JP2004199296A - Server device and data distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data distribution system for allowing a business proprietor to provide necessary information, regardless of the terminal capacities of customers, wherein the customers are not required to directly register own mail addresses to the proprietor or at a portal site. <P>SOLUTION: When the customers access to articles in a sales support server 200 from customer terminals 100a-100c and demands detail information, the server 200 issues new mail account addresses for the customer terminals 100a-100c and transmits the information required from the customers and the new mail account addresses to a business proprietor terminal 300. The server 200 converts data to be provided for the customers; transmitted from the proprietor terminal 300, according to display capabilities of the customer terminals 100a-100c and transmits only the URL indicating the position in a storage device, with the data to be provided stored therein, to the customer terminals 100a-100c. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a data distribution system that distributes data having various data formats such as text data and image data via a communication network such as the Internet.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, commercial transactions using a communication network such as the Internet have been performed as follows. That is, first, a customer accesses a site on the Internet where a desired product is traded. Next, if more detailed information is required for the desired product, the customer's own name, e-mail address and the like are registered in the site, and the business owner providing the product is requested for more detailed information. Upon receiving a request for detailed information from the customer, the business owner sends the requested information to the registered customer's e-mail address. The customer decides to purchase a product based on the transmitted information.
[0003]
However, in business transactions using such a communication system such as the Internet network, customers must register personal information such as their names and e-mail addresses at sites on the Internet where desired products are traded. Instead of spam emails and unsolicited ads. On the other hand, business owners must provide necessary information according to the type of Web browser that the customer's terminal has, and depending on the terminal, the required information cannot be transmitted, and There was a problem that detailed services could not be provided.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is that the customer does not need to directly register his / her mail address in the business owner or the portal site, and the business owner can provide necessary information regardless of the customer's terminal capability. It is to provide a data distribution system.
[0005]
[Means for solving the problem]
The server device according to the present invention includes: first receiving means for receiving customer request information transmitted from a customer terminal via a communication network; account issuing means for issuing a customer terminal account for the customer terminal; First transmitting means for transmitting the customer request information and the customer terminal account received by the first receiving means to a business owner terminal via a communication network, and the customer terminal via the communication network from the business owner terminal Second receiving means for receiving the business owner-provided data transmitted to the account, and data conversion means for converting the business owner-provided data received by the second receiving means in accordance with the display capability of the customer terminal; Data for providing the business owner-provided data converted by the data conversion means to a customer terminal corresponding to the customer terminal account. To; and a test unit.
[0006]
In such a server device, the first receiving means receives the customer request information transmitted from the customer terminal via the communication network, the account issuing means issues a customer terminal account for the customer terminal, The first transmitting means transmits the customer request information and the customer terminal account to the business owner terminal via the communication network.
Further, the second receiving means receives the business owner provided data transmitted from the business owner terminal to the customer terminal account via the communication network, and the data conversion means converts the business provided data according to the display capability of the customer terminal. The data provided by the business owner is converted by the data providing means and provided to the customer terminal corresponding to the customer terminal account.
Accordingly, the customer terminal can acquire the business owner-provided data from the business owner terminal converted according to the display capability of the customer terminal without notifying the business owner terminal of the mail address of the customer terminal itself. .
Further, the business owner terminal can transmit the business owner provided data corresponding to the customer request information to the customer terminal account without worrying about the display capability of the customer terminal.
[0007]
Further, in the server device according to the present invention, it is preferable that the first transmitting means transmits the customer terminal account to the customer terminal via a communication network.
In such a server device, since the first transmitting means transmits the customer terminal account to the customer terminal, the customer using the customer terminal can recognize that the new account has been issued.
[0008]
Further, in the server device according to the present invention, the data providing unit stores the business owner-provided data converted by the data conversion unit, and an address of the storage unit that stores the business owner-provided data. And a second transmitting means for transmitting to the customer terminal via a communication network.
In such a server device, the data providing means does not directly transmit the business owner-provided data to the customer terminal. Therefore, the customer terminal does not need to unilaterally receive the business owner-provided data. By accessing the address transmitted from the second transmission means, it becomes possible to acquire the business owner provided data from the storage means.
