code and a password of the most general authentication method. The authentication code is a number assigned to a travel agency in advance to enter the system, and the password is a number assigned to a person authorized to use the system, and is input by an operator. When the authentication screen of FIG. 4 is displayed on the screen, the operator inputs the authentication code and the password in this case according to the guidance displayed on the screen, and finally presses (clicks) the transmission button at the bottom of the screen. The reset button next to the transmission button is used to input (authentication code and password) and press (click) when the number is incorrect.
[0015]
When the transmission button is pressed on the authentication screen of FIG. 4, the authentication data input by the operator, here, the authentication code and the password are transmitted from the PC 2a to the WEB server 1b. That is, the authentication AP 8 of the WEB server 1b receives the authentication data (see FIG. 3). Then, the authentication AP 8 performs authentication with reference to the authentication information database 1e in the DB server 1d. As a result of the authentication, if both the authentication code and the password are registered in the authentication information database 1e and both are determined to be correct, the menu AP9 is activated and the process is taken over. On the other hand, as a result of the authentication, the authentication code and the password are other than those registered in the authentication information database 1e, and if it is determined that they are not correct, screen data for prompting re-input is generated and transmitted to the PC 2a. That is, the input of the authentication data (authentication code, password) by the operator is repeated.
[0016]
Next, the operation after the processing is taken over by the menu AP9 as described above will be described below.
What the menu AP9 performs is to generate screen data of a job menu to be displayed on the PC 2a and transmit it to the PC 2a. Therefore, when activated, the menu AP 9 generates screen data of the business menu. The job menu is a list of jobs prepared in advance such as reservation, ticketing, inquiry, reservation / ticketing, etc. Here, a job list and its accompanying description and other information are generated as screen data. This screen data is transmitted to the PC 2a, and the business menu 18 is displayed on the screen. Thereafter, the operator selects a desired job, for example, reservation / ticketing, and presses the transmission button as in the case of authentication. If re-input of the authentication data is repeated a predetermined number of times or more, processing for temporarily invalidating the authentication data is performed on the server for maintaining security.
[0017]
When the operator selects a job and transmits it from the PC 2a to the web server 1b, the job AP 10 corresponding to the job is activated in the web server 1b. The business AP is provided according to the business. The reservation AP 10a for the reservation business, the ticket issuing AP 10b for the ticketing business, the inquiry AP 10c for the inquiry business, and the reservation / ticketing business for performing reservation and ticketing. The reservation / ticket issuing AP 10d corresponds to each. For example, when the operator selects and transmits the reservation / ticketing business from the business menu, the reservation / ticketing AP 10d is selected. In this case, the reservation / ticketing AP 10d generates screen data corresponding to the reservation / ticketing operation and transmits it to the PC 2a. Thereafter, the business screen 19 is displayed on the PC 2a, and the operator inputs necessary information there. Then, this input information is transmitted to the WEB server 1b and passed to the corresponding business AP. Thereafter, the GW connection AP 11 is activated.
[0018]
When activated, the GW connection AP 11 activates a gateway function (hereinafter abbreviated as a GW function) 13 of the GW server 1c. The GW function 13 is an interface function between the Web server 1b and another device. Thereafter, the GW function 13 exchanges information with a host computer (hereinafter abbreviated as a host) 1h via the relay device 1g. That is, the information input by the operator on the business screen is transmitted to the Web server 1b, transmitted to the GW server 1c by the GW connection AP 11, edited by the message according to the host interface, and then transmitted by the GW function 13 to the relay device. 1g and then to host 1h. On the other hand, if the information processed by the host 1h is information to be transmitted to the PC 2a (for example, a result of a reservation inquiry or information on accommodation facilities), the information is transmitted from the host 1h to the PC 2a in a reverse flow. The screen is displayed there.
[0019]
Next, a ticketing operation will be described.
When the operator selects a job using the PC 2a and inputs necessary information according to the job, the information is transmitted to the host 1h and processed as described above (see FIG. 3). At this time, if the operator selects a job involving ticketing, the ticketing data processed by the host 1h is passed from the host 1h to the GW function 13 via the relay device 1g. The ticketing data is further transmitted to an application (ticketing control AP) 14 for ticketing control. The ticketing control AP 14 transmits the ticketing data to the ticketing machine 2 b via the dedicated line 4 to print out a ticket (tickets) 20. You. The ticketing machine 2b notifies the printout result to the ticketing control AP 14 of the GW server 1c via the dedicated line 4. Further, the ticketing control AP 14 records the ticketing history in the log information database 1f for storing log information of the DB server 1d via the DB interface 15.
The GW server 1c is always connected to the ticket issuing machine 2b of the store 2 via the dedicated line 4, and monitors the state of the ticket issuing machine to keep track of whether ticket issuing is possible. If it is not possible to issue a ticket with the ticket issuing machine 2b, the host 1h is notified via the relay device 1g to that effect, and control is performed so as not to transmit ticket issuing data to the ticket issuing machine 2b.
[0020]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, since the Internet is used as a network, store-side devices can be configured with general-purpose devices such as personal computers, and the convenience of small-scale agencies can be particularly improved. . Building a dedicated system for a small agency is time consuming and economically burdensome, but the present invention can alleviate it. Of course, the advantage of the dedicated system is great, and there is an advantage that the processing is fast and resistant to unauthorized intrusion from the outside. Therefore, it is necessary to construct a system in consideration of both. Therefore, the present invention uses the Internet and a dedicated line. That is, a series of operations are performed via the Internet, and a dedicated line is used only for downloading ticketing data. As a result, the Internet related to a series of operations can use the Internet where communication costs are low, but in particular, only the minimum required dedicated line is used for ticketing data, for which communication reliability and security must be ensured. By doing so, communication costs can be minimized. In addition, by directly controlling the ticketing machine from the GW server on the center side via a dedicated line, the computer for ticketing control on the store side, which was conventionally required, can be eliminated, and the system construction cost can be reduced. it can.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a schematic operation of the system of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating operations of a web server and a GW server.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an authentication screen.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Center 1a Firewall 1b Web server 1c Gateway server 1d Database server 1e Authentication information database 1f Log information database 1g Relay device 1h Host computer 1i LAN
2 store 2a personal computer 2b ticketing machine 2c, 2d LAN
3 Internet 4 Dedicated line

Claims (6)

A store that requests ticketing and a center that outputs ticketing data in response to the ticketing request are connected via the Internet and a dedicated line,
On the store side, a terminal connected to the Internet, and a ticketing machine that outputs ticketing data received via the dedicated line,
Means for transmitting and receiving data to and from the terminal via the Internet in response to a ticketing request from the terminal, a host computer for generating and outputting the ticketing data, and outputting the ticketing data to a dedicated line. A ticket issuing system, comprising: means for controlling. 2. The ticket issuing system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal on the store side is a general-purpose computer having a browser function. The ticket issuing system according to claim 1, wherein the means for transmitting and receiving the data on the center side is a web server. The ticket issuing system according to claim 3, wherein the center has a gateway server that controls data transmission and reception between the web server and the host computer. 5. The ticketing system according to claim 4, wherein the gateway server has a control function of controlling the ticketing data output from the host computer to output to the dedicated line. In a ticketing method in a ticketing system in which a store requesting issuance of tickets and a center outputting ticketing data in response to the ticketing request are connected via the Internet and a dedicated line, the method includes the following steps: A request for ticketing and data transmission and reception for the same are performed via the Internet, thereby generating ticketing data on the center side, and then outputting the ticketing data from the center side to the store side via the dedicated line under the control of the center side. A ticket issuing method, wherein tickets are output from a ticket issuing machine.

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