JP2005130205A - Business support system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To bidirectionally support worker's business by voice, without giving a voice recognition function to a system which the worker is carrying. <P>SOLUTION: A business support system comprises a mobile terminal 10 for working which the worker carries, and a business support server 20 capable of communicating with the terminal 10. The mobile terminal 10 for working transmits feature quantity data extracted from an audio signal inputted from a microphone of a head set 12, to the server 20 via a mobile phone 14. A voice recognition part 200 of the server 20 recognizes a voice on the basis of received feature quantity data , and a support executing part 210 generates a message which should be reported to the worker on the basis of a voice recognition result, and the message is transmitted to the mobile terminal 10 for working as voice information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a system and a method for supporting various operations such as inspection of equipment and the like, and more particularly, to a system and method for performing business support in two directions using voice.

  For example, in a substation of an electric power company, maintenance and inspection work is regularly performed to confirm that various facilities for transmission and substation work normally. Conventionally, such maintenance and inspection work has been done by dispatching workers to the inspection site, sending inspection work instructions from the monitoring center to the site workers by telephone or fax, and checking results from the inspection workers by phone or fax. It is done by sending to the center.

However, in a method using a communication means such as a telephone or FAX, it takes time to transmit inspection instructions and inspection results, and the contents are likely to be inaccurate. Therefore, for example, in the inspection work support system disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is possible to support the inspection work while exchanging information by voice interactively with the inspection worker by using voice recognition / synthesis technology. ing. Specifically, a wearable computer carried by an inspection operator is composed of a headset, a mobile phone, a voice recognition device, and a notebook personal computer. The voice of the inspection worker is input to the voice recognition device and recognized, and the voice recognition result is transmitted from the notebook personal computer to the host computer via the mobile phone. Is transmitted to the notebook personal computer, so that bidirectional information transmission by voice can be performed between the inspector and the host computer.
JP 2002-245188 A

  In general, a speech recognition apparatus performs speech recognition using a dictionary in which words to be recognized are registered and a language model representing a word connection relationship. These dictionaries and language models have enormous amounts of data depending on the intended use of speech recognition. On the other hand, in the conventional inspection work support system, since the speech recognition device is provided in the wearable computer carried by the inspection operator, there is a limit to the amount of dictionaries and language models that can be stored, and sufficient speech It is difficult to ensure recognition performance. On the other hand, if all necessary dictionaries and language models are accommodated, the wearable computer becomes larger and heavier, and the portability becomes worse.

  Furthermore, since the words and sentences to be recognized change according to the inspection work target, it is necessary to change the contents of the dictionary and the voice model. However, in the above conventional system, each wearable is changed when the inspection work target is changed. For a type computer, it is very annoying and impractical because the dictionary and voice model must be replaced one by one.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is capable of providing two-way voice work support to a worker without providing a voice recognition function to a system carried by the worker. It is an object to provide a work support system and method.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is characterized in that the work of the worker, which is composed of a portable terminal carried by the worker who performs the work and a server capable of communicating with the portable terminal. A system for supporting
The portable terminal is
A microphone,
An audio transmission unit that transmits audio information corresponding to an audio signal input from the microphone to the server;
The server
A receiver for receiving voice information transmitted from the portable terminal;
A voice recognition unit that performs voice recognition based on the received voice information;
A support execution unit that generates a message to be notified to the worker based on a voice recognition result by the voice recognition unit;
A message transmission unit configured to transmit voice information corresponding to the generated message to the portable terminal.

The invention described in claim 2 is the business support system according to claim 1, wherein the portable terminal further includes an audio processing unit for extracting feature amount data from the input audio signal by predetermined audio processing. Prepared,
The voice transmission unit transmits the extracted feature data as the voice information to the server.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the business support system according to the first or second aspect, the server stores a voiceprint of each worker, the voiceprint of the received voice information, and the stored voiceprint. It is characterized by comprising an authentication unit for authenticating the worker based on the verification.

