JP2007049424A - Electronic conference system, communication terminal and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic conference system with which not only communication based on only voice communication but also the inspection of a reaction to a speaker by a questionnaire can be performed in real time in a portable telephone conference utilizing a half double communication system. <P>SOLUTION: In the electronic conference system with which an electronic conference is set by the half double communication system by connecting a plurality of communication terminals to an electronic conference server, each communication terminal reserves the transmission of data when the data can not be transmitted, and when no speaking is detected, transmits the data whose transmission is reserved to the electronic conference server. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic conference system, a communication terminal, and a communication method, and more particularly, to data transfer and questionnaire survey when communicating between a plurality of communication terminals by a half-duplex communication system.

  Push-to-Talk (abbreviated as PTT) is one of so-called VoIP (Voice over IP) that uses the Internet protocol to make a call over a data communication network, such as a mobile phone or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). It has been developed for communication terminals (see Patent Document 1). In particular, for mobile phones, “Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC) Phase One” has been submitted and standardization is being promoted by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), an industry group.

  In order to start a conversation, instead of turning the dial, PTT makes a one-way call like a transceiver and releases the call button by selecting a pre-registered caller and pressing the call button. Then the other party presses the call button to make a call. Mutual conversation is performed by executing this alternately. According to the PTT, dialing and connection to a network are unnecessary, so that it can be used more quickly and cheaply than a normal call.

  Further, as described above, not only one-to-one exchanges but also speaking parties can be grouped and simultaneously connected to a plurality of other parties. In this case, since the voice from the terminal pressing the call button is transmitted to all the remaining terminals, it is possible to listen to the message from the speaker at the same time as in a conference call.

  By the way, in the past, when gathering participants' opinions and impressions about information and presentations at conferences and exhibitions, a method of collecting questionnaires with wired or wireless input terminals using a dedicated system, questionnaire sheets The method was taken by handing it over to the participants.

When collecting questionnaires using these methods, it was necessary to bring in a dedicated system and necessary equipment, and it took time for the questionnaires to be counted.
For this reason, in the technique of Patent Document 2, the questionnaire target person in the venue inputs personal information, questionnaire responses, etc. from the mobile phone, and sums and analyzes the information and answers sent from the questionnaire target person via the network, The results were converted into tables, graphs, etc., and the data was sent to the mobile phone or homepage of the venue.
As a result, data such as questionnaire responses can be collected interactively and quickly.

It is also possible to chat on the network and collect opinions about certain products. This chat was like a real-world round-table talk on the network, and it was different from round-table talks by gathering people who were geographically distant and having a round-table talk. There are advantages such as being able to hear the real intention.
However, gathering opinions through chat only captures the opinions of only a very small number of people who speak in chats, and if many people speak, the flow of conversation cannot be organized, and effective opinions are extracted. It was difficult to do.

The technology of Patent Document 3 is a system for chatting with a moderator, a paneler, and an audience on a certain theme on a network and collecting opinions on the theme, and freely speaking to the moderator and the panelist. The audience configures the chat system so that the user does not speak only by looking at the chat. In addition, the chat system is configured so that the moderator can ask the audience an appropriate selection question.
As a result, it has become possible to gather opinions from a wide range of people easily, in a short period of time, using the network.

In the technique of Patent Document 4, the contents of the questionnaire are registered in the server, connected from the mobile phone, the questionnaire is answered, the answers are aggregated in the server, and the person who registered the questionnaire always obtains the aggregated result. I was able to request it.
Thereby, it is possible to conduct a questionnaire on unspecified majority persons, and to accurately obtain the total result of the questionnaire.
JP 2005-117197 A JP 2002-41580 A JP 2002-41759 A JP 2002-109136 A

However, unlike a mobile phone, a call using PoC cannot speak at the same time as the person speaking. In addition, since it is a half-duplex call, there is a restriction that packet communication cannot be performed until the conversation ends.
Therefore, when the communication partner replies, he / she obtains the right to speak when the line is available. Similarly, when performing data communication, the communication partner must communicate when the line is available.

Therefore, when a meeting is performed using PoC, even if it is desired to take a questionnaire related to a statement, it is not possible to request a questionnaire in a timely manner and to obtain the total result. In addition, related information cannot be transferred.
The technology of the above-mentioned patent document does not deal with questionnaire aggregation and data transfer when using PoC, and does not solve the above-mentioned problems.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and in an electronic conference using a half-duplex communication system by a communication terminal, not only a voice call communication but also a response to a speaker is surveyed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic conference system, a communication terminal, and a communication method capable of performing real-time surveys and transferring related information data.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention has the following configuration.
This electronic conference system is an electronic conference system that connects a plurality of communication terminals and an electronic conference server and performs an electronic conference by a half-duplex communication system, and when the communication terminal cannot transmit data, reserves transmission of the data Then, when it is detected that no one is speaking or when the right to speak is obtained, the data reserved for transmission is transmitted to the electronic conference server.

