JP2007258889A - Group information providing system and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible for a called person to obtain the situation of a group or the situation of the other called person when a call is terminated at a communication terminal of a member in the group. <P>SOLUTION: This group information providing system comprises a group management device 3 for constituting a group of one to a plurality of communication terminals connected with a network 5, and managing information about this group as group information; and a session management device 4 for managing a communication session between the communication terminals. At an arbitrary time, e.g. a starting time of the communication session between the communication terminals 1 and 2 in the group, the group information concerning the group managed by the group management device 3 can be transmitted in response to requests from the communication terminal 1, 2 or the session management device 4. The group information includes one or a plurality of pieces of information about an originator of the group, a grouping condition for forming a group, a member of the group, an address of a communication terminal, and the presence information of each member. The group can be formed statically or dynamically as the grouping condition. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a group information providing system and a group information providing method, for example, group information that can be suitably used for constructing an emergency deployment network for always using a lifeline terminal even in an emergency or the like. The present invention relates to a providing system and a group information providing method.

Conventionally, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-236670 “Session establishment, session establishment processing device and program” of Patent Document 1, a group is formed in advance and formed via a public network or the Internet. There has been proposed a system that provides information in a group by calling a telephone or a PC terminal in the group. Further, in Patent Document 1, since the caller does not know the state of the receiving side in the group, the caller makes a call without knowing whether or not all the communication terminals of the connection request destination in the group can receive the call, In order to solve the problem that the purpose cannot be achieved, a mechanism is proposed in which a call can be made after grasping the presence of each member in each communication terminal in the group.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-236670 (page 3-4)

  However, the conventional technology such as Patent Document 1 focuses only on the inconvenience on the caller side, and even if the caller side can grasp the presence of members of individual communication terminals in the group, the callee side Even though the member can recognize that the call is from a caller in the group, the state of the group and the other recipients are unknown, and he / she does not know whether the call can be answered. There's a problem. Furthermore, for example, when an emergency situation occurs, such as when a disaster occurs, a communication session is automatically established in the disaster group when triggered by the occurrence of a disaster when trying to reach out to the members of the group. Even if a mechanism such as this is prepared, the reason for the occurrence of the session and the status of the contact member cannot be grasped by the called party, and even if there is a request for participation in the communication session, the participation request There is also a problem that the callee cannot determine whether to respond to the call, that is, if there is an incoming call, whether or not to respond to the call.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and when there is an incoming call to a communication terminal of a member in the group, it is possible to grasp the situation in the group and the situation of other recipients. Another object of the present invention is to provide a group information providing system and a group information providing method capable of determining whether or not a callee should respond to a session participation request, that is, whether or not to respond to an incoming call.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the group information providing system and the group information providing method according to the present invention employ the following characteristic configuration.

