JP2006092040A - Service provision system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To balance the maintenance of security and the convenience of a user based on the setting environment of a service use terminal. <P>SOLUTION: A user is authenticated to perform access (log-in) a service use system. The designation of the access right of a service is classified into the setting of the access right for every person, the setting of the access right for every place regardless of any person and the non-designation(non-restriction) of any access right. Since the security of the access right of the service set for every person is high, and it is sometimes troublesome to be seen by the others, the service is used only in a place where only a person who has the access right is present. Since the access right of the service is set for every place under such judgement that it may be known to the others to some extents, a service provision condition determination part 101 of a service providing server 10 decides whether or not a log-in user is able to use the service according to use frequency of the user in the place (under the consideration of convenience) by referring to terminal basic information, user basic information and service basic information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a service providing technique using a server device and a service use terminal connected to the server device and used by a user, and in particular, restricts service contents based on the installation environment of the service use terminal. Is.

  Various people work for various purposes under the idea of an open office where multiple companies share their offices with each other. In such an environment, when a person logs in to a service terminal (also referred to simply as an information terminal) and receives a service, there may be many “others” around that terminal. There are cases where it is difficult for both the provider and receiver to take a peek. Also, regarding the display when not logged in (advertising or notification display), it is difficult to determine what kind of content should be displayed to prevent security problems. If functions are simply restricted by a security policy, activities in the open office may be inefficient.

  In conventional systems, the display contents are limited only by individual access rights and fixed settings, but in an open office where the surrounding environment (people) changes every moment, a more dynamic access right control method is used. , You need to protect information and use it more conveniently.

Note that Patent Document 1 is related to this invention. The proposal of Patent Document 1 is to determine whether a predetermined document can be displayed and whether it can be changed by determining a security level from a login name by table lookup in an HTML document browsing system. No consideration is given to the possibility of display based on the installation environment of the service using terminal.
Japanese Patent No. 3361743

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a service providing technology that does not sacrifice both security requirements and user convenience.

  According to the basic configuration example of the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a service use terminal is installed in a shared space or an employee-limited space that can be used by an employee and an outside person in a certain company. In doing so, the terminal installer defines the installation environment of the service using terminal. When a user uses a service terminal, the server that provides the service changes the menus and contents displayed depending on the defined installation environment, the current status of the terminal location, and the user account used. Let

  In this configuration example, the provision of services is appropriately controlled according to the installation environment, the current state of the installation location, and the user, so that it is easy to achieve both security and user convenience. .

  The present invention will be further described.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a service providing system including a server device and a service using terminal connected to the server device and used by a user to receive service is provided: Service utilization terminal information storage means for storing installation environment information relating to the installation environment of the service utilization terminal; and service information storage means for storing provisionable environment information relating to an environment in which the service can be provided for each service provided by the server device And providing service restriction means for restricting a service provided from the service using terminal based on the installation environment information and the provisionable environment information.

  In this configuration, the service installation terminal installation environment can be matched with the environment in which the service can be provided, and a service that meets security and user convenience can be provided adaptively.

  In this configuration, the contents of the installation environment information may vary depending on incidental conditions. The incidental conditions are that the time zone and events are being held. An event is, for example, a meeting.

  User information storage means for storing user information including user login authentication information may be further provided. The login of the user to the service using terminal is authenticated using the login information, and the user can use the service under the restriction by the provided service restricting means.

  In this case, information provided by the service using terminal in a non-logged-in state may be determined based on the installation environment information.

  In addition, the user information includes user / location relationship information regarding a relationship between a user and a location, and the provided service restriction unit logs into the service using terminal in addition to the installation environment information and the available environment information. The service provided from the service using terminal may be limited based on the user / location relation information.

  The user / location relation information represents, for example, the degree of use frequency of the location by the user. For this information, the user's territory may be classified according to the usage frequency, and for example, in a territory with a high usage frequency, the restriction may be relaxed so that the service can be used as much as possible.

  You may set the access right of the said service to a user or a group.

  When the combination of the installation environment information and the user / location relation information matches the provision environment possible information, the service may be provided by the service using terminal.

  The service use terminal information storage means may be provided in the server device, a management server device different from the server device, or the service providing device. Similarly, the service information storage unit may be provided in the server device, a management server device different from the server device, or the service providing device. Further, the provided service restriction unit may be provided in the server device or the service providing device. Further, the user information storage means may be provided in the server device, a management server device different from the server device, or the service providing device.

