JP2005252829A - Apparatus for providing countdown service by means of portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus that implements a countdown service, which can be highly flexibly set and used by means of a portable terminal. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus comprises, in particular, a portable terminal and a server. Data such as event information, a fixture, a countdown notification interval, and a notified party, which are inputted by a user to his or her own portable terminal, are registered in a data base of a server for providing the countdown service. A processing unit performs determination based on the registered data of the countdown notification interval and scheduler data included by the server, and when conditions are satisfied, the countdown service is provided to the registered notified party. The user can enter any event information he or she desires therein. Moreover, the countdown service is simultaneously provided to a plurality of notified parties. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for implementing a countdown service for a mobile terminal.

There is a countdown service as one of the services intended to notify the user in advance of the occurrence of an event for a scheduled special event.
By using the countdown service, it is possible to know in advance the date and time when the event is scheduled, and to know the remaining time until the event occurs, so this is a convenient service for the user.
However, since the countdown service is not provided as a stand-alone service, it was provided as a set with tickets, travel ticket reservation content, travel navigator content, pollen information content, diary content, etc., so mobile terminal service users Has a problem that the countdown service cannot be used for purposes other than the contents described above.
Even if the content matches the purpose and the countdown service can be used, only items related to the service content can be counted down, and in order to display the countdown, you must enter the site that provides the content service each time. Don't be.
Moreover, since the countdown service is a service for individuals, a plurality of people cannot share the countdown service at the same time.
As described above, the usage form of the conventional countdown service is limited, and it is not always convenient for the user.

As a conventional technique for the countdown service itself, there is an event notice server and an event notice system that perform an advance notice of an event based on input event information.
This event notice server has a schedule database for accumulating event information, a time measuring means, and a timing information holding means for performing notice notification, and based on the current time and timing information obtained from the time measuring means. Read event information to be notified. Then, a notice message is created and output based on the event information (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2002-73920 A

  In the above prior art, an event notice system is introduced to a general household (personal house) and the schedule (event) is managed. However, in the present invention, a special system is provided because it provides a countdown service to the public. It is intended that the user can receive a countdown service by inputting countdown data from a mobile terminal without requiring management.

An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that implements a countdown service that a user can use for free purposes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that can receive a countdown service when a user inputs countdown data from a mobile terminal without requiring special system management.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for registering in advance the notification destinations of a plurality of opponents that the user wishes to notify the countdown in the apparatus, and performing a countdown service for all the registered notification destinations. It is to be.
Another object of the present invention is to implement a countdown service capable of performing priority control of notifications by assigning priorities to the countdown notifications when a plurality of notifications are duplicated in the countdown notification in the device. Is to provide a device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that implements a countdown service in which the other party who has been notified of the countdown in the apparatus can take a response such as a reply to the notification confirmation or rejection of an incoming notification for a future notification. That is.
Another object of the present invention is to provide countdown notification to other communication terminals owned by the other party using audio data or image data when the other party who desires notification in the apparatus does not own or use the portable terminal. It is providing the apparatus which implements the countdown service which can perform.

In the following, the numbers used in [Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention] are used in parentheses,
Means for solving the problem will be described. These numbers are written in the [Claims] and [
The best mode for carrying out the invention] is added to clarify the correspondence relationship. However, these numbers should not be used to interpret the technical scope of the invention described in [Claims].

The mobile terminal (100), the mobile terminal (101), the mobile terminal (102), and the mobile terminal (103) are set in the screen display unit (2) on which the countdown service setting screen is displayed and the screen display unit (2). The control unit (4) for displaying the screen, the input unit (8) having various keys necessary for inputting data set on the setting screen, and the data set on the setting screen are transmitted and received between the external communication devices The transmission / reception control part (10) which comprises is comprised.
In addition, the server (110) includes a transmission / reception control unit (12) that transmits / receives data set on the setting screen to / from an external communication device, a database (16) in which data set on the setting screen is registered, A scheduler (18) having time measuring means and holding data of date and time, and a processing unit for performing processing for providing the countdown service based on data of the database (16) and the scheduler (18) (14).
The mobile terminal (100), the mobile terminal (101), the mobile terminal (102), the mobile terminal (103), and the server (110) are connected by the user via the communication network (30) without depending on a specific purpose. The countdown service provided for a desired purpose is simultaneously notified to a plurality of portable terminals.

