JP2009151495A - Information providing system, information providing method, server device, and information providing processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information providing system enabling a user to know whether a reception person who responds to a telephone can respond in a language which the user can speak, before the user telephones, and an information providing method, a server device, and an information providing processing program. <P>SOLUTION: Telephone responding propriety information indicating whether a reception person is in a state of being able to respond to a phone call from the user, and languages that can be handled by the reception person, are registered beforehand for every reception person. Telephone responding propriety of an association to which the reception person belongs is determined based on telephone responding propriety information of each reception person, and languages that can be handled by the association to which the reception person belongs are determined based on the languages that can be handled by each reception person. Association information including the telephone responding propriety information indicating the determined telephone responding propriety of the association and language information indicating the determined languages that can be handled by the association, is transmitted to a terminal device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention transmits, to a terminal device via a network, group information related to a terminal device used by the user and a group to which a plurality of responders who perform telephone correspondence from the user regarding a predetermined service belong. The present invention relates to a technical field such as an information providing system including a server device to be displayed.

  A user who wants to use an accommodation facility such as a hotel usually calls the hotel directly, confirms the availability and makes a reservation, or places a personal computer on a hotel site published on the Internet. You can check the availability and make a reservation.

In recent years, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a hotel cordless handset that can set the availability of vacancies by turning on / off a switch has been installed in all hotels belonging to the system. A hotel reservation system has been proposed in which a main apparatus provided can easily find a hotel having a vacancy by selectively searching a switch state of a hotel slave.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-131365

  By the way, in addition to the availability of the hotel, there are many cases where the user wants to know in detail about the facilities and meals related to the hotel, etc. When calling a foreign (foreign) hotel, since it is not known whether the hotel's client can speak in a language spoken by the user, the user is hesitant to call the hotel. Such a problem is difficult to solve by a conventional technology such as a hotel reservation system.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and one example of the problem is that a user makes a phone call to determine whether or not a responder who handles the call can handle the language spoken by the user. It is an object to provide an information providing system, an information providing method, a server device, and an information providing processing program that can be grasped before.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1 is related to a terminal device used by a user and group information relating to an organization to which a plurality of respondents who perform telephone correspondence from the user regarding a predetermined service belong. Is provided to the terminal device via a network to display the information providing system, wherein the server device is in a state in which the user is capable of handling a telephone call from a user. Telephone response information indicating whether or not the corresponding language can be handled by each of the responders, and the corresponding information based on the telephone availability information of each of the responders. A group telephone availability determination means for determining whether the group to which the person belongs corresponds to a group telephone availability determination unit, and a group for determining a language that can be handled by the group to which the person to whom the person belongs corresponds to based on a language that can be handled by each person. The group information including a possible language determination unit, telephone support availability information indicating whether the determined group can support a telephone, and language information indicating a language that can be supported by the determined group. Group information transmitting means for transmitting the group information, and the terminal device receives group information distributed from the server device, and group status display means for displaying the received group information. It is characterized by providing.

  According to this invention, the user can grasp whether or not the responder who handles the telephone call in the desired organization can handle the language spoken by the user before the user makes a call. Can call the organization without hesitation.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, group information relating to a group to which a plurality of respondents who perform telephone correspondence from a user regarding a predetermined service belong is transmitted to a terminal device used by the user via a network. A server device to be displayed, for each of the respondents, telephone support availability information indicating whether or not the responder is ready for a telephone call from a user, and a language that the responder can handle in advance. Corresponding to each of the respondents corresponding to the information on registration of the information on the respondents to be registered, on the basis of the information on the availability of the telephones of each of the responders, whether to accept the telephones of the group to which the corresponding party belongs. Based on a possible language, a group-capable language determining means for determining a language that can be supported by the group to which the respondent belongs, telephone support availability information indicating whether the determined group can handle the telephone, Characterized in that it comprises a collective information transmission means constant by an organization sends the language information indicating the available supported languages, the organization information including to the terminal device.

  According to this invention, the user can grasp whether or not the responder who handles the telephone call in the desired organization can handle the language spoken by the user before the user makes a call. Can call the organization without hesitation.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the server device according to the second aspect, after the group information is transmitted to the terminal device, the group is displayed from the languages that can be handled by the group displayed on the terminal device. User-specified language information indicating any language specified by the user and group-specific information receiving means for receiving group-specific information for specifying the group, and a group specified by the received group-specific information When a call is made to the telephone processing device corresponding to the above-mentioned communication means and a response to the call is received, a telephone response in the language indicated by the received user-specified language information is requested. Notification information transmitting means for transmitting notification information to the telephone processing device to notify the telephone processing device.