  Here, the data that can be reserved for transmission is a pre-prepared questionnaire distribution request, a questionnaire response result, or a request for transferring material data related to the electronic conference, and the transmission reservation is a response to the received questionnaire Reservations are made when a request is made, or a transmission reservation is made when a request for transferring data is made.

Each time the electronic conference server receives a questionnaire response from a communication terminal, it creates a tabulation result by converting it into a bar graph or color-coded format that is easy to understand visually, or by sending a response result by voice recognition to display the tabulation result. Create and distribute the totaled result to all participants of the electronic conference.
Furthermore, before the electronic conference is held, the answers to the questionnaire can be voted by absentees. When calculating the total result, the total is included including the answer, and the total result is determined by the participant of the electronic conference. If there is, you can check it after the meeting.

  In addition, the electronic conference server detects an empty time during which no one speaks, and information and commercials related to the theme of the electronic conference are transmitted to the electronic conference participants during the empty time. Deliver to communication terminals.

  According to the present invention, in an electronic conference by a communication terminal using a half-duplex communication system, not only a voice call communication but also a response to a speaker can be investigated in real time by a questionnaire, and related information can be transferred. Therefore, the communication of the conference participants becomes easy, and the conference can proceed smoothly.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to an electronic conference system, a communication terminal, and a communication method of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an electronic conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the electronic conference system includes an electronic conference server 100 and a plurality of communication terminals 200 via a network 300. Connected.
The electronic conference server 100 is a computer that manages the participation status of the communication terminal 200 in the conference and mediates data (text, voice, video, etc.) generated by speech between the communication terminals 200.
Each communication terminal 200 is a terminal that is connected to the network 300 by a communication control means and is operated by a user who conducts an electronic conference, and may be any of a personal computer, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a mobile phone, and the like.
The network 300 is a wireless or wired network, and includes, for example, an intranet, the Internet, a mobile phone network, or a combination thereof, and communication between the electronic conference server 100 and each communication terminal 200 is performed by half-duplex communication. Is what you do. In this embodiment, a half-duplex communication system is described as being used for PoC communication.

The electronic conference server 100 is connected to the communication terminal 200 through an IP network, manages PoC users and groups, and executes an PoC control function or a PoC participation function, thereby providing an application level network function for the PoC service. Realize.
In addition, the electronic conference server 100 executing the PoC control function has SIP sessions as many as the number of participants of the communication terminal 200, and the speech from the communication terminal 200 is controlled by one PoC session. The PoC control function and the PoC participation function communicate, and the PoC participation function communicates directly with the communication terminal 200.

Next, the configuration of the communication terminal 200 will be described with reference to FIG.
The communication terminal 200 demodulates and transmits data received through the antenna 1 when receiving wireless communication via wireless radio waves, and the antenna 1 that transmits and receives voice, text, image, and video data. When the data sent from the communication control unit 3 is modulated and amplified, the radio unit 2 that transmits the data via the antenna 1 and the received data demodulated by the radio unit 2 are controlled based on a predetermined communication protocol. The communication control unit 3 to be sent to the unit 12, the operation unit 4 for inputting various information including instructions for inputting data such as numbers and characters and function selection, the ROM for storing the control program and fixed data, and the work for the CPU A storage unit 5 that includes a semiconductor memory such as a RAM as a storage area and a hard disk, and stores various types of information (characters, images, sounds, sounds, videos, etc.) received or input, and a PTT A PTT switch 6 for instructing start and end of communication, a video processing unit 7 for performing predetermined signal processing on video transmitted and received by the wireless unit 2, and information read from the operation unit 4 and the storage unit 5. A display unit 8 for displaying received information and received video information, an audio processing unit 9 for performing predetermined signal processing on an audio signal included in a radio signal transmitted and received by the radio unit 2, and a microphone for inputting an audio signal from a user 10, a speaker 11 that plays the received voice, operation sound, and the like, and a main control unit 12 that controls the operation of the entire terminal.

  The PTT switch 6 is provided on the side surface of the communication terminal 200 as shown in FIG. 3, and is operated when a request for speech is made or when data is transmitted, and is released when the speech or data transmission is completed. .