[0009]
A data distribution system according to the present invention is a data distribution system including a server device and a business owner terminal,
The server device includes: first receiving means for receiving customer request information transmitted from a customer terminal via a communication network; account issuing means for issuing a customer terminal account for the customer terminal; First transmitting means for transmitting the customer request information and the customer terminal account received by the receiving means to the business owner terminal via a communication network, and transmitting the customer request information and the customer terminal account to the customer terminal account via the communication network from the business owner terminal Second receiving means for receiving the provided business owner-provided data, and data providing means for providing the business owner-provided data converted by the data conversion means to a customer terminal corresponding to the customer terminal account,
The business owner terminal is provided with third transmission means for transmitting business owner provision data corresponding to the customer request information received from the server device to the customer terminal account corresponding to the customer terminal information. I do.
[0010]
In such a data distribution system, in the server device, the first receiving means receives the customer request information transmitted from the customer terminal via the communication network, and the account issuing means operates the customer terminal for the customer terminal. An account is issued, and the first transmitting means transmits the customer request information and the customer terminal account to the business owner terminal via the communication network.
In the business owner terminal, the third transmission means transmits the business owner provided data corresponding to the customer request information to the customer terminal account corresponding to the customer terminal information.
In the server device, the second receiving means receives the business owner-provided data, the data conversion means converts the business owner-provided data according to the display capability of the customer terminal, and the data providing means converts the business owner-provided data. The provided data is provided to the customer terminal corresponding to the customer terminal account.
[0011]
In such a data distribution system, the customer terminal acquires the business owner-provided data from the business owner terminal converted according to the display capability of the customer terminal without notifying the business terminal of the customer terminal's own e-mail address. It is possible to do.
Further, the business owner terminal can transmit the business owner provided data corresponding to the customer request information to the customer terminal account without worrying about the display capability of the customer terminal.
[0012]
Further, in the data distribution system according to the present invention, it is preferable that the first transmitting means transmits the customer terminal account to the customer terminal via a communication network.
In such a data distribution system, since the first transmitting means transmits the customer terminal account to the customer terminal, the customer using the customer terminal can recognize that a new account has been issued.
[0013]
Further, in the data distribution system according to the present invention, the data providing unit stores the business owner provided data converted by the data converting unit, and an address of the storage unit storing the business provided data. It is preferable to include a second transmission unit that transmits the data to the customer terminal via a communication network.
In such a data distribution system, since the data providing means does not directly transmit the business owner-provided data to the customer terminal, the customer terminal does not need to unilaterally receive the business owner-provided data. By accessing the address transmitted by the transmitting means, the data provided by the business owner can be obtained from the storing means.
[0014]
The features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments.
[0015]
However, the embodiment described below is merely one embodiment of the present invention, and the meaning of the terms of the respective constituent elements according to the present invention is not limited to those described in the following embodiment. Absent.
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a sales support system using a sales support server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0017]
The business owner manages product information such as image data of the product or the performance of the product from the business owner terminal 300 via the communication network by the sales supporter in order to sell the product or the like handled by the business through the Internet network. The information is transmitted to the sales support server 200. The sales supporter displays the product information received from the business owner terminal on a commercial transaction site opened in the sales support server 200.
[0018]
The customer is displayed on a homepage constructed by the sales support server 200 from the terminal such as the PC terminal 100a, the PDA terminal 100b, or the i-mode terminal 100c (i-mode is a registered trademark) via the Internet. Access the desired product. The sales support server 200 outputs the entry table 400 shown in FIG. 2 to the customer terminals 100a to 100c accessing the displayed product, and the customer needs the customer for the customer name, the terminal model used, and the product. Require the entry of information etc. When the customer fills out the entry form 400 and clicks the send button, the sales support server 200 receives the completed entry form 400, stores it, and issues a new mail account address for the customer. Then, the new e-mail account address is transmitted to the customer terminals 100a to 100c, and the new e-mail account address and the contents of the customer request entered in the entry table 400 are transmitted to the business owner terminal 300 of the business owner who sells the product. Send. The sales support server 200 does not transmit the customer's own mail address to the business owner terminal 300.
[0019]
The business owner prepares the information requested by the customer using images and text data, attaches it to an e-mail as data provided to the customer, or sends the new mail account of the customer's sales support server from the business owner terminal 300 via the Web. Send to the address.
[0020]
The sales support server 200 converts the provided data transmitted from the business owner terminal 300 according to the browsing ability of the customer terminals 100a to 100c used by the customer, and stores the data in the sales support server 200. Then, a URL indicating the file address where the provided data is stored is transmitted to the customer terminals 100a to 100c.