  According to this invention, each person in the organization quickly grasps the language requested by the user, and if it is a language that can be handled by the user, pick up the handset, answer the phone, and request the user. Can respond quickly in the languages they use.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the server device according to the third aspect, the broadcast information is requested to be handled in a language indicated by the user-specified language information. It is information for informing the group specified by the information in the native language registered in advance.

  According to the present invention, the group respondent can easily grasp the contents of the notification information and can take a more prompt action.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the server device according to the third or fourth aspect, the notification information is requested to be handled in a language indicated by the user-specified language information. It is the information for making it alert | report with the receiver information which shows the responder who can respond in a language, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to the present invention, the responder can take an even quicker response.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the server device according to the second aspect, after the group information is transmitted to the terminal device, the group is displayed from the languages that can be handled by the group displayed on the terminal device. User-specified language information indicating any language specified by the user and group-specific information receiving means for receiving group-specific information for specifying the group, and a group specified by the received group-specific information A call is made via a communication means to a terminal device corresponding to the responder that can be handled in the language indicated by the received user-specified language information among a plurality of respondents belonging to When there is a response, a call control means for establishing a call between the user terminal device and the user terminal device is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to cope with the language requested by the user more quickly on the organization side.

  The invention of the information provision processing program according to claim 7 is characterized by functioning as the server device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

  The invention according to claim 8 transmits group information about a group to which a plurality of respondents who perform telephone correspondence from a user regarding a predetermined service belong to a terminal device used by the user via a network. A method for providing information in a server apparatus to be displayed, comprising: telephone availability information indicating whether or not the person in charge is available for a call from a user; and a language that the person can deal with. A step of registering in advance for each person, a step of determining whether or not a caller of an organization to which the corresponding person belongs can be determined based on the caller availability information of each of the corresponding persons, and a language that each of the corresponding persons can handle Determining a language that can be handled by the organization to which the corresponding person belongs, telephone availability information indicating whether or not the decided organization can handle the phone, and a language that can be handled by the decided organization. Characterized in that it comprises a step of transmitting the language information, the organization information including to the terminal device.

  According to the present invention, telephone support availability information indicating whether or not a user is ready for a telephone call from a user and a language that can be handled by the corresponding person are registered in advance for each of the receivers. In addition, based on the information on the availability of each responder's phone, the availability of the organization to which the responder belongs is determined, and the organization to which the responder corresponds corresponds based on the language that each responder can handle. A terminal device is provided with group information including a phone call availability information indicating whether or not the determined group can handle a phone call and language information indicating a language that the determined group can handle. Since it is configured to transmit, the user can know whether the respondent who handles the phone call in the desired organization can respond in the language that the user can speak before the user makes a call. The user should not hesitate It is possible to make a phone call to the body.

Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[1. Configuration and function of information providing system]
First, the configuration and function of the information providing system S according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration example of an information providing system S according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the information providing system S includes an information providing server (an example of a server device) SA, a user terminal (an example of a terminal device) UT, a hotel telephone reception processing device (an example of a telephone processing device) HSm (m = 1, 2,... K), etc., and these are connected to a network NW constituted by the Internet and a telephone line network.

  A unique IP (Internet Protocol) address (global IP address) is assigned to the information providing server SA.

  Further, the user terminal UT used by the user is connected to the network NW through, for example, a server of an Internet service provider, and a unique IP address is assigned when connecting to the network NW. It has become. The user terminal UT can send and receive text messages (generally called instant messages) to and from other user terminals UT through the network NW. For example, an instant based on the well-known SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) It is possible to make an IP call (voice call (voice communication)) with another user terminal UT or a hotel phone reception processing device HSm through a messenger (hereinafter simply referred to as “messenger”) function and the network NW. An IP call function (IP phone function) and a Web browser function for acquiring Web page data (for example, consisting of HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) data, image data, etc.) from a Web server connected to the network NW Have. Note that a plurality of user terminals UT actually exist for each user, but illustration thereof is omitted.