The invention described in claim 4 is the business support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the mobile terminal is:
Means for determining whether or not the voice transmission unit is in a state in which communication with the server is possible;
Means for storing audio information corresponding to an audio signal input from the microphone when communication with the server is not possible;
And a means for transmitting the stored audio information to the server when the audio transmission unit becomes communicable with the server.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the business support system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the mobile terminal includes an image acquisition unit, and the audio transmission unit performs the corresponding audio. Correspondingly, when image data is acquired by the image acquisition unit, the image data is transmitted to the server together with the audio information.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the business support system according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the server includes an image acquisition unit, and a message transmission unit adds the generated message to the generated message. Correspondingly, when an image is acquired by the image acquisition unit, the image data is transmitted to the portable terminal together with audio information corresponding to the message.

The invention described in claim 7 is a method for supporting the work of the worker by a portable terminal carried by the worker who performs the work and a server communicable with the portable terminal,
The mobile terminal is
Receives audio signal input from the microphone,
Send audio information according to this input signal to the server,
The server is
Receiving voice information transmitted from the mobile terminal;
Perform voice recognition based on the received voice information,
Based on the voice recognition result, a message to be notified to the worker is generated,
Voice information corresponding to the generated message is transmitted to the portable terminal.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, without giving a voice recognition function to the portable terminal which an operator carries, the operator can perform bidirectional | two-way business support with an audio | voice.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a business support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the system according to the present embodiment includes a work portable terminal 10 and a business support server 20.

  The business support server 20 is, for example, a server computer installed in a center for performing business monitoring, and is connected to the LAN 40. The business support server 20 is provided with a scanner 22, and various image data can be input to the business support server 20.

  On the other hand, the portable work terminal 10 is carried by a worker who performs various inspection work and the like, and the worker inputs and outputs voices by a headset 12 including a microphone and headphones (or earphones and speakers). And can communicate with the business support server 20 via the mobile phone 14 via the public network 30 (for example, the Internet) and the LAN 40. In addition, a digital camera 16 is connected to the work portable terminal 10 and photographic image data can be input, and the current position can also be detected by a GPS function. Note that the work portable terminal 10 can be connected to the LAN 40 when not in use, and can directly communicate with the business support server 20 via the LAN 40.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating functional configurations of the work mobile terminal 10 and the business support server 20. As shown in the figure, the work portable terminal 10 includes a voice analysis unit 102. The voice analysis unit 102 analyzes the voice signal input from the microphone of the headset 12 and extracts feature amount data. This feature amount data is data indicating features of audio information. In the present embodiment, as one example, feature amount data is extracted using a so-called cepstrum. Calculation of feature data using a cepstrum is a well-known technique in the field of speech recognition, but here, the outline of this technique will be briefly described.

ここで、関数Ｆは、５１２点の離散フーリエ変換であり、その定義域及び値域は夫々512点からなる。対数関数 logは、５１２点の定義域の夫々について対数を計算する。このようにして求めた１６次元のケプストラムは５１２個の音声データを１６個のデータに圧縮したものとなるが、この１６個のデータを用いて音声認識を行えることが知られている。 In the present embodiment, the audio signal is input at a sampling frequency of 16 kHz, for example. Therefore, the audio is expressed by 16,000 numerical data per second, and the numerical data is divided every 32 ms. . That is, continuous 512 numerical data is defined as one unit of division, and one divided unit is represented by s (t) (t = 0, 1,..., 511). Using this s (t), a 16-dimensional cepstrum C (u) (u = 0, 1,..., 15) is calculated by the following equation.

Here, the function F is a 512-point discrete Fourier transform, and the domain of definition and the range of values are each composed of 512 points. The logarithmic function log calculates the logarithm for each of the 512-point domain. The 16-dimensional cepstrum thus determined is obtained by compressing 512 voice data into 16 data, and it is known that voice recognition can be performed using these 16 data.