Next, the operation of the electronic conference system as the basis of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 4 shows a procedure when the terminal A performs PoC communication with the terminals B, C, and D of the same group, and FIG. 5 shows a data flow between each terminal and the electronic conference server (PoC server). ing.
First, a PoC application is called on the terminal A, a communication partner user or group is selected from the displayed telephone directory, and a PTT switch is pressed.
When the PTT switch is pressed at the terminal A, a request to speak is sent to the electronic conference server.
When the selected user or the user in the group is not speaking and there is no request for the right to speak from another terminal, the electronic conference server permits the terminal A to speak and returns the permission to the terminal A. To do.

The terminal A that is allowed to speak transmits data (sound, image, text, video, etc.) to the electronic conference server.
The electronic conference server transmits data sent to terminals (B, C, D) of other members of the same group of the terminal A.
When the PoC application is running on the terminal B, the terminal C, and the terminal D and the same group is selected, only the data from the electronic conference server is received, and the data transmitted by the terminal A is received. Output to the display unit and the speaker. Thereby, the same content transmitted by the terminal A can be received and displayed in real time.
When the terminal A releases the PTT switch, the right to speak is sent to the electronic conference server.
In the electronic conference server, when the right to speak is sent from the terminal A, the right to speak of the terminal A is extinguished and a request for speech from another terminal can be accepted.

Next, when the terminal B wants to speak, the PTT switch is pressed in the same manner to make a speech request, and when permitted, data (voice or image) is transmitted. The data transmitted by terminal B can only be received by terminal A, terminal C and terminal D.
Thereafter, data such as voice and video can be exchanged between users in the group by pressing the PTT switch when requesting the right to speak and releasing the PTT switch when giving up the speech.

  In communication by PoC, the communication status between each member in the group and the electronic conference server is always notified from the electronic conference server to each terminal, and this status is displayed on each terminal. By seeing this situation, participants can know when to speak.

Next, a case where a questionnaire is taken with the electronic conference system according to the present embodiment will be described.
When taking a questionnaire in the electronic conference system, a questionnaire is created in advance and registered in the electronic conference server.
The speaker inputs the contents of the questionnaire from his / her communication terminal in advance through voice or an edit box and registers it in the electronic conference server. This recording method includes a temporary format that can be used only in one conference and a reusable template format that can be used in other conferences.

The questionnaire item registration process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, when designation of registering questionnaire items by voice is designated from the communication terminal of the speaker (step S1 / YES), as illustrated in FIG. 7A from the electronic conference server,
“Starts automatic registration of survey summary items.
Read the contents of the questionnaire for Button 1.
P ...
Please say the end of the last item. "
Is input, the questionnaire items are input by uttering according to the guide (step S2).
On the other hand, when registering with the edit box (step S1 / NO), as illustrated in FIG. 7B from the electronic conference server, the edit box is displayed, so the questionnaire items are directly input from the communication terminal (step S3). ).

The questionnaire item inputted by voice or the questionnaire item inputted in the edit box is arranged in the questionnaire layout, and is registered in the questionnaire storage unit in association with the speaker and the electronic conference (step S4).
When an instruction to register as a template is input from the communication terminal (step S5 / YES), the questionnaire registered in the questionnaire recording unit is also stored in the questionnaire template storage unit in the common area (step S6).
Further, when an instruction for temporary use is input from the communication terminal (step S5 / NO), the questionnaire recording unit is only stored as temporary use.

When there is a participant who cannot participate in the meeting on the day, the questionnaire recording unit is accessed in advance, the answer is transmitted first, and the questionnaire recording unit is associated with the respondent and stored.
In addition, for the participants in the same group list of the electronic conference (regardless of attendance or absence), the questionnaire result can be confirmed from the questionnaire storage unit even after the conference is over.

Next, explanation will be given on the distribution of questionnaire request / collection / aggregation results, or data transfer of related materials, which is sent when an electronic conference is held.
FIG. 8 shows the communication timing between each terminal and the electronic conference server, and FIG. 9 is an example of status display of each participant displayed on the screen of each terminal. In FIG. 8, it is assumed that the terminals 1, 2, and 3 are owned by Mr. A, Mr. B, and Mr. D, respectively.

As Mr. A wants to speak, he presses the PTT switch of the terminal 1 and sends a message request to the electronic conference server.
The teleconference server confirms that no other participant is speaking and permits the speaking. The terminal 1 (Mr. A) stores the status of “speaking” and returns a speech permission signal to the terminal 1. To do. Further, when the status of the electronic conference changes, the status is distributed to the terminals of all the participants (Mr. A, Mr. B, Mr. D). Thereby, the status display of “Mr. A is speaking” as shown in FIG. 9A is displayed on the screen of the display unit of each participant.
In the terminal 1 that has received this speech permission signal, Mr. A subsequently makes a speech by voice, text, video, etc. and makes a questionnaire request.