  Each of the hotels H1 to Hk is an example of an organization to which a plurality of respondents (hereinafter referred to as “staff”) who perform telephone correspondence (for example, accommodation reservation etc.) from a user regarding services such as accommodation belong. The hotel telephone reception processing device HSm installed in each of the hotels H1 to Hk is positioned as a representative telephone of the hotel. For example, a general-purpose computer or a general telephone is used. Further, when a general-purpose computer is used as the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm, a unique IP address is assigned, and when a general telephone is used, a unique telephone number is assigned. Further, when a general telephone is used as the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm, a call between the telephone and the user terminal UT is processed by a known callback server (IP-PBX), for example. This is done by the 2leg method across the PSTN telephone network.

  In addition, a plurality of hotel telephones (collectively referred to as “hotel telephone HTm”) is connected to each hotel telephone reception processing device HSm (for example, hotel telephone reception processing apparatus HS1 includes hotel telephones HT11 to HT13 (this The number may be 4 or more). Each of these hotel telephones HTm is assigned a unique extension number and is used by the staff belonging to each of the hotels H1 to Hk.

  Here, the configuration and function of the information providing server SA will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of the information providing server SA.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the information providing server SA includes an operation unit 1, a display unit 2, a communication unit 3, a drive unit 4, a storage unit 5, an input / output interface unit 6, and a system control unit 7. The system control unit 7 and the input / output interface unit 6 are connected via a system bus 8.

  The operation unit 1 includes, for example, a keyboard and a mouse. The operation unit 1 receives an operation instruction from an administrator or the like, and outputs the instruction content to the system control unit 7 as an instruction signal.

  The display unit 2 includes, for example, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, a liquid crystal display, and the like, and displays information such as characters and images.

  The communication unit 3 is connected to the network NW and controls the communication state with the user terminal UT or the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm.

  For example, the drive unit 4 reads data from a disk DK (recording medium) such as a flexible disk, a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) or the like, and records data or the like on the disk DK.

  The input / output interface unit 6 performs interface processing between the operation unit 1 to the storage unit 5 and the system control unit 7.

  The storage unit 5 includes, for example, a hard disk drive and stores an operating system (O / S), various programs (including the information providing processing program of the present invention), data, and the like. The information provision processing program of the present invention may be downloaded from another server or the like via the network NW, or recorded on a disk DK such as a CD-ROM and via the drive unit 4. May be read.

  Further, in the storage unit 5, a hotel information database 51 for registering information on each of the hotels H1 to Hk and a user information database 52 for registering information on the user of the user terminal UT are constructed.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of registration information in the hotel information database 51, and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of registration information in the user information database 52.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the hotel information database 51 includes a hotel ID, a password, a hotel name, address information (or a telephone number) of a hotel telephone reception processing device, and information on availability of a telephone on a hotel (indicating whether a telephone is available on a hotel). Information), the hotel's available language (the hotel's language), the native language (eg, the native language of the country where the hotel is located (eg, German if the hotel is in Germany), and the hotel staff (Normally used language), staff ID, staff name, staff supported language (language supported by the staff), and staff telephone support availability information (whether the staff is ready for telephone calls from users) And the like) are registered in association with each other.

  Although not shown, the hotel ID of each hotel is associated with information indicating a country name, a city name, and a region name where each hotel is installed as information necessary for a hotel search described later. Is remembered.

  Here, the hotel ID, password, hotel name, telephone number, native language, staff ID, staff name, and language that the staff can handle are information, for example, by each hotel administrator operating the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm. It is registered through a procedure process for connecting to the providing server SA and using the system S. When the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm is a general telephone, these pieces of information are registered from a general-purpose computer installed in the hotel.

  The hotel ID is uniquely given for each hotel in the system S, and is registered so as not to overlap with other hotels. The staff ID is uniquely given to each staff in the system S and is registered so as not to overlap with other staff.

  The hotel's available language is determined and registered based on the available languages of each staff member who is in a telephone-enabled state belonging to the hotel. For example, in the example of FIG. 3, regarding the hotel H1, the language that the staff “AAAAA” can handle is “English” (English), and the language that the staff “BBBBB” can handle is “English” (English) and “Japan” ( The language that can be supported by the staff “CCCCC” is “English” (English), “Japanese” (Japanese), and “Chinese” (Chinese). The language that the staff “DDDDD” can handle is “ “English” (English) and “Medium” (Chinese), and the information on availability of telephones of any staff is “available for telephone”, so the language that Hotel H1 can handle is “English” (English) , “Day” (Japanese) and “middle” (Chinese) are determined and registered.