(1) A communication session between a group management apparatus that configures a group of one or more communication terminals connected to a network and manages information related to the group as group information, and the communication terminal connected to the network A session management device for managing the group information related to the group managed by the group management device when establishing a communication session between the communication terminals in the group from the communication terminal or the session management device. Group information providing system for transmitting from the group management device in response to the request.
(2) As the group information managed by the group management device, the creator of the group, grouping conditions for forming the group, members constituting the group, destinations of communication terminals of the members, and the members The group information providing system according to (1), including at least one or more of the presence information.
(3) The group information providing system according to (2), wherein the group information can be set and registered in the group management device from the communication terminal used by a user who wants to establish a group.
(4) In the grouping condition set and registered as the group information in the group management device, a group of members registered in advance in response to a session start request from any communication terminal of a member registered in advance as a group is statically Or whether to dynamically form a group of members registered in advance depending on whether the presence status of each communication terminal member or information collected from outside meets a condition set in advance, The group information providing system according to (2) or (3), which includes information for designating.
(5) When the group management device sets and registers a new group, the SIP URI indicating a destination code that can refer to the group information related to the group is returned to the communication terminal that is the setting registration request source (1 ) To (4) group information provision system.
(6) The communication terminal of the setting registration request source can acquire the group information regarding the group from the group management device at an arbitrary time using the SIP URI returned from the group management device. (5) Group information provision system.
(7) When the communication terminal of the setting registration request source starts a communication session with a communication terminal in the group, the session registration request is transmitted to the session management apparatus with the acquired SIP URI. The group information provision system according to (5) or (6) above.
(8) When the session management apparatus receives the session participation request with the SIP URI, the group information regarding the group can be acquired from the group management apparatus using the SIP URI. 7) Group information provision system.
(9) According to the grouping conditions of the group that has been set and registered, the group management device determines whether or not the presence status of members of each communication terminal and information collected from outside satisfy a condition set in advance. When a state that satisfies the grouping condition is detected by periodically referring to the predetermined period, a SIP URI indicating a destination code that can refer to the group information of the group is attached, and the session participation request is The group information provision system according to any one of (4) to (8), which is transmitted to the session management device.
(10) When the session management apparatus receives the session participation request with the SIP URI from the communication terminal or the group management apparatus, the communication terminal of the called-side member that forms the group, The group information provision system according to (8) or (9), wherein the session participation request with the SIP URI is transferred.
(11) Upon receiving the session participation request with the SIP URI from the session management device, the communication terminal of the called party member acquires the group information regarding the group from the group management device using the received SIP URI. The group information providing system according to the above (10).
(12) Based on the group information acquired from the group management apparatus, the communication terminal of the called party member determines whether the received session participation request is a participation request related to a statically formed group communication session, The group information providing system according to (11), wherein the group information providing system can identify whether or not the participation request is related to a communication session of a group formed automatically.
(13) The communication terminal of the called party member can refer to the presence information of the other member that is the target of the incoming session participation request based on the group information acquired from the group management apparatus. The group information providing system according to (12) above.
(14) A communication session between a group management apparatus that configures a group of one or a plurality of communication terminals connected to the network and manages information related to the group as group information, and the communication terminal connected to the network A group information providing method for providing the group information, wherein the group managed by the group management device when establishing a communication session between the communication terminals in the group The group information providing method of transmitting the group information related to the information from the group management device in response to a request from the communication terminal or the session management device.
(15) As the group information managed by the group management device, the creator of the group, grouping conditions for forming the group, members constituting the group, destinations of communication terminals of the members, and the members The group information providing method according to (14), including at least one or more of the presence information.
(16) The group information providing method according to (15), wherein the group information can be set and registered in the group management device from the communication terminal used by a user who wants to establish a group.
(17) The group of members registered in advance in response to a session start request from any one of the communication terminals of the members registered in advance as a grouping condition to be set and registered as the group information in the group management device is statically Or whether to dynamically form a group of members registered in advance depending on whether the presence status of each communication terminal member or information collected from outside meets a condition set in advance, (15) or (16) group information providing method including information designating
(18) When the group management apparatus sets and registers a new group, a SIP URI indicating a destination code that can refer to the group information related to the group is returned to the communication terminal that is the setting registration request source (14 ) To (17) any group information providing method.
(19) The communication terminal of the setting registration request source can acquire the group information related to the group from the group management device at any time using the SIP URI returned from the group management device. (18) Group information provision method.
(20) When the communication terminal of the setting registration request source starts a communication session with a communication terminal in the group, the session registration request is transmitted to the session management apparatus with the acquired SIP URI. The group information providing method according to (18) or (19).
(21) When the session management device receives the session participation request with the SIP URI, the group information regarding the group can be acquired from the group management device using the SIP URI. 20) Group information providing method.
(22) Whether or not the group management device satisfies a condition set in advance in advance by the presence status of members of each communication terminal and information collected from the outside in accordance with the grouping condition of the group registered and registered When a state that satisfies the grouping condition is detected by periodically referring to the predetermined period, a SIP URI indicating a destination code that can refer to the group information of the group is attached, and the session participation request is The group information providing method according to any one of (17) to (21), wherein the group information is transmitted to the session management device.
(23) When the session management apparatus receives the session participation request with the SIP URI from the communication terminal or the group management apparatus, the communication terminal of the called party that forms the group, The group information providing method according to (21) or (22), wherein the session participation request with the SIP URI is transferred.
(24) The communication member of the called party that has received the session participation request with the SIP URI from the session management device acquires the group information regarding the group from the group management device using the received SIP URI. The group information providing method according to (23) above, which can be performed.
(25) Based on the group information acquired from the group management device, the communication terminal of the called party member determines whether the received session participation request is a participation request related to a statically formed group communication session, (24) The group information provision method according to (24), wherein it is possible to identify whether the participation request is related to a communication session of a group formed in an organized manner.
(26) Based on the group information acquired from the group management device, the communication terminal of the receiving member can refer to the presence information of the other member that is the target of the incoming session participation request. The group information provision method according to (25) above.