  The above is an example, and it is possible to use other than cepstrum as the feature quantity used for speech recognition. In addition, when 512 pieces of numerical data c (t) are compressed into 16 pieces of numerical data C (u), they may not be divided equally as described above, but may be divided unevenly. Furthermore, operations such as noise removal may be performed on s (t).

  The above-described feature amount extraction processing is performed in real time by software processing even in the case of the work portable terminal 10 including a PDA or a notebook personal computer having a small processing load and relatively low processing capability. Can do. Alternatively, a dedicated IC chip that performs the feature amount extraction processing may be incorporated into the work portable terminal 10 and processed in hardware.

  The feature amount data extracted by the voice analysis unit 102 as described above is transmitted from the mobile phone 14 to the business support server 20 via the network. Note that the image data of a photograph taken by the digital camera 16 is stored in the image buffer 103. If the corresponding image data is stored in the image buffer 103 when the feature amount data is transmitted, the image data is also the feature amount. Sent with data.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the business support server 20 includes a speech recognition unit 200, a support execution unit 210, a speech synthesis unit 220, a communication unit 230, an authentication unit 240, a support information database 250, a work result database 260, and the like. .

  The communication unit 230 controls communication via the network, and the feature amount data transmitted from the work portable terminal 10 is received by the communication unit 230. Further, the authentication unit 240 stores voiceprint data of each inspection worker, and performs personal authentication on the work portable terminal 10 that has been accessed by using the voiceprint of the inspection worker.

  The speech recognition unit 200 includes a recognition decoder 202, an acoustic model storage unit 204, a dictionary storage unit 206, and a language model storage unit 208. The acoustic model storage unit 204 stores phonetic unit acoustic information such as “a”, “i”, and “u”, and the dictionary storage unit 206 stores word unit dictionary information such as “electricity” and “switch”. Yes. Further, the language model storage unit 208 stores statistical information related to the connection relationship between words, for example, “thermal power” and “power generation” are connected in this order and are not connected in the reverse order. ing. The recognition decoder 202 performs speech recognition processing with reference to the acoustic model storage unit 204, the dictionary storage unit 206, and the language model storage unit 208 based on the feature amount data received by the communication unit 230, and performs the speech recognition. The result is supplied to the support execution unit 210. Note that the recognition decoder 200 may be implemented by software, or may be implemented as hardware by a dedicated IC chip or the like.

  As described in detail in the following embodiments, the support execution unit 210 performs various types of information stored in the support information database 250 based on the speech recognition result (that is, the recognition result of the utterance speech of the inspection worker) by the speech recognition unit 200. The business support information is searched to generate instructions, advice, etc. (hereinafter referred to as instruction information) to be given to the inspection operator. The generated instruction information is converted into a voice signal by the voice synthesizer 220 and transmitted from the communication unit 230 to the work portable terminal 10 via the network. The support information database 250 can also store drawing data such as a drawing of a facility to be inspected or a map read by the scanner 22.

  As described above, in the system of the present embodiment, bidirectional information transmission by voice can be performed between the work portable terminal 10 and the business support server 20. Note that the inspection result transmitted by voice from the inspection operator is stored in the operation result database 260. The support execution unit 210 also has a function of creating various reports and the like based on information stored in the work result database 260 as necessary.

  In the present embodiment, the work portable terminal 10 is provided with a network connection determination unit 104, a voice storage unit 106, and a stored voice transmission unit 108. The network connection determination unit 104 determines whether or not the mobile phone 14 provided in the work portable terminal 10 is in a state where network connection is possible, and the voice storage unit 106 has determined that network connection is impossible. In this case, the feature amount data is extracted by the speech analysis unit 102 based on the speech signal input from the microphone of the headset 12, and the feature amount data is stored. In addition, the stored voice transmission unit 108 transmits the feature amount data stored in the voice storage unit 106 to the business support server 20 when the network connection is restored. With this function, for example, when working under conditions of poor connection to a network such as a mountainous area or underground, the business support server 20 receives a voice signal emitted by the worker when the network cannot be connected. Can do.