The database (16) includes countdown registration data (50) in which data set on the setting screen is registered.
In addition, message data (60) necessary for creating a message used as countdown notification information as necessary, voice data (61) necessary for creating voice notification information used as countdown notification information, Image data (62) necessary for creating image notification information used as countdown notification information is provided.

  The mobile terminal (100), the mobile terminal (101), the mobile terminal (102), and the mobile terminal (103) that are notified of the countdown service receive a reply indicating that the countdown service has been received and that the incoming call has been rejected. The notification reception confirmation and the incoming call rejection can be performed.

As the countdown service setting information (40), the event contents (41) indicating the name, location, and other comments of the event to be held, the event date (42) indicating the date and time when the event is scheduled, and the countdown service are started. The countdown start time (43) indicating the time to be counted, the countdown notification interval (44) indicating the notification interval at which the countdown service is provided, and the notification destination (45) indicating the telephone number and mail address of the participant's mobile terminal are mainly used. Set to
In addition, if necessary, the incoming call rejection (46) indicating that the rejection of the countdown notification information from the participant's mobile terminal is desired, and the priority indicating the notification order when a plurality of countdown notification information notifications are duplicated The rank (47) is set in the countdown service setting information (40).
The countdown service setting information (40) is registered in the countdown registration information (50).

  When the server receives a reply indicating that the countdown notification information has been received or rejected from the participant's mobile terminal, the server notifies the mobile terminal that has set up the countdown service that the reception confirmation or notification has been rejected. .

Countdown of messages prepared by the user or automatically created by the processing unit, audio notification information prepared by the user or automatically created by the processing unit (14), and image notification information prepared by the user or automatically created by the control unit The notification destination (45) is notified as notification information.
Further, countdown notification information can be individually created or changed according to the notification destination (45), and different countdown notification information can be notified for each notification destination (45).

  In order to prevent the notification destination partner from overlooking the countdown notification information, the countdown notification information is notified to all communication devices such as a telephone, a mobile phone, a PDA, a PC, and a fax owned by the notification destination partner.

Since the countdown service provided by the present invention can freely set event contents, the service usage range is wide. In addition, since it is displayed directly on the screen of the mobile terminal, it is not necessary for the user to reenter the countdown service site as in the prior art. In addition, since the countdown notification can be made not only for individuals but also for a plurality of opponents, when an important meeting is held, it is possible to work while being aware of the date and time of the meeting. In addition, as long as the portable terminal is owned and used, there is an effect that the event content is not forgotten.
Furthermore, it is expected for communication carriers to increase service usage fee revenue by providing new contents.

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of a count service when there is one event manager and three event participants. 1 includes an event manager mobile terminal 100, a participant mobile terminal 101, a participant mobile terminal 102, a participant mobile terminal 103, a server 110 that performs a countdown service, and these devices. It comprises various communication networks 30 such as the Internet for performing communication.

Each mobile terminal includes a screen display unit 2, a control unit 4, a storage unit 6, an input unit 8, and a transmission / reception control unit 10 as constituent elements. These constituent elements are the mobile terminal 100, the mobile terminal 101, and the mobile terminal 102. This is common to all the mobile terminals 103.
On the other hand, the server 110 includes a transmission / reception control unit 12, a processing unit 14, a database 16, a scheduler 18, and a program 20.

  For the mobile terminal 100, the screen display unit 2 displays a screen for setting or notifying the countdown service. The control unit 4 receives an input signal from the input unit 8 or automatically displays a screen on the screen display unit 2, stores and reads data in the storage unit 6, and transmits and receives data from the transmission / reception control unit 10. Do. The storage unit 6 stores various data. The input unit 8 includes various keys necessary for operating the mobile terminal. The transmission / reception control unit 10 transmits / receives data to / from an external communication device.

In the server 110, the transmission / reception control unit 12 transmits / receives data to / from an external communication device. The processing unit 14 performs various processes such as transmission / reception of data from the transmission / reception control unit 12 and a countdown service based on data registered in the database 16 and date / time data of the scheduler 18. .
The database 16 is composed of a plurality of data as shown in FIG. In the countdown registration data 50, countdown service setting information 40 input from the mobile terminal side is registered. The countdown service setting information 40 mainly includes information on event contents 41, event date and time 42, countdown notification start time 43, countdown notification interval 44, and notification destination 45, but rejects incoming calls from the notification destination as necessary. Information corresponding to functions such as 46 and notification priority 47 may be added. In addition to the countdown registration data 50, if necessary, message data 60 having data related to a notification message, audio data 70 for creating a voice notification message, and a notification message using an image. Image data 80 is also provided.
The scheduler 18 has time measuring means and holds date and time data.
The program 20 is a program for executing a countdown service in the processing unit 14.