  According to the group information providing system and the group information providing method of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

  The first effect is that a caller who wishes to perform group communication can refer to and confirm group information regarding the group via the group management device at any time at any time. Is that you can start. In addition, even when there is an incoming group communication, the called party can refer to the group information related to the group, so check the creator of the incoming communication session, the members of the group, and the grouping conditions. It is possible to decide whether or not to participate in a communication session.

  The second effect is when there is no caller (for example, when the group management device automatically establishes a communication session between persons in charge of disasters triggered by an external occurrence condition such as the occurrence of a disaster) ) Also allows the called party to know the reason for the incoming communication session, the constituent members, and the like by referring to the group information.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a group information providing system and a group information providing method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, when communicating between members in a group, based on SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) signaling known as a call control protocol for Internet telephones, etc. Taking the case of communication using a PTT (Push To Talk) session for making a call while switching speakers as an example, information on the group is transferred to a session management device that manages members in the group and communication sessions in the group. A group information providing system to be provided will be described below. Of course, it is also possible to use PoC (Push-to-Talk over Cellular) intended for mobile phones as the PTT session.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of a system configuration of a group information providing system according to the present invention, and shows a signal transmission / reception procedure transmitted and received in the group information providing system.

  The group information providing system 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes at least one or a plurality of communication terminals 1, 2, a group management device 3, and a session management device 4 that form a group connected in a communicable state via a network 5. It is configured. In FIG. 1, a communication terminal 1 is an Invite-side terminal (Inviter terminal: transmission-side terminal) that is attempting to call a communication terminal 2 in the group and start a communication session. The case where it is the terminal on the Invite side called from the Inviter terminal (Invite terminal: incoming side terminal) is illustrated.

  The group management device 3 is a device for registering and managing the communication terminals forming the group. As group information, the group creator, the members constituting the group, the presence information of each member, the destination of each communication terminal, and the group are formed. It includes at least one or a plurality of pieces of information such as a grouping condition indicating a condition for doing so. For example, as group A, the communication terminals 1, 2,... Shown in FIG. 1 are set and registered, and information regarding these communication terminals 1, 2,..., The creator of group A, grouping conditions, and the like are registered as group information. Yes. Here, as a method for registering the grouping condition regarding the formation of the group in the group management apparatus 3, there are a method of forming a group statically and a method of dynamically forming a group.

The static group formation method is a method in which a user who wants to form a group directly sets and registers the communication terminal address of the other party who is a member of the group using a telephone directory or the like. SIP indicating a destination code that can refer group information of the group to any member in the group from any communication terminal of the registered member
URI (Uniform
Resource Identifiers) are attached and a start request to start a communication session is made, so that a group of members registered in advance is statically formed, and a session participation request is sent to the communication terminal of the corresponding member It is.