  The present invention can be realized not only as an apparatus or a system but also as a method. Of course, a part of the invention can be configured as software. Of course, software products used for causing a computer to execute such software are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  These and other aspects of the invention are set forth in the appended claims and will be described in detail below with reference to examples.

  According to the present invention, it is easy to realize both security and user convenience.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below.

  1 shows a service providing system 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention as a whole, FIG. 2 shows an arrangement example of service use terminals 60 of the service providing system 1000, and FIG. 3 shows services of the service providing system 1000. The internal structure of each of the providing server 10, the service control server 20, the authentication server 30, and the service using terminal 60 is schematically shown. Each functional block schematically shown is realized by cooperating hardware resources and software resources of a computer. In this example, an example in which service use terminals are installed on the premises of Company A and Company B will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Some service use terminals 60 may be installed in stores, public facilities, or the like.

  In this embodiment, the following usage scheme is adopted.

(1) Authentication is performed to access (log in) the service utilization system 1000. This login and access rights for each service are basically different. However, there may be a service that allows the logged-in user to access indiscriminately.
(2) There are two types of designation of service access rights: one set for each person (user / group) and one set for each place regardless of the person. Some access rights are not specified (unlimited).
(3) Since what is set for each person has high security and is not good to be seen by others, the use is allowed only in a place where only a person with access rights exists.
(4) Since it is thought that what is set for each location is set based on the judgment that others may know to some extent, depending on how much the logged-in user uses the location ( Determine if the service is available (considering).

  In FIG. 1, a service providing system 1000 according to this embodiment includes a service providing server 10, a service control server 20, an authentication server 30, a plurality of service using terminals 60, and the like. A plurality of service providing servers 10, 1 service control server 20, and 1 authentication server 30 are connected to a wide area communication network such as the Internet 40. Further, a local network 50A provided in the premises of the company A and a local network 50B provided in the premises of the company B are connected to the wide area communication network 40. In the premises of Company A and Company B, a plurality of service utilization terminals 60 are provided in the premises networks 50A and 50B.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the service using terminal 60 can be installed in various security levels such as a private room, a living room, a conference room, and a collaboration room, but is not limited to such an arrangement example.

  The service providing server 10 provides one or a plurality of services among various services such as a document management service, an information search service, and an article purchase service.

  The service using terminal 60 authenticates the user and gives access to various service providing servers 10 so that the service can be used.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the service use terminal 60 includes a service display / operation unit 601, a user authentication device 602, an installation location information definition unit 603, and the like. When using the service use terminal 60, the user first logs in to the service providing system 1000 after receiving authentication through key input (PIN authentication), card input, or the like. After logging in, the user uses the service using the service use terminal 60. After the user logs in, basically, all the services provided by all the service providing servers 10 of the service providing system 1000 are presented to the user, and the user selects a desired service and receives the service. Whether the user can receive the selected service depends on the access right of the service. The access right to the service can be set for a user or a group as shown in FIG. 8, and can also be set for a place. It may be set for both user / group and location.

  If you do not want to display the service entry (menu list) for users who do not have access rights, only the service entries (menu list) for which the logged-in user has access rights personally or locally You may make it present.

  The service includes a print service. In this case, a printer attached to the service use terminal 60 or another printer can be used.

  Basically, the user can use any service using terminal 60 within a physically accessible range. For example, in the example of FIG. 2, when an employee b of company B is active in the collaboration room of company A in connection with a joint project with company A, the employee b of company B is using the service use terminal 60 in the collaboration room. Can be used. Of course, a user authority may be constrained for each service use terminal 60 by giving a use authority to each service use terminal 60 separately from the login of the service providing system 1000.

  The authentication server 30 is used for login control and the like in the service using terminal 60.

  The service control server 20 is used to perform various controls related to service provision.

  Further, the main part of the service providing system 1000 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 3, the service providing server 10 includes a service providing condition determining unit 101, a service providing unit 102, a service basic information storage unit 103, and the like. The service providing unit 102 provides various services such as a document management service, an information search service, and an article purchase service. The service basic information storage unit 103 holds basic information (FIG. 7) related to services provided by the service providing server 10. The service basic information is not limited to this, but holds information such as a service name, a service providing space (service providing user / group), and the like. The service providing space and the service providing user / group define access rights to the service. As illustrated in FIG. 8, when the access right is designated by the user / group, the security is high. Therefore, whether or not the service can be provided is determined based on whether or not only the person having the access right exists in the location. When the access right is set at the place, it is considered that the user may know to some extent, so whether to provide the service is determined in consideration of the convenience of the user. This will be described later. Note that the service basic information storage unit 103 may be arranged and managed in another server, for example, the service control server 20.