  As described above, according to the system of the present embodiment, the inspection operator performs a voice conversation with the work support server 20 using the work portable terminal 10 and gives instructions from the work support server 20. You can proceed with inspections while receiving advice and advice. For this reason, for example, it is possible to carry out the work that has conventionally been required by two or more people to ensure the accuracy of inspection, such as a substation of a power company, while ensuring accuracy. At the same time, since the work support server 20 can perform unattended work support, it is possible to save labor for work such as equipment inspection.

  In addition, since the operator can input the inspection result and the like by voice from the headset 12, the inspection operation can be performed with both hands free to use. For this reason, a required work can be performed without difficulty even in a narrow place.

  Also, when a person provides work support as before, if the person in charge of support does not have sufficient knowledge in response to an inquiry from a worker, ask another person in charge or examine the materials. However, according to the present embodiment, since the business support server 20 can immediately generate instructions and advice by referring to the support information database 250, the business support Can be done smoothly.

  Further, in the present embodiment, only the feature amount data extraction process with a small processing load is performed on the work portable terminal 10 side, and the speech recognition process based on the feature amount data is performed on the business support server 20 side. For this reason, the processing capability required for the work portable terminal 10 can be suppressed, and the work portable terminal 10 can be reduced in size and weight to improve portability, and the price of the terminal can be reduced.

  Further, as described with respect to the above prior art (Patent Document 1), the words and sentences to be recognized differ depending on the work contents to be supported, and accordingly, it is necessary to replace the dictionary and language model used for speech recognition. In the present embodiment, the dictionary storage unit 206 and the language model storage unit 208 are provided in the business support server 20 so that the speech recognition is concentrated on the business support server 20. Easy replacement of dictionaries and language models. That is, if speech recognition is performed on the mobile terminal side as in the above prior art, every time the work content changes, the dictionary and language model of all mobile terminals must be replaced, which is very complicated. The only way to avoid this is to provide a dedicated mobile terminal for each application, which is uneconomical. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to flexibly and easily cope with various applications by simply replacing the dictionary and language model of the business support server 20 or switching between a plurality of types of dictionary and language model prepared in advance. It can be done.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, since it was set as the structure which extracts feature-value data from an audio | voice signal in the portable terminal 10 for work, and transmits to the work support server 20, data amount is overwhelming compared with the case where the audio | voice signal itself is transmitted. Therefore, the time required for information transmission can be shortened and the communication cost can be reduced. In addition, when audio signals are sent as they are, some kind of compression processing is required, which may reduce the recognition accuracy. However, there is no need for data compression when sending feature data, so the recognition accuracy is reduced due to compression. No problem arises. However, the present invention includes not only the case where the feature amount data is extracted from the audio signal on the mobile terminal side and transmitted to the server, but also the case where the audio signal is digitized and transmitted to the server as it is.

  Hereinafter, more specific application examples of the work support system of the present embodiment will be described as Example 1 and Example 2.

<Example 1: Inspection work of substation>
It is an Example in the case of supporting the substation patrol work which patrols and inspects various facilities provided in the substation. In the present embodiment, the support information database 250 of the business support server 20 stores data such as inspection routes including inspection target devices and inspection orders for each substation, and a check list indicating inspection items for each device. . The inspection target device may change depending on the time, and in such a case, data on the inspection route is set for each time. In addition, the support information database 250 corresponds to the abnormal situation that may occur, the emergency response information indicating countermeasures against the abnormal situation, the dangerous work that the operator may perform, and the dangerous work. Hazardous work information and the like representing warning contents to be issued are stored.

  The dictionary storage unit 206 and the language model storage unit 208 store, for example, the following dictionary and language model corresponding to the substation patrol.