On the other hand, in the dynamic group formation method, grouping conditions for forming a group are set and registered in the group management apparatus 3 in advance, so that the presence status of members of each communication terminal and information collected from the outside are grouped. According to whether or not a condition set in advance as a condition is satisfied, a group consisting of members registered in advance is dynamically formed. That is, according to the grouping conditions of the group set and registered in the group management device 3, whether or not the presence status of members of each communication terminal constituting the group and the information collected from the outside satisfy a condition set in advance When a state satisfying the grouping condition is detected periodically with reference to a predetermined cycle, a SIP indicating a destination code that can refer to the group information of the group
A session participation request with a URI is transmitted from the group management apparatus 3 to the communication terminal of each member registered in advance as a dynamic group via the session management apparatus 4.

  Here, as a grouping condition to be set and registered in advance to form a dynamic group, for example, when a remote conference is held, among group members of the group, it is registered in advance as a member indispensable for conference communication. When a member is in a presence status that can participate, a session participation request is automatically sent, or when a disaster occurs, it is automatically sent to the communication terminal of the member in charge of the disaster who is registered in advance as a group Conditions such as sending a session participation request can be arbitrarily set.

  As described above, group information related to each group is registered in the group management device 3, and members in the group can freely access this group information at an arbitrary time. As group information, at least one or a plurality of information such as a group creator, grouping conditions, members constituting the group, destinations of communication terminals of the members, presence information of the members, and the like are set and registered.

The session management device 4 is a device that controls and manages a communication session between communication terminals based on a signaling procedure for SIP communication control. Each communication terminal is controlled by the PTT under the control of the session management device 4. Session can be executed. The session management apparatus 4 notifies the communication terminal that the session is a group information providing session in the corresponding group by assigning a SIP URI that can uniquely identify the group. Where SIP
When the group management device 3 establishes a group, the URI is assigned as a destination code accessible to the group information related to the group and transmitted to the communication terminal of the member (group creator) who has instructed the group establishment. It is what you are doing. SIP assigned from the group management device 3 when a member of the creator of the group starts a communication session within the group
A session participation request is transmitted to the session management apparatus 4 with a URI attached.

  Here, it is understood that the user of the communication terminal on the calling side or the called side is a communication between members in the group from this SIP URI, that is, a group communication session for information transmission in the group. Even when a group is dynamically formed in the group management device 3, it is difficult to obtain information about the group such as members constituting the group and grouping conditions. For this reason, there is a possibility that a session participation request may be issued to an unintended partner on the sender side. In addition, the party invited to the communication session may be confused as to whether or not to participate in the communication session because he / she does not know why he / she was invited and what kind of member the communication session is to be performed with. There is.

  Therefore, in the present invention, as described above, it is possible to make an inquiry about group information about the group from the communication terminals 1 and 2 on the transmission side and the reception side to the group management apparatus 3 that manages the group. It is said. By providing group information to the members of the communication terminals 1 and 2 that are inquired from the group management device 3, the communication terminal 1 on the caller side, that is, the member of the inviter terminal, is prevented from starting a communication session with an unintended partner. In addition, the communication terminal 2 on the receiving side, that is, the member of the Invite terminal can also avoid unnecessary participation in the communication session. Furthermore, even when there is no member as a sender, such as when the group management device 3 automatically establishes a communication session between disaster officers triggered by the occurrence of a disaster, etc. The member on the receiving side can know the reason for the occurrence of the session and the constituent members.

  That is, the group management device 3 and the session management device 4 have the following functions, respectively. First, at least functions provided in the group management apparatus 3 are as follows.

(1) Group setting registration function A group creation instruction via a network from a communication terminal of a user who intends to create a group, or a group creation instruction from an operator of the group management apparatus 3 that has received an application directly from the user This function accepts and registers settings. SIP that can be uniquely specified for the registered group
A URI is assigned and managed. This SIP URI is a destination code that can refer to the group information of the group managed by the group management apparatus 3.