  The service provision condition determining unit 101 includes terminal basic information (FIG. 5) of the service using terminal 60 being used, user basic information of the logged-in user (FIG. 6), service basic information of the provided service (access right, figure 7, FIG. 8) and the like to determine whether to provide the service. This will also be described in detail later.

  The service using terminal 60 includes a service display / operation unit 601 such as a display device with a touch panel, a user authentication device 602, and the like. The user authentication device 602 is, for example, a card reading device or a key input device. The installation location information definition unit 603 sets information according to the installation location at the time of installation. For example, in this example, as shown in FIG. 4, according to the characteristics of the location, the installation location is set to “public” (a space in which no one can be identified) or “shared” (strictly in terms of security). Although it is not a space that can prevent the intrusion of unspecified people by signboards, etc., "variable" (a space that can identify everyone only under certain conditions), "dedicated" (a space that can identify everyone), "occupied" It is divided into (space where there is no one other than the terminal operator). In addition, incidental conditions such as time zones are defined. The installation location information definition unit 603 can define terminal basic information of each service using terminal 60 as shown in FIG. Of course, the administrator may set or change the terminal basic information of each service using terminal 60 from his / her terminal.

  The service control server 20 holds a terminal basic information storage unit 201 that stores basic information of each service using terminal 60. This basic information includes “spatial characteristics” and “incidental conditions”.

  The authentication server 30 holds an access right determination unit 301 and a user basic information storage unit 302. As described above, the authentication server 30 uses the access right determination unit 301 to hold the user authentication information and perform authentication when the user logs in. The basic user information (FIG. 6) held in the basic user information storage unit 302 of the authentication server 30 is not limited to this, but enters the user name, company, appropriate place (territory), and appropriate place. It includes conditions, frequency of entering and exiting each appropriate place (territory) (high, low, medium). This embodiment is characterized in that when the service access right is set for a location, the use of the service is controlled based on the appropriate location and appropriate level (frequency) of the user. For example, when the access right of a predetermined service is given to the service using terminal 60 from the characteristics of the location of the service using terminal 60, the characteristics of the location and the basic information of the user (appropriate location information and frequency of entering and exiting) Determine whether or not to use. When the installation location is the user's territory and the frequency of entering and exiting is large, it is preferable to be able to receive services in consideration of the convenience of the user even if there is a slight security risk, This is because it is considered that there are few inconveniences even if the service using terminal 60 cannot be used for users who do not go in and out very much.

  The main part of the above embodiment will be further supplemented and described.

  First, basic information (installation location information) where service using terminals are placed is defined. Basic information is defined by “spatial characteristics” whether the place is completely private, whether it is a place where visitors change like a conference room, or a public place such as an entrance. “Attachment condition” describes a condition when the location information definition changes due to time constraints or external system status in the location information definition (for example, 9:00 to 17:00 are open to the general public and other conditions) Time is private). The contents of the terminal basic information held in the terminal basic information storage unit 201 are also used for determining the display contents when the service using terminal 60 is not used (idle screen).

  In addition to determining the access right of the logged-in user, the user basic information storage unit 302 is associated with information on “appropriate location”. The “appropriate place” is defined as “a place where the person can freely go in / out”, “a place where he / she is free but rarely”, “a place where he / she can go in / out with certain conditions”, and the like. However, the “appropriate place” does not refuse to use (log in) the service using terminal 60.

  On the side of the service providing server 10 that provides the service, a place where the service is desired and a person who provides the service can be described as necessary. For example, if it is a sales service with a limited price for Company A (although access rights are for all employees A), use on devices that are visible to people other than Company A, or if it is a file sharing service for the X project, Security can be strengthened by limiting to locations where X project meetings are held and locations where project members are located.

  The user can log in to the terminal at an arbitrary location. A menu of services that can be used on the terminal is listed based on the access right of the user, location information defined in the terminal, and information on the location provided on the service providing side.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  The operation of the embodiment is as follows.