  On the other hand, for hotel H2, the staff “EEEEEE” can respond to “English” (English) and “middle” (Chinese), and the staff “FFFFF” can support “English” (English), “Japanese” ”(Japanese), and“ German ”(German), and the supported languages of the staff“ GGGGGG ”are“ English ”(English) and“ French ”(French), and the supported languages of the staff“ HHHHH ” Is “English” (English) and “Germany” (German), and the information on the availability of the telephone of the staff “EEEEEE” is “Availability of telephone” (other staff can accept the telephone). The languages that can be supported are determined and registered as “English” (English), “Japanese” (Japanese), “German” (German), and “French” (French). As a result, “English”, “Japanese”, “Germany”, and “French” are displayed in a selectable language for the hotel H2 that can be displayed on the display unit 12 of the user terminal UT, which will be described later. become. Even if the telephone availability information of the staff “EEEEEE” is “telephone availability”, the hotel H2's available languages are “English”, “Japanese”, “Germany”, “French”, and “Medium”. In other words, the “middle” may be registered with non-designated data added thereto. In this case, as the compatible language of the hotel H2 displayed on the display unit 12 of the user terminal UT, “English”, “Japanese”, “Germany”, and “French” are displayed in a selectable manner, and “ “Medium” is displayed in an undesignable manner by the undesignated data (for example, displayed with parentheses () added).

  The address information of the hotel telephone reception processing device includes, for example, an IP address (current IP address) assigned when the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm is connected to the network NW. For example, when an authentication process is executed in response to a login request (including a hotel ID and a password) from the hotel telephone reception processing apparatus HSm and login is permitted (that is, the hotel ID and password are registered in the hotel information database 51). The address information of the hotel telephone reception processing device is registered in the hotel information database 51.

  In addition, the telephone support availability information of the staff is, for example, displayed on the telephone support registration screen provided from the information providing server SA to the hotel telephone reception processing apparatus HSm after the login, for example, by each hotel administrator on the hotel telephone reception processing apparatus HSm. Is registered by designating whether or not a telephone can be handled by operating (for example, a staff member who is at work is able to handle a telephone call and a staff member who is absent from work is a telephone correspondence failure). When the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm is a general telephone, the staff's telephone availability information is registered from a general-purpose computer installed in the hotel.

  And the telephone availability information of a hotel is determined and registered based on the telephone availability information of each staff member belonging to the hotel. For example, if the telephone availability information of any one of the staff members belonging to a hotel is available for the telephone, the telephone availability information for the hotel is determined as a telephone available. On the other hand, for example, if the telephone availability information of all staff among staff belonging to a hotel is telephone availability, the telephone availability information of the hotel is determined as telephone availability.

  In addition, although not shown in the figure, the information whose information is registered in the hotel information database 51 is associated with, for example, information such as the country name of the country in which the hotel is installed, the city name of the city, and the area name of the region. This information is used to search for hotels.

  Next, in the user information database 52, as shown in FIG. 4, the user's user ID, password, user terminal address information, nickname (also referred to as screen name, hereinafter referred to as “NN”), friend NN of registered members (hereinafter referred to as “friends members”) and presence information indicating the user status presented to each friend member are registered in association with each other. .

  Here, the user ID, the password, and the NN are registered through a procedure process for each user to operate the user terminal UT to connect to the information providing server SA and use the system S, for example. The user ID and NN are uniquely given to each user including the user and the operator in the system S, and are registered so as not to overlap with other users.

  Further, the address information of the user terminal includes, for example, an IP address (current IP address) assigned when the user terminal UT is connected to the network NW. For example, when an authentication process is executed in response to a login (sign-in) request (including user ID and password) from the user terminal UT and login is permitted (that is, the user ID and password are stored in the user information database 52). The address information of the user terminal is registered in the user information database 52.

  In addition, the friend member is a user who is mutually authorized as a partner for exchanging messages. For example, in response to a friend registration request from another user terminal UT, the user's NN (the user concerned) The user's user ID may be registered in the user information database 52. Users who have been permitted as friend members can share their presence information.