(2) Group member setting registration function This is a function for setting and registering members constituting a group, and is registered based on an instruction from the creator of the group. It is also possible to change and register members.

(3) Grouping condition registration function As a condition for forming a group, whether it is a static group, a dynamic group, a grouping condition in the case of a dynamic group, or a type of trigger This is a function for setting and registering corresponding member configuration conditions.

(4) Function for acquiring / retrieving presence information of group members A function for acquiring and registering presence information indicating the current state of the members constituting the group and a session start condition are established by examining the presence status of the members. It is a function to search whether or not.

(5) Group information notification function In response to a group information inquiry request from a communication terminal of a member constituting a group, group information such as a grouping condition, a group start occurrence factor, presence information of other members, etc. This is a function to send back to the member communication terminal.

(6) Notification function of group member communication terminal When there is an inquiry of group information from the session management device 4 managing the session, the session management device 4 is provided with group information including information on the communication terminal of the group member. This is a return function.

(7) Group dynamic configuration function The communication session start conditions within the group, such as presence information including the location of the member, or a predetermined state as external monitoring information, such as when a disaster occurs, etc. A function that monitors at a predetermined cycle, dynamically configures and configures a group when a preset grouping condition is established, and transmits a communication session start request to the session management device 4 is there.

Further, at least the functions provided in the session management device 4 are as follows.
(1) Session management Accepts a communication session start request from a user's communication terminal, sets up a communication session with the communication terminal on the other side of the communication session, manages the set communication session, and Send and receive audio data.

(2) Intra-group communication session setting function When a request for starting a communication session between members of a group is received from the communication terminal of the member of the group, a destination related to the member of the group is sent to the group management device 3 Is inquired about the group information, and based on the acquired group information, a communication session is set with the members of the group, and the communication session related to transmission / reception of audio data between the members within the group is managed.

In addition, the functions provided at least in the communication terminals 1 and 2 serving as an inviter terminal and an invitee terminal are as follows.
(1) Group setting function The group management device 3 is accessed to establish a group for performing communication with one or more members, and the group creator, group members, and communication terminals of each member Information relating to a group consisting of one or a plurality of information such as a destination, grouping conditions, presence information of each member, etc. is registered as group information.

(2) Function for Acquiring Information Related to Group The group management device 3 is inquired from the communication terminals 1 and 2 about the presence information of the members of the group, grouping conditions, and the like. Obtain as information.

(3) Communication session start / end function A request to start a communication session with the communication terminal of the communication partner user is transmitted to the session management device 4, and voice data is transmitted / received by the PTT function. Terminate the session. In addition, a session participation request is received from the session management device 4, and whether or not participation in the communication session is possible is returned to the session management device 4.

(4) Intra-group communication session start / end function SIP session identification request for communication to members in the group can be identified
A URI is attached and transmitted to the session management device 4, and voice data is transmitted / received with the members of the group by the PTT function, and then the communication session is terminated. In addition, a session participation request with a SIP URI is received from the session management device 4, and whether or not participation in the start of the communication session is possible is returned to the session management device 4.

As is clear from the above configuration, the group information providing function according to the present invention is a SIP that can identify a group in a system that performs a PTT session in a group using SIP signaling.
Using the URI as a key, the group management device 3 provides a function of providing information about the group to the inquiry target member.

  In addition, when a session participation request between groups is received, the called member (Invite) can receive the provision of information of the calling member (Invite) and is provided as group information. It is possible to determine whether to participate from the information content.

Here, as described above, there are the following two types of groups formed at the start of the communication session.
(A) Formation of a static group for starting a communication session with a predetermined counterpart member in response to a request for starting a communication session from a member. (B) A grouping condition is set in the group management device 3 in advance. The group management device 3 is based on a state set in advance as a start condition, for example, presence information such as the current position of each member constituting the group or a change in an external situation such as the occurrence of a disaster. Creates a dynamic group that starts a communication session by specifying a registered member according to grouping conditions

  With this configuration, the group management device 3 provides group information to members of the group at an arbitrary time, thereby avoiding the start of a communication session with an unintended partner or participation in the communication session. be able to. In addition, even when there is no caller (for example, when the group management device 3 automatically establishes a communication session between disaster managers triggered by the occurrence of a disaster, etc.) The called party can know the members and the like.