Next, when Mr. A makes a request to the electronic conference server to distribute the contents of the questionnaire stored in the questionnaire storage unit in advance, the electronic conference server takes out the designated questionnaire from the questionnaire storage unit and other than Mr. A. The questionnaire is distributed to the terminals of participants (B and D). At this time, the screen of the participant's terminal displays a “questionnaire delivering” state as shown in FIG.
Alternatively, when the conference participant (Mr. A) does not have the right to speak, the questionnaire request request is registered in the storage unit as a transmission reservation, and the speaker A presses the PTT switch of the terminal 1 to speak. The registered questionnaire request request may be automatically distributed to the terminals of participants other than Mr. A.

The contents of the distributed questionnaire are displayed on the display part of the terminals of participants other than Mr. A (Mr. B, Mr. D). Alternatively, the contents of the questionnaire are output to the speaker during a voice questionnaire.
Participants who have received the questionnaire contents press the button on the operation panel of the terminal to create an answer, or perform voice input such as “Yes, No, Ichiban, Niban” and voice recognition And create an answer.
However, while Mr. A is speaking, the terminals of other participants (Mr. B and Mr. D) occupy the line on the terminal 1 of the speaker A. It cannot be sent to the server. Therefore, the created answer is stored in the storage unit as a transmission reservation in each participant's terminal.

  In addition, when someone other than you is speaking, and you want to distribute materials related to the conference (documents, audio, images, videos, etc.), you cannot immediately distribute them. deep.

  After that, when Mr. A releases the PTT switch of the terminal 1 and transmits a request for abandonment of the right to speak to the electronic conference server, the electronic conference server sets the status of “speaking” of the terminal 1 (Mr. A) to “participating”. When the status is changed and distributed to all participants, the status is displayed on the participant's terminal as shown in FIG.

When each participant's terminal detects the conference status “no speaker” sent from the electronic conference server, if the reservation for transmission is stored in the storage unit, the answer or document of the reserved questionnaire is stored. Send to the electronic conference server in batch.
The electronic conference server receives answers and materials transmitted from each terminal. At this time, when one terminal completes transmission, reception is received in order, such as reception of transmission from the next terminal. In addition, as shown in FIG. 9D, the status being received from the terminal is distributed to all the participants' terminals, such as “Mr. B is voting” indicating from which participant the status is being received. .

When the electronic conference server receives the answer, the electronic conference server counts the questionnaire every time it is received.
In this calculation, the calculation is performed as soon as one answer arrives without waiting for responses from all the participants who distributed the questionnaire. In addition, if questionnaire responses are received in advance from participants who have not participated in the conference, the totals are included.
The totaled results are converted so that the results are displayed in a visually easy-to-understand manner by bar graphs, color coding, etc., and stored in the questionnaire storage unit in association with the contents of the questionnaire. In addition, this total result may be converted into sound.

And every time it totals, the total result is distributed to all the participants. At this time, the display section of each terminal displays a status of “voting result distribution in progress” as shown in FIG. 9F, and when reception is completed, the counting result is displayed or output by voice.
In addition, each time a total result is received, each terminal displays or outputs a voice so that it can be seen that the questionnaire result has been additionally updated, and repeats until responses are collected from all participants who requested the questionnaire.

FIG. 10 is an example of a display result of a questionnaire asking for approval or disapproval for the content of Mr. A's remarks.
In FIG. 10, after Mr. A speaks, a questionnaire asking for approval or disapproval is distributed to other participants (B, C, D, E).
Each participant who receives the questionnaire selects an option that reflects his / her position. Each participant's terminal, when selected, stores the answer in the transmission reservation.
When Mr. A gives up the right to speak in order to see the result of the questionnaire, the reply and related materials reserved for transmission at each terminal are transmitted to the electronic conference server.
The teleconference server counts the answers and distributes the count results to all participants' terminals.
In each terminal, the tabulation result expressed in a bar graph, color coding, etc. in a visually easy-to-understand manner is displayed on the display unit. Alternatively, if the summation result is voice converted, the summation result is output to the speaker.

  The above questionnaire results are registered as group members, but participants who could not participate in the meeting that day, participants who left during the meeting or all participants accessed the questionnaire storage unit after the meeting, The stored questionnaire count result can be confirmed.