The case where the event manager uses the countdown service according to the processing flow shown in FIG. 2 will be described as an example.
In S <b> 21, the control unit 4 causes the screen display unit 2 to display a screen for setting or notifying the countdown service by the mobile terminal operation of the event manager in the mobile terminal 100.
The screen to be displayed is a screen in which screen data stored in the storage unit 6 of the mobile terminal 100 is displayed, or a setting homepage held by the server 110 is downloaded and displayed.

In S22, according to the displayed content, the event manager 41 displays the event content 41, the event date and time 42, the countdown notification start time 43, the countdown notification interval 44, and the notification destination 45 such as the phone number and mail address of the participant's mobile terminal. For example, data used for the countdown service is input from the input unit 8.
As the event contents 41, for example, free contents such as a meeting agenda and other comments are input. As the event date 42, the date and time are input.
The countdown notification start time 43 is input with the start time of the countdown service.
The countdown notification interval 44 determines a notification interval. In the case of regular intervals, a time interval is specified. When notification is made on a specific day of the week or date, the day of the week or date is specified.
The notification destination 45 to be input may be either a telephone number or a mail address.

  Here, for the notification destination 45 such as the telephone number and mail address of the participant's portable terminal, the contents registered in the telephone book, address book, mailing list, etc. in the storage unit 8 of the portable terminal 100 or the database 16 of the server 110. Can also be used.

  Data input to the setting screen of the countdown service is temporarily stored in the storage unit 6, and the data stored here is transmitted / received by the control unit 4 to the transmission / reception control unit 10 of the mobile terminal 100, the communication network 30, and the server 110. 12 to the processing unit 14. Each setting data sent to the processing unit 14 is registered in the database 16.

  If the registration is successful in S23, a “registration complete” message is transmitted from the processing unit 14 to the mobile terminal 100. And this message is displayed on the screen display part 2 of the portable terminal 100, and a countdown service is started.

In S24, the processing unit 14 compares and refers to the date / day / day / time data held by the scheduler 18 and the data registered in the countdown registration data 50, so that the date / time, day of the week, time, etc. It is determined whether or not the data satisfies the condition of the countdown notification interval 44 registered in the countdown registration data 50. If the condition is not satisfied, the determination is repeated until the scheduler data satisfies the condition.
Examples of conditions for the countdown notification interval 44 include elapse of a fixed time or arrival of a specified date and time.

In S25, when the condition in the determination in S24 is satisfied, the processing unit 14 calculates the remaining days and remaining time until the registered event date based on the data, and is registered in the countdown registration data 50. Based on the data of the notification destination 45, the event manager and the participant's mobile terminal 100, the mobile terminal 101, the mobile terminal 102, and the mobile terminal 103 are notified of the event contents, the remaining days until the event, and the remaining time as countdown information. .
The processing unit 14 determines whether the notification destination is a telephone number or an e-mail address, and selects a contact means based on the difference.

  At the time of this notification, the processing unit 14 acquires necessary data from the message data 60 and creates a notification message, and then adds the created message to the countdown information or only the created message. It is also possible to perform a process of notifying each mobile terminal as countdown information.

When the countdown information is notified by the message, it is possible to perform a process of notifying a different message for each portable terminal to be notified.
Based on the notification destination 45 of each portable terminal registered in the countdown registration data 50, the message content transmitted by the portable terminal notified by the processing unit 14 is changed and created. This makes it possible to send a specific message only to a specific mobile terminal.

  In S26, when the processing unit 14 compares and references the date, day, and time data held in the scheduler 18 and the data registered in the countdown registration data 50, the date, day, It is determined whether data such as time matches the event date data registered in the countdown registration data 50. If not, the process returns to S24.

In S27, if they match in the determination in S26, the processing unit 14 uses the countdown end notification as countdown information, and based on the data of the notification destination 45 registered in the countdown registration data 50, the event manager and the participant The mobile terminal 100, the mobile terminal 101, the mobile terminal 102, and the mobile terminal 103 are notified, and the countdown service is terminated.
The processing unit 14 determines whether the notification destination is a telephone number or an e-mail address, and selects a contact means based on the difference.