[Description of operation of embodiment]
Next, in the system configuration diagram of FIG. 1, a case where a communication session is started with respect to the group A to which the caller belongs using the Inviter terminal used by the caller Invite, that is, the communication terminal 1, is shown in FIG. This will be described with reference to the sequence chart of FIG. FIG. 2 is a sequence chart showing a session start / end sequence when a call is made with a member in the group using a SIP PTT session.

The caller inviter accesses the group management device 3 from his / her communication terminal 1 and instructs the group establishment to set up the group A. The creator of the group A, the constituent members, the destination of each member's communication terminal, Information regarding presence information, grouping conditions, etc. of each member to be acquired is set and registered (sequence S1). The group management device 3 receives the group A opening instruction and receives the group A SIP.
The URI is allocated and returned to the communication terminal 1 of the caller inviter (sequence S2). Further, the group management apparatus 3 enters a state where the presence information indicating the current position of each member of the group A is updated. Also, based on the set grouping conditions, the external status such as presence information and disaster occurrence of each constituent member is periodically monitored at a predetermined cycle to determine whether the grouping conditions are satisfied. It becomes a state.

  Here, the session management apparatus 4 may be notified in advance that a new group A has been registered. Here, a case will be described in which Inviator is in a state where a session participation request has not been made and the session management apparatus 4 is not yet notified.

Prior to the start of the PTT session by SIP, the caller inviter sends a request to the group management apparatus 3 to acquire information about the group such as presence information of each member of the group A (sequence S3). Information about the group A is acquired from the management apparatus 3 (sequence S4). As a result, the status of each member of group A is confirmed to determine whether the communication session can be started. If it is determined that the communication session can be started, the SIP request is sent to the members of group A as a request to start the communication session.
A group transmission signal (session participation request) with a URI is transmitted to session management device 4 (sequence S5).

When the session management apparatus 4 accepts the group transmission signal (session participation request), the SIP attached to the group transmission signal
Using the URI, the group management device 3 is requested to transmit group information related to group A such as members related to group A and grouping conditions (sequence S6). Upon receiving the group information acquisition request from the session management device 4, the group management device 3
Information about the group A corresponding to the URI is returned to the session management device 4 (sequence S7).

The session management device 4 that has acquired the information on the group A extracts the callee invitees of the members of the group A, and sends a group call signal (session participation) for starting a session to the communication terminal 2 of the callee invitees. Request) SIP
A URI is added for transmission (sequence S8). The Invite terminal that has received the group incoming signal (session participation request) from the session management device 4, that is, the communication terminal 2 sends a SIP to the group management device 3.
The information about the group A is inquired with the URI (sequence S9).

The group management apparatus 3 that has received the inquiry from the communication terminal 2 on the Invite side
Information about the group A corresponding to the URI is returned to the requesting communication terminal 2 (sequence S10). The communication terminal 2 on the Invite side that has acquired the information on the group A determines whether to participate in or not participate in the received communication session with reference to the grouping conditions of the group A and presence information of the group creator and other members. When responding to the incoming request for participation in the communication session, an OK signal signifying participation notification is returned to the session management device 4 (sequence S11).

  The session management apparatus 4 that has received the OK signal (participation notification) from the Invite side communication terminal 2 transmits an OK signal that notifies the Invite side communication terminal 1 that the Invite will participate in the communication session ( Sequence S12). As a result, a communication session is set up between the communication terminal 1 on the inviter side and the communication terminal 2 on the invitee side, and a call state in which voice data can be transmitted and received using a PTT session by SIP signaling between the two is established. Establish (sequence S13).