[0021]
The customer can obtain the requested information by accessing the URL transmitted from the sales support server 200 from the customer terminals 100a to 100c.
[0022]
The configuration of the sales support server 200 will be described with reference to FIG.
[0023]
The sales support server 200 includes a controller 201, a general-purpose storage device 202, a customer DB 203, a PC data storage device 204, a PDA data storage device 205, and an i-mode data storage device 206. The controller 201 includes a control unit 201a, a communication control unit 201b, and a data conversion unit 201c.
[0024]
In the controller 201, the control unit 201a outputs the entry table 400 to the customer terminals 100a to 100c and issues a new mail account address of the sales support server 200 corresponding to the mail addresses of the customer terminals 100a to 100c. The communication control unit 201b performs network communication with the customer terminals 100a to 100c and the business owner terminal 300 via the Internet network. The data conversion unit 201c converts the provided data from the business owner transmitted from the business owner terminal 300 according to the display capabilities of the customer terminals 100a to 100c with reference to a terminal information DB 201d described later. The terminal information DB 201d stores, for each terminal model, a displayable file format, the number of colors, the resolution, the number of characters (the number of characters per line × the number of lines), and the like.
[0025]
The general-purpose storage device 202 stores a homepage exhibiting merchandise sold by the business owner, an entry table 400 output to the customer terminals 100a to 100c, mail contents from the customer terminals 100a to 100c, and the like. In the customer DB 203, as shown in FIG. 4, the e-mail addresses of the customer terminals 100a to 100c, the new e-mail account address of the sales support server 200 issued in response thereto, the name of the customer, the terminal model used by the customer, and A customer information database 500 associated with a URL indicating a file address in which the converted data provided by the business owner is stored is constructed. The PC data storage device 204 stores data from the business owner processed for the PC terminal 100a used by the customer. The PDA data storage device 205 stores data from the business owner processed for the PDA terminal 100b used by the customer. The i-mode data storage device 206 stores data from the business owner processed for the i-mode terminal 100c used by the customer.
[0026]
When the customer accesses a product to be exhibited in the general-purpose storage device 202 of the sales support server 200 via the Internet using, for example, the i-mode terminal 100c, the control unit 201a is stored in the general-purpose storage device 202 in advance. The entry table 400 is output to the customer's i-mode terminal 100c via the communication control unit 201b. When the customer fills out the entry table and clicks the send button, the communication control unit 201b of the sales support server 200 receives the completed entry table 400, and the control unit 201a stores the received entry table 400 in general-purpose storage. It is stored in the device 202. Then, the control unit 201a issues a new mail account address of the sales support server 200 for the i-mode terminal 100c of the customer, and constructs the customer information database 500 in the customer DB 203. In addition, the control unit 201a sends a new mail account address to the customer's i-mode terminal 100c, a new mail account address of the customer's i-mode terminal 100c to the business owner terminal 300, and information requested by the customer. Is transmitted from the communication control unit 201b.
[0027]
In accordance with the received customer request information, the employer creates product information including image data and text data using, for example, Microsoft Word or Excel, and attaches the information to a mail as provided data to the customer or On the Web, the business owner terminal 300 transmits the business support server 200 to the new mail account address of the i-mode terminal 100c of the customer concerned.
[0028]
In the sales support server 200, the communication control unit 201b receives the data provided to the customer from the business owner terminal 300 and passes the data to the control unit 201a. The control unit 201a refers to the customer DB 203 and specifies the transmission address of the mail, that is, the mail address of the customer corresponding to the account of the sales support server 200, the name of the customer, and the i-mode terminal 100c of the customer. Next, the mail structure is analyzed, the mail text and the attached file are separated from the mail, the mail text is stored in the general-purpose storage device 202, and the attached file is passed to the data conversion unit 201c.
[0029]
The data conversion unit 201c analyzes the attached file, determines the format of the data based on, for example, the extension of the attached file or identification information included in the header of the attached file, and determines the i-mode terminal of the customer. Is converted into data according to the display function of. That is, the data conversion unit 201c refers to the terminal information DB 201d and specifies the file format, the number of colors, the resolution, and the number of characters (the number of characters per line x the number of lines) that can be displayed by the i-mode terminal 100c. Since the customer's i-mode terminal 100c can display a c-HTML format file, the data conversion unit 201c converts the attached file into the c-HTML format, and if the attached file contains an image, , I-mode terminal 100c converts the resolution to a displayable value, and stores the converted data at a predetermined address of data storage device 206 for i-mode terminal 100c.