The mobile terminal 100, the mobile terminal 101, the mobile terminal 102, and the mobile terminal 103 are notified of countdown information from the processing 14 of the server 110.
Taking the portable terminal 100 as an example, the countdown information transmitted from the transmission / reception control unit 12 by the processing unit 14 of the server 110 is delivered to the portable terminal 100 via the communication network 30, and the portable terminal 100 transmits / receives the countdown information. Received by the control unit 10, the control unit 4 displays it on the screen display unit 2.
The portable terminal 101, the portable terminal 102, and the portable terminal 103 are the same as those of the portable terminal 100.

  The notified countdown information is displayed on the screen display unit 2 at the same time as the notification. If the notified mobile terminal does not support the function displayed directly on the screen, it is notified by an alternative means such as e-mail or simple message.

When a plurality of countdown information notifications overlap in the same time zone, a function of performing priority control regarding the order of screen display can be added.
As an example of priority control, first, the priority 47 data is added to the countdown information notification, and the data with the higher priority is displayed first. Display something high. This is sequentially repeated until all the countdown information to be displayed is displayed.
As another example of priority control, data of priority order 47 can be added to the countdown information notification, and a plurality of countdown information can be rearranged in ascending order or descending order according to the priority order and displayed together on one screen. .
In the initial setting, the events are displayed with priority from the event occurrence date and time, but the event manager can decide the display priority 47 by himself / herself.
In FIG. 3, the priority order 47 is defined by the characters “high”, “medium”, and “low”. However, the priority order 47 is not limited to this, and the priority order 47 can be defined by the magnitude of the number. It is. In this case, priority is given to those with larger numbers, or priority is given to those with smaller numbers.

Note that the participant's mobile terminal 101, mobile terminal 102, and mobile terminal 103 are not only unilaterally notified, but also a reply to the server 110 indicating that the participant has confirmed the countdown notification, There may be a case where a function that makes it possible to cope with the future, such as rejecting an incoming countdown notification, is added.
For example, when a countdown notification is displayed on the screen display unit 2, a function is added that allows the participant to select reply or call rejection from the menu selection. Alternatively, a function is added in which notification confirmation is automatically returned when the participant performs an operation such as pressing a key in the input unit 8.
When a notification confirmation reply is made, the event manager's portable terminal 100 is notified via the server 110. When the incoming call rejection is performed, the information is registered in the incoming call rejection 46 in the item of the countdown registration data 50 and the event manager is notified to the portable terminal 100.

In this embodiment, only mobile terminals are targeted for notification, but in order to prevent participants from overlooking the countdown service notification, notification is made to all communication devices such as telephones, mobile phones, PDAs, PCs, and faxes owned by participants. It is also possible to add a function to be made.
The notification destinations of these devices are registered in the notification destination 45 as in the case of the mobile terminal.
In this case, for communication devices that need to be notified by voice, a message based on voice data that has been entered by the event manager in advance or automatically created by the processing unit 14 is registered in the voice data 70 of the database 16 and processed. The unit 14 notifies each communication device of this in accordance with the event notification interval.
In the case of notification by image, as in the case of audio, a message of image data prepared in advance by the event manager or automatically created by the processing unit 14 is registered in the image data 80 of the database 16 and processed. The unit 14 notifies each communication device of this in accordance with the event notification interval. The image data includes still image data and moving image data.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram in one embodiment of a countdown service according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of the countdown service according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a data configuration held by a database included in the server.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Screen display part 4 ... Control part 6 ... Memory | storage part 8 ... Input part 10 ... Transmission / reception control part 12 ... Transmission / reception control part 14 ... Processing part 16 ... Database 18 ... Scheduler 20 ... Program 30 ... Communication network 40 ... Countdown service setting information 41 ... Event contents 42 ... Event date and time 43 ... Countdown notification start time 44 ... Countdown notification interval 45 ... Notification destination 46 ... Reject incoming 47 ... Priority 50 ... Countdown registration data 60 ... Message data 70 ... Audio data 80 ... Image data 100 ... Mobile terminal 101 ... Mobile terminal 102 ... Mobile terminal 103 ... Mobile terminal 110 ... Server

Claims (16)