  When the call is finished, the communication terminal 1 on the inviter side transmits a session end request to the session management device 4 (sequence S14). When receiving the sequence end request, the session management device 4 transmits a session end notification to the Invite side communication terminal 2 to release the communication session (sequence S15).

[Explanation of effects of embodiment]
As described above, in the present invention, the following effects can be obtained by providing the group management device 3 that manages information about groups.

  A first effect is that a communication session can be started when a caller refers to and confirms group information at an arbitrary time and determines that an appropriate condition can be established. In addition, since the callee can refer to the group information, check the creator of the communication session group, other members of the group, grouping conditions, etc., and decide whether to join or not participate in the incoming communication session. Be able to.

  The second effect is that the group management device automatically establishes a communication session between persons in charge of disaster when there is no caller (for example, triggered by an external occurrence condition such as the occurrence of a disaster) In other cases, the receiving side can know the cause of the incoming communication session, the constituent members, and the like by referring to the group information.

  The configuration of the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, it should be noted that such examples are merely illustrative of the invention and do not limit the invention in any way. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that various modifications and changes can be made according to a specific application without departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is a system configuration | structure figure which shows an example of the system configuration | structure of the group information provision system by this invention. It is a sequence chart which shows the sequence of the session start / end at the time of performing a telephone call using the PTT session by SIP with the member in a group.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 Communication terminal 3 Group management apparatus 4 Session management apparatus 5 Network 10 Group information provision system

Claims (26)