(Dictionary example)
SF6 (Esue Fukusukusu), number of operations (Beautiful), bushing (Bushingu), oil pump (Aburaponpu), packing (Pakkin), dashpot (Dasyupotto), rust (Hasesei)
(Language model example)
SF6 → Gas → No → Leak → No → Pressure gauge → No → Instruction → Yes → Good Appearance → Inspection → Abnormal → No → Auxiliary → Switch → No → Abnormal → No →

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an overview of the inspection work. First, prior to inspection, the inspection operator (inspector in charge) specifies the substation to be inspected by connecting the work portable terminal 10 to the LAN 40, and the inspection support route data for the substation is designated as the work support server 20. To the work portable terminal 10 (S100). However, the download may be performed via the mobile phone 14. Then, the headset 12 and the mobile phone 14 are attached to the work portable terminal 10 and the patrol is started.

  The patrol route data downloaded as described above is displayed on the screen of the work portable terminal 10, and the patrol person patrols the substation based on the patrol route (S102). The patrol person may be guided by voice based on the patrol route data. During patrol, voice communication is performed between the patrol person and the business support server 20 as needed (S104).

  That is, the patroler inputs the equipment name by voice before starting the inspection of each equipment, and the business support server 20 refers to the support information database 250 and reads the check list of the corresponding equipment. Then, according to the check list, the instruction information is transmitted to the work portable terminal 10 as voice information. The patrol person performs an inspection according to the instruction information and inputs the inspection result by voice. Further, when the business support server 20 refers to the dangerous work information stored in the support information database 250 and senses some dangerous situation (for example, a situation where there is a risk of electric shock) from the voice of the patrol person, A warning sound such as “Is the ground installed” or “Is the power supply locked” is transmitted to the portable work terminal 10. Thereby, the patrol person can safely perform the patrol work.

  In addition, when the patrol person encounters any abnormality during the facility patrol process (S106), the patrol person notifies the work support server 20 by voice of the content of the abnormality. The business support server 20 refers to the response information in the support information database 250, searches for appropriate instruction information for the contacted abnormality, and transmits the advice to the work portable terminal 10 as voice information. (S108). For example, when a patrolman makes an inquiry asking "What should I do if the motor is overheated?", The business support server 20 searches for advice "Please do the processing ..." for this inquiry and use it for work. It transmits to the portable terminal 10. If it is difficult to register all trouble advices in the support information database 250, the work support server 20 is connected to an external expert system or the like, and no corresponding instruction information is found in the support information database 250. In such a case, an inquiry may be made to an external expert system or the like.

  In this embodiment, a system managed by the maintenance department is connected to the business support server 20, and the business support server 20 determines that an emergency measure is required for the abnormality notified from the patrol person. (S110) The contents of the first aid are transmitted to the work portable terminal 10 (S112), and the equipment requiring the first aid and the contents of the first action are transmitted to the maintenance department system by e-mail or the like (S114). At that time, a report in which dialogues with the patrol person until the trouble occurs may be created and transmitted to the maintenance department system.

  Information such as the inspection result transmitted from the work portable terminal 10 to the work support server 20 is stored in the work result database 260 (S116). If the inspection is not completed (S118), the process returns to S102 for the next inspection. The target equipment is inspected.

  Hereinafter, an example of a dialogue between the patrol person and the business support server 20 will be described by taking as an example a case of checking a circuit breaker in a substation. Before the inspection of the circuit breaker, the patrol person inputs the “circuit breaker” that is the inspection target device by voice input or operation input to the work portable terminal 10. Then, the business support server 20 refers to the check sheet (FIG. 4) stored in the support information database 250 corresponding to the circuit breaker, and performs the inspection work while performing a dialog with the patrol person as follows. Instruct and obtain inspection results.