Multiple devices,
A server,
One of the plurality of terminals is
A screen display for displaying a countdown service setting screen;
An input unit for inputting setting information on the setting screen;
A transmission unit for transmitting the setting information to the server,
The server
A receiving unit for receiving the setting information;
A database for storing the received setting information;
A scheduler having timing means;
A processing unit that performs processing for providing the countdown service based on the setting information and time data timed by the timekeeping means;
When the processing unit determines from the time data that a predetermined condition included in the setting information is satisfied, the server notifies the countdown notification information to at least one terminal specified based on the setting information Countdown service system. In the countdown service system according to claim 1,
The setting information includes
Event contents showing the name, location and other comments of the event to be held,
An event date and time indicating the date and time the event is scheduled,
A countdown notification start time indicating a time when the countdown service is started;
A countdown notification interval indicating a notification interval in which the countdown service is provided;
A notification destination indicating the telephone number or email address of the at least one terminal;
Have
The processing unit generates the countdown notification information based on the countdown notification start time and the countdown notification interval, and notifies the countdown notification information to the at least one terminal designated based on the notification destination . In the countdown service system according to claim 1 or 2,
The server
Receiving from the at least one terminal notified of the countdown notification information a reply indicating a notification reception confirmation for the countdown notification information;
A countdown service system for notifying the notification reception confirmation to an information setting terminal that sets the setting information as one of the plurality of terminals based on the reply. In the countdown service system according to claim 3,
The server
Receiving from the at least one terminal notified of the countdown notification information a reply indicating an incoming call rejection for the countdown notification information;
A countdown service system for canceling next notification of the countdown notification information to the terminal corresponding to the incoming call rejection. In the countdown service system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The processing unit adds priority data and notifies the countdown notification information to the at least one terminal,
The at least one terminal is
A countdown service system comprising: the control unit that controls the screen display unit to display the countdown notification information in descending order of the priority with reference to the added priority data. In the countdown service system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The database stores the setting information, countdown sentence data, countdown voice data, and countdown image data,
The said processing part is a countdown service system which produces | generates the said countdown notification information using the data designated among the said countdown sentence data, the said countdown audio | voice data, and the said countdown image data. The countdown service system according to claim 6,
The processing unit changes the contents of the designated data to contents corresponding to the designated terminal, and notifies the countdown notification information to the plurality of designated terminals. In the countdown service system according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
Each of the terminals is a countdown service system that is one of a telephone, a mobile phone, a PDA, a PC, and a FAX owned by an owner of the at least one mobile terminal.   A server used in the countdown service system according to any one of claims 1 to 8. A generation function that measures time and generates time data;
A storage function for storing setting information set from outside in the database;
By a computer for realizing a notification function of notifying countdown notification information to a terminal designated based on the setting information when it is determined from the time data that a predetermined condition included in the setting information is satisfied An executable program. The program according to claim 10, wherein
The setting information includes
Event contents showing the name, location and other comments of the event to be held,
An event date and time indicating the date and time the event is scheduled,
A countdown notification start time indicating a time when the countdown service is started;
A countdown notification interval indicating a notification interval in which the countdown service is provided;
A notification destination indicating the telephone number or email address of the at least one terminal;
Have
The notification function includes a function of generating the countdown notification information based on the countdown notification start time and the countdown notification interval, and notifying the terminal specified based on the notification destination of the countdown notification information. . The program according to claim 10 or 11,
A reply indicating notification reception confirmation for the countdown notification information is received from the terminal that has been notified of the countdown notification information, and the notification reception confirmation is notified to the information setting terminal that has set the setting information based on the reply A program further having the function of The program according to any one of claims 10 to 12,
The reply indicating the incoming call rejection for the countdown notification information is received from the at least one terminal notified of the countdown notification information, and the next notification of the countdown notification information to the terminal corresponding to the incoming call rejection is canceled. A program further having the function of The program according to any one of claims 10 to 13,
A program further comprising a function of adding the priority data to the countdown notification information so that the countdown notification information is displayed in descending order of priority based on priority data. The program according to any one of claims 10 to 14,
In the database, the setting information, countdown sentence data, countdown voice data, and countdown image data are stored.
The notification function is
A program comprising a function for generating the countdown notification information by using designated data among the countdown sentence data, the countdown voice data, and the countdown image data. The program according to any one of claims 10 to 15,
The generation function further includes a function of changing the content of the countdown notification information to be notified to the terminal into content corresponding to the designated terminal.

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