  A session that manages a communication session between a group management device that configures a group of one or more communication terminals connected to a network and manages information related to the group as group information, and the communication terminals connected to the network A management apparatus, and when establishing a communication session between the communication terminals in the group, the group information related to the group managed by the group management apparatus in response to a request from the communication terminal or the session management apparatus In response, the group management apparatus transmits the information from the group management apparatus.   As the group information managed by the group management device, the creator of the group, grouping conditions for forming the group, members constituting the group, destinations of communication terminals of the members, presence information of the members The group information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the group information providing system is configured to include at least one of the plurality.   The group information providing system according to claim 2, wherein the group information can be set and registered in the group management apparatus from the communication terminal used by a user who wants to establish a group.   Whether to statically form a group of members registered in advance in response to a session start request from any communication terminal of a member registered as a group in the grouping condition set and registered as the group information in the group management device Or, specify whether to dynamically form a group of members registered in advance according to whether the presence status of members of each communication terminal and information collected from the outside satisfy a predetermined condition. 4. The group information providing system according to claim 2, wherein the group information providing system includes information.   When the group management apparatus sets and registers a new group, an SIP URI indicating a destination code that can refer to the group information related to the group is returned to the communication terminal that is a setting registration request source. Item 5. The group information providing system according to any one of Items 1 to 4.   The communication terminal of the setting registration request source can acquire the group information related to the group from the group management device at any time using the SIP URI returned from the group management device. The group information providing system according to claim 5, wherein the system is a group information providing system.   When the communication terminal of the setting registration request source starts a communication session with a communication terminal in the group, the session registration request is transmitted to the session management apparatus with the acquired SIP URI. The group information provision system according to claim 5 or 6, characterized by the above-mentioned.   When the session management apparatus receives the session participation request with the SIP URI, the group information regarding the group can be acquired from the group management apparatus using the SIP URI. The group information provision system according to claim 7.   In accordance with the grouping conditions of the group that has been set and registered, the group management device determines in advance whether or not the presence status of members of each communication terminal and information collected from the outside satisfy a predetermined condition. When a state that satisfies the grouping condition is detected by periodically referring to the group, a SIP URI indicating a destination code that can refer to the group information of the group is attached, and a session participation request is sent to the session management apparatus. The group information providing system according to claim 4, wherein the group information providing system transmits to the group information.   When the session management device receives the session participation request with the SIP URI from the communication terminal or the group management device, the SIP URI is sent to the communication member of the called party that forms the group. 10. The group information providing system according to claim 8 or 9, wherein a session participation request marked with is transferred.   The receiving member communication terminal that has received the session participation request with the SIP URI from the session management device can acquire the group information regarding the group from the group management device using the received SIP URI. The group information providing system according to claim 10, wherein:   Based on the group information acquired from the group management apparatus, the communication terminal of the called-side member determines whether the incoming session participation request is a participation request relating to a statically formed group communication session or is dynamically formed. 12. The group information providing system according to claim 11, wherein it is possible to identify whether or not the participation request is related to a communication session of the group.   The receiving-side member communication terminal can refer to the presence information of another member that is the target of the incoming session participation request based on the group information acquired from the group management device. The group information providing system according to claim 12.   A session that manages a communication session between a group management device that configures a group of one or more communication terminals connected to a network and manages information related to the group as group information, and the communication terminals connected to the network A group information providing method for providing the group information, wherein the group management device manages the group managed by the group management device when establishing a communication session between the communication terminals in the group. A group information providing method comprising: transmitting group information from the group management device in response to a request from the communication terminal or the session management device.   As the group information managed by the group management device, the creator of the group, grouping conditions for forming the group, members constituting the group, destinations of communication terminals of the members, presence information of the members The group information providing method according to claim 14, wherein the group information providing method includes at least one of the plurality.   16. The group information providing method according to claim 15, wherein the group information can be set and registered in the group management apparatus from the communication terminal used by a user who wants to establish a group.   Whether to statically form a group of members registered in advance in response to a session start request from any communication terminal of a member registered as a group in the grouping condition set and registered as the group information in the group management device Or, specify whether to dynamically form a group consisting of members registered in advance according to whether or not the presence status of members of each communication terminal and information collected from the outside satisfy a predetermined condition. 17. The group information providing method according to claim 15 or 16, further comprising information.   When the group management apparatus sets and registers a new group, an SIP URI indicating a destination code that can refer to the group information related to the group is returned to the communication terminal that is a setting registration request source. Item 18. A method for providing group information according to any one of Items 14 to 17.   The communication terminal of the setting registration request source can acquire the group information related to the group from the group management device at any time using the SIP URI returned from the group management device. The group information providing method according to claim 18, wherein the group information is provided.   When the communication terminal of the setting registration request source starts a communication session with a communication terminal in the group, the session registration request is transmitted to the session management apparatus with the acquired SIP URI. 20. The group information providing method according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that:   When the session management apparatus receives the session participation request with the SIP URI, the group information regarding the group can be acquired from the group management apparatus using the SIP URI. The group information providing method according to claim 20.   In accordance with the grouping conditions of the group that has been set and registered, the group management device determines in advance whether or not the presence status of members of each communication terminal and information collected from the outside satisfy a predetermined condition. When a state that satisfies the grouping condition is detected by periodically referring to the group, a SIP URI indicating a destination code that can refer to the group information of the group is attached, and a session participation request is sent to the session management apparatus. The group information providing method according to any one of claims 17 to 21, wherein the group information providing method is transmitted to.   When the session management device receives the session participation request with the SIP URI from the communication terminal or the group management device, the SIP URI is sent to the communication member of the called party that forms the group. 23. The group information providing method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein a session participation request marked with is transferred.   The receiving member communication terminal that has received the session participation request with the SIP URI from the session management device can acquire the group information regarding the group from the group management device using the received SIP URI. 24. The group information providing method according to claim 23, wherein:   Based on the group information acquired from the group management apparatus, the communication terminal of the called-side member determines whether the incoming session participation request is a participation request relating to a statically formed group communication session or is dynamically formed. 25. The group information providing method according to claim 24, wherein it is possible to identify whether or not the participation request is related to a communication session of the group. The receiving-side member communication terminal can refer to the presence information of another member that is the target of the incoming session participation request based on the group information acquired from the group management device. The group information providing method according to claim 25.

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