[Step S10]: The user logs in after receiving authentication at the service using terminal 60. Note that the screen display and the like of the service using terminal 60 before login is appropriately changed according to the installation location and the current state of the installation location. When the user logs in, a service entry (menu list) is displayed, and the user selects a desired service and requests service provision.

[Step S11]: It is determined whether or not the user has the right to access the service. When the access right of the service is specified for the user / group, it is determined whether or not the login user is specified. When the access right is set according to the location, the installation location of the service using terminal 60 is determined. It is determined by whether it is included. When the access right of the service is unlimited, it is determined that the access right is unconditionally. When there is no access right, it progresses to step S12, and when that is not right, it progresses to step S13.

[Step S12]: The service is not displayed (or displayed as unavailable).

[Step S13]: If the access right of the service is specified by the user / group, the public security level is high, so the process proceeds to Step S14. If the access right is set according to the location, the public security is medium. Proceeding to step S16, when the access right is unlimited, since the public security is low, the process proceeds to step S22.

[Step S14]: The public security level is high. In this case, it is determined whether it is “occupied space” (private room where only the logged-in user is present) or “dedicated space” (who can be identified there) and all members have access rights. If it is negative, the process proceeds to step S19.

[Step S15]: Display and use the service.

[Step S16]: This is a case where the public security level is medium. In this case, it is determined whether or not the user is in an appropriate place (territory). If the place is appropriate, the process proceeds to step S17. If it is not an appropriate place, the process proceeds to step S20.

[Step S17]: A process based on the use frequency of the appropriate place is performed. If the frequency is low, the process returns to step S14, and service use is permitted only under limited conditions such as occupied space. If the frequency is medium, the process proceeds to step S18. If the frequency is high, the process proceeds to step S22 and the use of the service is permitted.

[Step S18]: This is a case where the usage frequency is medium at an appropriate place. In this case, it is determined whether it is a public space. If it is a “public” space, the process proceeds to step S19, and the use of the service is rejected. In other cases, that is, “shared”, “variable”, “dedicated”, In the case of “occupied” (see FIG. 4), the process proceeds to step S22 and the use of the service is permitted.

[Step S19]: The service is not displayed (or displayed as unavailable).

[Step S20]: This is a case where the place is not appropriate. In this case, it is determined whether or not the space is “occupied”. If the result is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S22, and the use of the service is permitted. If not, the process proceeds to step S21 and the use of the service is denied.

[Step S21]: The service is not displayed (or displayed as unavailable).

[Step S22]: The service is displayed and used.

  According to this embodiment, the terminal user does not have to worry about peeping from other users around. By limiting the location, the service can provide more security than login security (the location that can be seen even if the password is stolen is limited). The service provider can prevent a user outside the contract from knowing the service contents. The setting method for a large number of service-use terminals is simple (only the location is defined, so there is no need to set access rights for each service). The same terminal device can be used in a public place and a private place, and it is possible to cope with a change in the layout of the company by changing the setting without moving the terminal.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it may be linked with another system. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, user information is obtained from an entry / exit sensor 501 such as a conference room or a system such as an electronic conference system 502 used. The installation location information determination unit 604 can dynamically change the installation location information of the service using terminal 60 based on the surrounding users in the room and the usage status of the system. For example, when a person outside the company is detected, the “public” space is changed to a “shared”, “variable”, or “dedicated” space only for those inside the company. In FIG. 11, portions corresponding to those in FIG.

  In the above-described embodiment, the basic terminal information, basic user information, and basic service information are held in the service control server 20, the authentication server 30, and the service providing server 10, respectively. If available, you can keep it anywhere. For example, in FIG. 12, the service providing server 10 includes a service request receiving unit 104, a service providing condition determining unit 101, a service providing unit 102, and a basic information acquiring unit 105. The basic information acquiring unit 105 receives these information from the outside. The service is acquired and the service is provided. Of course, the service providing server 10 may hold one or more of terminal basic information, user basic information, and service basic information. Alternatively, the service providing condition determining unit 101 may be configured by another server, and the service providing server 10 may provide a service based on the determination result from the other server.

  In the above example, the access right can be set not only for the place but also for the user / group, but the access right may be set only for the place. In this case, information regarding the appropriate place (territory) of the user may be used.