Server> “Please check before inspection”
Patrol>"OK"
Server> “What is the number of operations before inspection?”
Patrol>"230times"
Server> “How many times does the oil pump operate?”
Patrol>"150times"
Server> “Check the appearance. Is there any damage on the appearance or loose bolts?”
Patrol>"None"
Server> “Are there any damage or cracks in the bushing?”
Patrol>"None"
Server> “Is the grounding terminal loose or the grounding wire damaged?”
Patrol> “There is a loose terminal and tighten.”
Server> “Is there any abnormality in the operation of the solenoid valve?”
Patrol>"None"
Server> “Perform an open / close test. Are you ready?”
Patrol> “Yoshi”
Server> “With circuit breaker (Iri)”
Patrol>"Circuit breaker, entering, ok"
Server> “Circuit breaker”
Patrol> “Circuit breaker, cut, good”

The inspection result transmitted from the patrol person through the above dialogue is accumulated in the work result database 260. The business support server 20 creates a patrol result report based on the inspection result data stored in the work result database 260. Thus, in this embodiment, the inspection record is automatically created, so that it is not necessary to manually create the inspection result report.

  In the course of the patrol work, the patrol person takes an on-site photograph with the digital camera 16 as necessary, and transmits the photograph image data to the business support server 20. When the photographic image data is sent, the business support server 20 also stores the photographic image data in the work result database 260.

<Example 2: Electric consumption meter reading>
This is an embodiment in the case where a meter reading person of an electric power company supports a meter reading operation of visiting each household and measuring a monthly electricity usage amount. In the present embodiment, the customer support route of each day, the customer's name, address, meter number, past monthly usage, and watt-hour meter instructions at the previous meter reading are stored in the support information database 250 of the business support server 20. Values, caution information (for example, drawings and photos showing the installation location when the watt-hour meter is difficult to find, precautions such as cautions for the dog), and other information (such as information on delinquent electricity charges) The The dictionary storage unit 206 and the language model storage unit 208 store, for example, the following dictionary and language model corresponding to the power usage meter reading.

(Dictionary example)
1. Electric meter related meter (keiki), meter (meter), meter (meter key)
2. Contractual relationship Abolition (High), Total abolition (Renewal) (Zenpai Shin), Retirement (Zenshitsu), Reuse (Saiyo), Amount used (Ryoyo), Suspicious usage (Ryofushin), Electric light (Dentou), Electric power (Denryoku), metered electric light (Zuyori Dentou), outdoor light (Gaitou)
3. Meter-reading equipment Handy (handy), instructions (swords), number of instructions (swords)

(Language model example)
・ Instrument → Number → 358 → Number → Kanemura → Ms → → → This month → → → Number of instructions → 4495
・ Number → 358 → Instruction → 4495
・ 358 → Number → → → Kanamura → Number of instructions → 4495
・ Kanamura → San → Metered Light → A → Instrument → Number → 358
→ Number of instructions → 4495
・ Instrument → Number → 359 → Hiraoka →
→ Day → Time → 3326 →
→ Family → Time → 2266
→ Night → Time → 1156

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an outline of a watt-hour meter reading operation. Before going out to the meter reading work, the meter reader connects the work portable terminal 10 to the LAN 40 and downloads the data of the visit route on the day from the work support server 20 to the work portable terminal 10 (S200). This visit route is displayed on the screen of the work portable terminal 10, and the meter reader moves to each customer's house while referring to the displayed visit route, and reads the electricity meter (S202). At that time, the meter reader inputs the name of the customer to be metered from now on by voice or operation on the work portable terminal 10, and in response to this, the business support server 20 refers to the support information database 250, If there is corresponding customer's attention information, the content is transmitted to the portable work terminal 10 as voice information. As a result, the meter reader can easily find the position of the watt-hour meter even when it is difficult to understand, and can also perform the meter reading work smoothly, such as preparing for the dog.