[0030]
Next, the control unit 201a stores, in the body of the mail from the business owner terminal 300 stored in the general-purpose storage device 202, a URL indicating the file address in the data storage device 206 for the i-mode terminal 100c in which the conversion data is stored. And sends an e-mail to the customer's i-mode terminal. For example, the customer using the i-mode terminal 100c receives the mail shown in FIG. 5 and accesses the URL on the display screen to acquire and browse desired product information.
[0031]
Hereinafter, the operation of the sales support system 100 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0032]
When the customer accesses a desired product displayed on the homepage in the sales support server 200 using, for example, the i-mode terminal 100c (S101), and the sales support server 200 receives this access (S102), The entry table 400 is transmitted from the sales support server 200 to the i-mode terminal 100c of the customer (S103).
[0033]
After the entry table 400 is received, the entry table is displayed on the i-mode terminal 100c of the customer (S104), and after the customer enters the customer name, the terminal model used, and other necessary information (see FIG. 2) in the entry table. When the transmission button is clicked, the entry table 400 in which necessary information has been entered is transmitted to the sales support server (S105).
[0034]
Upon receiving the entry form (S106), the sales support server 200 issues a new e-mail account address for the customer (S107). The new e-mail account address and the customer's name included in the received entry form are received. The e-mail address of the i-mode terminal 100c, the name of the customer, and the model of the used terminal 100c are stored in the customer DB 203 in association with each other (S108). Then, the issued new mail account address is transmitted to the customer's i-mode terminal 100c (S109), and the customer receives and displays the new mail account address by the i-mode terminal 100c, whereby the new mail account address is issued. Is recognized (S110).
[0035]
Further, the sales support server 200 transmits the new mail account address issued to the business owner terminal 300 and the request information regarding the product entered in the received entry table (S111).
[0036]
At the business owner terminal 300, the transmitted new mail account address and request information are displayed (S112), and the business owner creates data required by the customer according to the request information, and uses this as data to be provided to the customer. Attach it to the e-mail addressed to the new e-mail account address or send it via the Web (S113).
[0037]
Upon receiving this mail (S114), the sales support server 200 converts the attached provided data according to the type of terminal used by the customer (S115). That is, when the customer uses the i-mode terminal 100c, the format is converted into a format that can be displayed on the i-mode terminal 100c. Then, the converted provided data is stored in a storage device provided for each terminal model used by the customer (one of the PC data storage device 204, the PDA data storage device 205, and the i-mode data storage device in FIG. 3). ) (S116).
[0038]
Thereafter, the sales support server 200 associates the URL indicating the file address of the converted data in the storage device storing the converted data with the data provided to the customer stored in S108 and associates the URL with the customer DB 203. To be stored. Then, the notification screen including the URL is transmitted to the i-mode terminal 100c of the customer (S117).
[0039]
When the notification screen is received by the customer's i-mode terminal 100c, for example, a screen as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the customer's i-mode terminal 100c (S118). When the customer clicks the URL on this screen and accesses the URL (S119, S120), the file data of the URL is transmitted from the sales support server 200 to the i-mode terminal 100c of the customer (S121). Then, when the i-mode terminal 100c of the customer receives this file data, the file data is displayed on the i-mode terminal 100c of the customer (S122).
[0040]
Since this file data has been converted in S115 into a file suitable for the i-mode terminal 100c of the customer, the customer can browse the desired product information in a good condition.
[0041]
As can be understood from the above description, when the customer accesses the business owner's product exhibited in the sales support server 200 by the customer terminals 100a to 100c and requests detailed information, the sales support server 200 uses the customer terminals 100a to 100c Issues a new mail account address of the sales support server 200, transmits the new mail account address to the customer terminals 100a to 100c, and transmits the new mail account address to the business owner terminal 300 and information requested by the customer. Send
[0042]
The sales support server 200 converts the data provided to the customer transmitted from the business owner terminal 300 according to the display capabilities of the customer terminals 100a to 100c, and stores the converted data in the storage device. Then, only the URL indicating the position in the storage device where the data provided to the customer is stored is transmitted to the customer terminals 100a to 100c. The customer can obtain desired information about the product by accessing the URL.