  In addition, the security level can be set for the access right for the location, for example, high, medium, and low. When the location is low, it is possible to determine whether or not the service can be provided in consideration of information on the appropriate location of the user. . Alternatively, whether to determine whether or not to provide a service using information on the appropriate location of the user may be set on the service providing side, or may be set for each service using terminal.

It is a figure which shows the service provision system of the Example of this invention as a whole. It is a figure explaining the example of arrangement | positioning of the service utilization terminal of the said Example. It is a figure which shows typically the principal part of the said Example. It is a figure explaining the definition of the space name of the above-mentioned Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the terminal basic information of the above-mentioned Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the user basic information of the above-mentioned Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the service basic information of the above-mentioned Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the access right setting of the above-mentioned Example. It is a figure explaining the relationship between the appropriate place of the above-mentioned Example and access right. It is a flowchart explaining the operation example of the said Example. It is a figure explaining the modification of the above-mentioned Example. It is a figure explaining the other modification of the above-mentioned Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Service provision server 20 Service control server 30 Authentication server 40 Wide area communication network 50A, 50B Local network 60 Service utilization terminal 60 Service utilization terminal 101 Service provision condition judgment part 102 Service provision part 103 Service basic information storage part 104 Service request reception part 105 Basic information acquisition unit 201 Terminal basic information storage unit 301 Access right determination unit 302 User basic information storage unit 501 Sensor 502 Electronic conference system 601 Service display / operation unit 602 User authentication device 603 Installation location information definition unit 604 Installation location information determination unit 1000 Service provision system

Claims (16)

In a service providing system having a server device and a service use terminal connected to the server device and used by a user to receive a service,
Service use terminal information storage means for storing installation environment information related to the installation environment of the service use terminal;
Service information storage means for storing available environment information related to an environment in which the service can be provided for each service provided by the server device;
A service providing system comprising: provided service restriction means for restricting a service provided from the service using terminal based on the installation environment information and the available environment information.   The service providing system according to claim 1, wherein the content of the installation environment information varies depending on incidental conditions.   3. The service providing system according to claim 2, wherein one of the incidental conditions is a time zone.   4. The service providing system according to claim 2, wherein one of the incidental conditions is that an event including a conference is being held. User information storage means for storing user information including user login authentication information;
The service providing system according to claim 1, wherein a user's login to the service using terminal is authenticated using the login information, and the user can use the service under restriction by the provided service restriction unit.   6. The service providing system according to claim 5, wherein information provided by the service using terminal in a non-logged-in state is determined based on the installation environment information.   The user information includes user / location relationship information relating to a relationship between a user and a location, and the provided service restriction unit is logged in to the service using terminal in addition to the installation environment information and the available environment information. 7. The service providing system according to claim 5, wherein a service provided from the service using terminal is limited based on the user / location relation information.   The service providing system according to claim 7, wherein the user / location relation information represents a degree of use frequency of the location by the user.   The service providing system according to claim 8, wherein the service is provided by the service using terminal when a combination of the installation environment information and the user / location relation information matches the provision environment possible information.   The service information storage unit according to claim 1, which stores setting of an access right for a user or a group for a service provided by the server device.   The service providing system according to claim 1, wherein the service use terminal information storage unit is provided in the server device, a management server device different from the server device, or the service providing device.   The service providing system according to claim 1, wherein the service information storage unit is provided in the server device, a management server device different from the server device, or the service providing device.   The service providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the provided service limiting means is provided in the server device or the service providing device.   The service providing system according to claim 1, wherein the user information storage unit is provided in the server device, a management server device different from the server device, or the service providing device. A service providing method in a service providing system having a server device and a service using terminal connected to the server device and used by a user to receive a service;
Service utilization terminal information storage means for storing installation environment information related to the installation environment of the service utilization terminal;
Storing serviceable environment information related to an environment in which the service information storage means can provide the service for each service provided by the server device;
A service providing method comprising: a service providing means for restricting a service provided from the service using terminal based on the installation environment information and the available environment information. A service providing computer program executed on a server device used in a service providing system having a server device and a service using terminal connected to the server device and used by a user to receive service,
Service request accepting means for accepting a service request by a user from a service using terminal;
A step in which the installation environment information acquisition means acquires installation environment information related to the installation environment of the service use terminal being used;
A provisionable environment information obtaining unit obtains provisionable environment information related to an environment in which the service can be provided for the service to be provided; and
A service providing computer program used for causing the server device to execute a step of restricting a service provided by the service using terminal based on the installation environment information and the available environment information.