  At each customer's home, the meter reader performs meter reading work while performing voice communication with the business support server 20 (S204). Specifically, first, the meter reader reads out the customer name and the meter number assigned to the watt-hour meter. The business support server 20 identifies the customer using the customer name and meter number read by the meter reader as keys, reads the instruction value of the customer at the previous meter reading from the support information database 250, and transmits it to the work portable terminal 10. . The meter reader reads out the watt-hour meter reading value, and the business support server 20 recognizes the value read out by the meter reader and transmits the recognized value to the work portable terminal 10 as a digital value and voice information. The work portable terminal 10 reproduces the voice information from the business support server 20, and the meter reader can thereby confirm that the instruction value of the watt hour meter has been correctly input. Also, the meter reader may find it difficult to find a watt-hour meter at the time of meter reading, or encounter a dog, but if the business support server 20 does not provide appropriate caution information, for example, “The meter is in the warehouse. Voice information such as “inside” or “careful about dogs” is input. Further, the situation of the site may be photographed with the digital camera 16. The caution information input by voice by the meter reader and the photographic image data taken by the digital camera 16 are transmitted to the business support server 20 and recorded in the support information database 250 as the corresponding customer caution information. The precautions recorded in this way are notified to the meter reader at the next and subsequent meter readings.

  Next, the business support server 20 calculates the usage amount for this month from the current instruction value read by the meter reader and the previous month's instruction value, and based on this value, there is no abnormality or suspicious point in the current meter reading value. Whether or not (S206). Specifically, the usage amounts of the current month and the previous month are compared, and if the amount of change is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that there is a possibility of leakage or some other abnormality. Further, the usage amount of this month is compared with the history of the past usage amount, and it is determined whether there is any suspicious point such as a reading error or a watt hour meter failure in the usage amount of this month. If the meter reading value is abnormal or suspicious, a warning message is transmitted from the business support server 20 to the work portable terminal 10 (S208). As described above, when there is an abnormality or a suspicious point in the current meter reading value, by transmitting the fact to the mobile terminal 10 for work, the meter reading person does not return to the sales office, and an abnormal or suspicious point is detected at the time of meter reading. Knowing the existence, on the spot, it is possible to take necessary measures for abnormality such as investigation of the presence or absence of electric leakage, reconfirmation of the indicated value, inspection of the watt hour meter (S210).

  The work portable terminal 10 calculates the power usage amount and the electricity charge corresponding to the current month from the previous instruction value and the current instruction value transmitted from the work support server 20 as described above, and the work portable terminal 10 A notice of electricity usage as shown in FIG. 6 is created by the provided printer. However, if there is delinquency by the previous month due to the customer's delinquency information, the calculation of electricity charges and the creation of a notification form will not be performed. The meter reader inserts the information slip into the post box of the customer's house, the gap between the front doors, and the like.

  The information such as the meter reading value transmitted from the work portable terminal 10 to the business support server 20 and the information such as the amount used this month obtained from the meter reading value are stored in the work result database 260 (S212), and all customer homes are stored. If the meter reading has not been completed (S214), the process returns to S202 and the meter reading operation is performed at the next customer's house.

  Hereinafter, an example of a dialogue between the meter reader and the business support server 20 is shown. In addition, there are various menus for electricity contracts, but pay-per-use lighting contracts (the charge per unit usage is constant regardless of the season and time zone) and family time (per unit usage amount depending on the season and time zone) An example in the case of a change in the price of

・ Contract pattern A (in case of metered-light contract)
Meter reader> “Instrument number, 358”
"Kanamura-sama"
"Number of instructions this month 4495"
Server> “Instrument number, 358, Mr. Kanamura, this month is 4495.”
Meter reader> (Confirmation operation)
<The work portable terminal outputs a meter reading notice>

・ Contract pattern B (Family time)
Meter reader>"Mr.Hiraoka"
"Instrument number 359"
"Number of instructions this month"
"Daytime 3326"
"Family Time 2266"
"Nighttime 1156"
Server> “Mr. Hiraoka Instrument Number 359 Number of Instructions this Month Daytime 3326
Family time 2266 Night time 1156. "
Meter reader> (Confirmation operation)
<The work portable terminal outputs a meter reading notice>