[0043]
By adopting such a configuration, the business owner can create and transmit data to be provided to the customer without worrying about what display capability the customer uses.
[0044]
In addition, since the sales supporter does not directly transmit the data from the business owner to the customer's terminal, but only transmits the URL indicating the location in the storage device where the data from the business owner is stored, the customer is one-sided There is no need to receive data from the main, and desired information can be obtained by accessing the transmitted URL as needed.
[0045]
Further, by adopting the above configuration, even in a situation where the customer does not want to directly inform the business owner of the customer's own e-mail address for privacy protection and does not want to change the existing mail address, data from the business owner can be obtained. It will be possible to get it with your existing email address. Further, when the commodity transaction between the business owner and the customer is completed, the customer can request the sales supporter to delete the new mail account address of the customer from the sales support server 200. As a result, the customer can avoid receiving unnecessary push-type advertisement information from the business owner.
[0046]
As described above, the embodiment of the present invention has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this.
[0047]
For example, in the above configuration, the data provided to the customer is created for each customer and the URL is transmitted. However, when a plurality of customers request the same information for the same product, the business owner When data provided to one customer is simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of customer accounts, the sales support server 200 creates one conversion data in the storage device and transmits the same URL to each customer. Is also possible. With such a configuration, the storage device can be used efficiently.
[0048]
In the process of FIG. 6, the new mail account address is transmitted to the customer terminal 100 (S109), and the customer can recognize that the new mail account address has been issued (S110). May be omitted.
[0049]
In addition, the embodiments according to the present invention can be appropriately changed within the technical idea of the present invention.
[0050]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, there is no need for the customer to directly register his or her mail address in the business owner or portal site, and the business owner can provide necessary information regardless of the terminal capabilities of the customer.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a sales support system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an illustrative view of an entry table output to a customer by a sales support server 200;
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a sales support server 200.
FIG. 4 is a data structure of a customer information database 500 of the sales support server 200.
FIG. 5 is a display example on the i-mode terminal 100c of an e-mail transmitted from the sales support server 200 to a customer.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
200 Sales support server 201 Controller 201a Control unit 201b Communication control unit 201c Data conversion unit 201d Information terminal DB
202: General-purpose storage device 203: Customer DB
204: PC data storage device 205: PDA data storage device 206: i-mode data storage device

Claims (6)

First receiving means for receiving customer request information transmitted from a customer terminal via a communication network;
An account issuing means for issuing a customer terminal account for the customer terminal;
First transmission means for transmitting the customer request information and the customer terminal account received by the first reception means to a business owner terminal via a communication network;
Second receiving means for receiving the business owner provided data transmitted from the business owner terminal to the customer terminal account via a communication network,
Data conversion means for converting the business owner provided data received by the second reception means according to the display capability of the customer terminal;
And a data providing unit for providing the business owner provided data converted by the data converting unit to a customer terminal corresponding to the customer terminal account. 2. The server device according to claim 1, wherein the first transmitting unit transmits the customer terminal account to the customer terminal via a communication network. Storage means for storing the business owner provided data converted by the data conversion means,
3. The server device according to claim 1, further comprising a second transmission unit that transmits an address of the storage unit that stores the business owner-provided data to the customer terminal via a communication network. . In a data distribution system consisting of server devices and business owner terminals,
A first receiving unit that receives customer request information transmitted from a customer terminal via a communication network;
An account issuing means for issuing a customer terminal account for the customer terminal;
First transmission means for transmitting the customer request information and the customer terminal account received by the first reception means to a business owner terminal via a communication network;
Second receiving means for receiving the business owner provided data transmitted from the business owner terminal to the customer terminal account via a communication network,
Data providing means for providing the business owner provided data converted by the data converting means to a customer terminal corresponding to the customer terminal account,
The business owner terminal is provided with third transmission means for transmitting business owner provision data corresponding to the customer request information received from the server device to the customer terminal account corresponding to the customer terminal information. Data distribution system. 5. The data distribution system according to claim 4, wherein said first transmitting means transmits said customer terminal account to said customer terminal via a communication network. Storage means for storing the business owner provided data converted by the data conversion means,
The data distribution according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising: a second transmission unit that transmits an address of the storage unit that stores the business owner-provided data to the customer terminal via a communication network. system.

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