  Each presence information is registered for each friend member (for example, registered when the user logs in or when the user's status is changed). In the example of FIG. , The presence information of the user who is NN “aaaaaa” is “online” to the user's friend member (that is, the user of NN “bbbbbb”). Members will be presented with an "online" status). For example, when a user who is NN “aaaaaa” logs out, presence information indicating “offline”, for example, is registered in the user information database 52 as the presence information of the user. In addition to the above, the presence information includes, for example, “leaving away” (for example, registered when the user terminal UT is not operated for a certain period of time), “busy”, and the like.

  The system control unit 7 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 7a, a read only memory (ROM) 7b, a random access memory (RAM) 7c, and the like, and performs overall control of the entire information providing server SA. Then, the system control unit 7 reads out and executes various programs stored in the ROM 7b or the storage unit 5 by the CPU 7a, thereby performing an authentication process in response to a login request from the user terminal UT or the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm. And responding person information registration means, group telephone support availability determination means, group correspondence language determination means, group information transmission means, designated language information reception means, notification information transmission means, and It functions as a call control means or the like, and performs processing described later.

  Specifically, as described above, the system control unit 7 registers staff availability information and staff availability languages in the hotel information database 51 in advance for each hotel and each staff. Based on the staff's telephone availability information, it is determined for each hotel whether or not the hotel to which the staff belongs is available, and based on each staff's available language, the language to which the staff belongs is determined for each hotel. The information indicating the availability of the determined telephone and the language that can be supported are registered in the hotel information database 51. For example, every time there is a change in the telephone availability information of a staff member belonging to a hotel, the availability of the hotel is determined again, and the language available for the hotel is determined again and registered in the hotel information database 51. Will be.

  Further, when the system control unit 7 permits the login in response to the login request related to the messenger function from the user terminal UT, the system control unit 7 stores the presence information (for example, “online”) of the logged-in user. Registered in the information database 52 and then changed whenever the presence information of the user is changed (for example, changed from “online” to “leaved” or changed from “online” to “busy”) Are registered in the user information database 52.

  Here, when the user does not operate the operation unit of the user terminal UT for a certain period of time (for example, 1 minute), or when the user operates the operation unit of the user terminal UT, When the setting is changed to “Away”, presence information indicating “Away” is transmitted to the information providing server SA together with the user ID of the user, and “Away” is indicated by the system control unit 7 as presence information. Registered in the information database 52. When the user starts a call with the hotel telephone HTm of a staff member belonging to a certain hotel through the user terminal UT, for example, this is detected by the system control unit 7 and “busy” is set as presence information. Registered in the user information database 52.

  In addition, when the system control unit 7 permits the login in response to the login request related to the messenger function from the user terminal UT, the presence information of the user's friend member of the user terminal UT, and a predetermined Hotel information of a hotel (for example, some hotels that are initially set among many registered hotels) is transmitted to the user terminal UT via the communication unit 3 and the network NW (PUSH type distribution) To do. Here, the hotel information includes, for example, a hotel name, information on whether or not a hotel is available and determined as described above, and information indicating an available language.

  Thereby, the presence information of the friend member and the hotel information of the predetermined hotel are displayed on the user terminal UT and presented to the user.

  Instead of the PUSH distribution, the user terminal UT may periodically acquire the presence information of the friend member and the hotel information of a predetermined hotel (PULL type distribution) from the information providing server SA. (The same applies hereinafter).

  At the time of the login, the system control unit 7 associates the presence information (for example, “online”) of the logged-in user with the NN of all the friend members of the user in the user information database 52. It is registered and transmitted (PUSH type distribution) to the user terminal UT of the logged-in friend member among the user's friend members.

  Furthermore, after the hotel information is transmitted to the user terminal UT, the system control unit 7 indicates one of the languages designated by the user from the available languages of the hotel displayed on the user terminal UT. User specified language information and hotel specifying information for specifying the hotel are received from the user terminal UT via the communication unit 3 and the network NW. At this time, the user terminal UT enters a call waiting state. Then, the system control unit 7 sends the communication unit 3 and the network NW to the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm according to the address information or telephone number of the hotel telephone reception processing device of the hotel specified by the received hotel identification information. When a call is made and a response to the call is made (thereby establishing a call between the hotel telephone reception processing device and the information providing server SA), the language indicated by the received user-specified language information is used. Notification information for notifying the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm that the telephone support is requested is transmitted to the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm.