  Also, if there is an idle time during which no one speaks during the electronic conference, the operator of the conference call system should distribute information and commercials related to the conference theme to each participant's terminal. Also good. As a result, the silent section that occurs during the conference disappears, and the user is not awkward, and can also be used for advertising activities of the business entity that operates the electronic conference system.

  When the embodiment is configured as described above, when an electronic conference is performed with a communication terminal using a half-duplex communication system, various data are used by using the idle time so as not to affect the conference progress. (Information such as documents and videos) can be distributed to each participant, and a questionnaire request and a summary result can be distributed.

  In addition, each function of the electronic conference server or communication terminal constituting the above-described embodiment is programmed and written in a recording medium in advance, and these programs recorded on the recording medium are stored in the electronic conference server or communication terminal. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can be achieved by executing. In this case, the program itself read from the recording medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the program and the recording medium recording the program also constitute the present invention.

Note that the program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments includes a disk system (for example, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.), a card system (for example, a memory card, an optical card, etc.), and a semiconductor memory system (for example, a ROM, a nonvolatile memory). Etc.) and a recording medium of any form such as a tape system (for example, magnetic tape, cassette tape, etc.). Alternatively, the program stored in the storage device may be directly supplied from the server computer via the network. In this case, the storage device of this server computer is also included in the recording medium of the present invention.
As described above, by programming and distributing the functions of the above-described embodiment, the cost can be reduced, and the portability and versatility can be improved.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure of the electronic conference system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the structure of the portable terminal used with the electronic conference system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the PTT switch of a portable terminal. It is a figure explaining group communication performed by PoC. It is a figure explaining the timing of data transmission after utterance acquisition and utterance abandonment in PoC communication. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence when registering a questionnaire item in advance. It is a figure explaining the image when registering a questionnaire item. It is a figure which shows the communication timing between each terminal and an electronic conference server. It is an example of a status display of each participant displayed on the screen of each terminal. It is an example of the display result of the questionnaire which asks for approval or disapproval with respect to the contents of remarks.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Antenna, 2 ... Radio | wireless part, 3 ... Communication control part, 4 ... Operation part, 5 ... Memory | storage part, 6 ... PTT switch, 7 ... Image | video processing part, 8 ... Display part, 9 ... Audio | voice processing part, 10 ... Microphone , 11 ... speaker, 12 ... main control unit, 100 ... electronic conference server, 200 ... communication terminal, 300 ... network.

Claims (11)

  In an electronic conference system that connects a plurality of communication terminals and an electronic conference server and conducts an electronic conference by a half-duplex communication system, when the communication terminal cannot transmit data, it reserves transmission of the data and no one speaks When this is detected, or when the right to speak is obtained, the electronic conferencing system transmits the data reserved for transmission to the electronic conference server.   2. The electronic conference system according to claim 1, wherein the data that can be reserved for transmission is a distribution request for a questionnaire prepared in advance, a response result of a questionnaire, or a transfer request for material data related to the electronic conference. Electronic conferencing system.   The electronic conference system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission reservation is reserved when a received questionnaire is answered.   3. The electronic conference system according to claim 2, wherein the electronic conference server aggregates each time a questionnaire response is received from a communication terminal, and distributes the aggregated result to all participants of the electronic conference. Electronic conferencing system.   5. The electronic conference system according to claim 4, wherein if the questionnaire responses are registered as absentee votes before the electronic conference is held, the responses are totaled including the responses.   5. The electronic conference system according to claim 4, wherein the aggregated result is created by converting the data into a bar graph or a color-coded format that is visually easy to understand.   5. The electronic conference system according to claim 4, wherein a circuit result is transmitted by recognition to create the total result.   2. The electronic conference system according to claim 1, wherein, if registered as a participant of the electronic conference, the totaling result can be confirmed even after the conference ends.   2. The electronic conference system according to claim 1, wherein when the electronic conference server detects an empty time during which no one speaks during the electronic conference, information and commercials related to the theme of the electronic conference are included in the empty time. Is distributed to the communication terminal of the participant of the electronic conference.   In a communication terminal that is connected to an electronic conference server and conducts an electronic conference by a half-duplex communication system, when data cannot be transmitted, the data is reserved for transmission, and when nobody speaks, or When obtained, the communication terminal transmits the data reserved for transmission to the electronic conference server.   In a communication method in which an electronic conference is performed by a half-duplex communication system by connecting a plurality of communication terminals and an electronic conference server, when the communication terminal cannot transmit data, the data is reserved for transmission and no one speaks A communication method characterized by transmitting the data reserved for transmission to the electronic conferencing server when a message is detected or when the right to speak is obtained.

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