  Although two embodiments have been described above, the application target of the present invention is not limited to these. For example, when a sales representative makes a product explanation to each customer while visiting a customer's home, he / she carries the portable mobile terminal 10 for which the customer's visit route has been registered in advance and voice-inputs the customer name. Corresponding customer information is transmitted from the business support server 20 to the work mobile terminal 10, and when a product name is input by voice, the product description information is transmitted from the business support server 20 to the work mobile terminal 10. This makes it possible for sales representatives to conduct sales activities efficiently.

  In addition, by exchanging information by voice between the work portable terminal 10 and the business support server 20, various support such as destination guidance on a map, ticket reservation, and traffic jam information can be provided.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a business support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram showing the function structure of the portable terminal for work and a work support server. It is a flowchart which shows the outline | summary of patrol work. It is a figure which shows an example of the check sheet memorize | stored in the assistance information database. It is a flowchart which shows the outline | summary of a watt-hour meter meter-reading work. It is a figure which shows an example of the notice sheet of an electric usage-amount.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Mobile terminal for work 12 Headset 14 Mobile phone 16 Digital camera 20 Business support server 30 Public network 40 LAN
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 102 Speech analysis part 104 Network connection discrimination | determination part 106 Voice memory | storage part 108 Storage voice transmission part 200 Speech recognition part 202 Recognition decoder 204 Acoustic model memory | storage part 206 Dictionary memory | storage part 208 Language model memory | storage part 210 Support execution part 220 Voice synthesizer 230 Communication part 240 Authentication Unit 250 Support Information Database 260 Work Result Database

Claims (7)

A system for supporting the work of the worker, comprising a portable terminal carried by a worker who performs the work and a server capable of communicating with the portable terminal,
The portable terminal is
A microphone,
An audio transmission unit that transmits audio information corresponding to an audio signal input from the microphone to the server;
The server
A receiver for receiving voice information transmitted from the portable terminal;
A voice recognition unit that performs voice recognition based on the received voice information;
A support execution unit that generates a message to be notified to the worker based on a voice recognition result by the voice recognition unit;
A business support system comprising: a message transmission unit configured to transmit voice information corresponding to the generated message to the portable terminal. The portable terminal further includes an audio processing unit that extracts feature data from the input audio signal by predetermined audio processing,
The business support system according to claim 1, wherein the voice transmission unit transmits the extracted feature data as the voice information to the server.   2. The server according to claim 1, further comprising: an authentication unit that stores a voice print of each worker and authenticates the worker based on collation between the voice print of the received voice information and the stored voice print. Or the business support system of 2 description. The portable terminal is configured to determine whether or not the voice transmission unit is in a state where it can communicate with the server;
Means for storing audio information corresponding to an audio signal input from the microphone when communication with the server is not possible;
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting the stored audio information to the server when the audio transmission unit is in a state where communication with the server is possible. The business support system described.   The portable terminal includes an image acquisition unit, and the audio transmission unit transmits the image data together with the audio information to the server when image data is acquired by the image acquisition unit corresponding to the corresponding audio. The business support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:   The server includes an image acquisition unit, and when an image is acquired by the image acquisition unit in response to the generated message, the server transmits the image data together with audio information corresponding to the message. The work support system according to claim 1, wherein the work support system is transmitted to a mobile terminal. A method of supporting the work of the worker by a portable terminal carried by a worker who performs the work and a server capable of communicating with the portable terminal,
The mobile terminal is
Receives audio signal input from the microphone,
Send audio information according to this input signal to the server,
The server is
Receiving voice information transmitted from the mobile terminal;
Perform voice recognition based on the received voice information,
Based on the voice recognition result, a message to be notified to the worker is generated,
A business support method comprising transmitting voice information corresponding to the generated message to the portable terminal.

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