  Here, the “response to the call” refers to, for example, the hotel receptionist picks up the handset of the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm (off-hook) (or the response displayed on the display unit of the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm) By pressing the button). Then, the message included in the notification information received by the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm is output as sound from the speaker of the handset (or headphone with microphone) of the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm. For example, a message “Please in Japanese” is output by voice. As a result, the hotel receptionist can quickly call the corresponding staff. At the same time as the voice output, for example, a message “Please in Japanese” may be displayed on the display unit of the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm.

  The notification information is registered in advance in the hotel information database 51 for the hotel specified by the hotel specifying information that the telephone response in the language indicated by the received user-specified language information is requested. It is recommended that the information be used for notification in the native language. Thus, for example, if the native language is English, the message included in the notification information is output as, for example, “Please, Japanese.” The contents of the information can be grasped, and the corresponding staff can be quickly called. In addition, the notification information indicates that the telephone support in the language indicated by the received user-specified language information is requested, and that the receiver information (for example, the staff name) indicating the staff who can respond in the language ) And information to be notified together. As a result, the message included in the broadcast information is output, for example, “Mr. BBBBB, please in Japanese.” Or “Mr.BBBBBB.Please, Japanese.” Can quickly identify the staff and call the staff more quickly.

  The hotel receptionist who heard (or saw) the message included in the notification information is used by the corresponding staff who can handle the language (for example, Japanese) specified by the user of the user terminal UT. The telephone is transferred to the hotel telephone HTm. As a result, the telephone call is transferred from the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm to the hotel telephone HTm. When the staff picks up the handset of the hotel telephone HTm and presses the response button, information indicating that the telephone is answered is sent to the information providing server SA. Will be.

  Thus, when the information indicating that the information providing server SA has answered the call is received, the system control unit 7 establishes a call between the hotel telephone HTm and the user terminal UT in the call waiting state. Yes (phone can be connected). Thereby, the staff can promptly respond in the language requested by the user.

  In addition, a general telephone, well-known SIP, or another protocol (Jabber protocol, H.323 protocol, etc.) is applied to the said call. Further, the data indicating the content of the notification information may be stored for each language as data common to each hotel, or registered in the hotel information database 51 for each language as individual data for each hotel. You can keep it.

  Next, the configuration and functions of the user terminal UT will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of the user terminal UT.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the user terminal UT includes an operation unit 11, a display unit 12, a communication unit 13, a drive unit 14, a storage unit 15, an input / output interface unit 16, and a system control unit 17. , And a headphone 18 with a microphone, and the system control unit 17 and the input / output interface unit 16 are connected via a system bus 19.

  The operation unit 11, the display unit 12, the communication unit 13, the drive unit 14, the storage unit 15, and the input / output interface unit 16 are configured in the operation unit 1, the display unit 2, and the communication unit 3 in the information providing server SA described above. The configuration of the drive unit 4, the storage unit 5, and the input / output interface unit 6 is the same.

  The system control unit 17 includes a CPU 17a, a ROM 17b, a RAM 17c, and the like, and performs overall control of the entire user terminal UT. The system control unit 17 reads and executes various programs stored in the ROM 17b and the storage unit 15 by the CPU 17a so that the system control unit 17 operates as a messenger. It functions as a group status display means.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen on the display unit 12 of the user terminal UT.

  For example, after a messenger is activated and logged in at the user terminal UT, for example, an icon indicating that the messenger is activated is displayed on the toolbar 101 on the display unit 12 and a main screen 100 as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed. Further, the presence information of the friend member displayed on the section 12 (opened) and transmitted from the information providing server SA, and some predetermined hotels (for example, some of the hotels that are initially presented and set among registered hotels) The hotel information of the hotel is received via the communication unit 13.

  The presence information of each friend member received in this way is displayed on the presence information display unit 100a on the main screen 100, and the hotel information on each hotel is displayed on the hotel information display unit 100b on the main screen 100. . In the hotel information display section 100b, the hotel name, the availability of hotel telephone support, and the hotel supported language are displayed in association with each other. As a result, the user can easily grasp the availability and language of each hotel on the phone from the hotel information displayed on the hotel information display unit 100b.

  Each of the supported languages displayed on the hotel information display unit 100b (for example, “English”, “day”, “medium” in the case of the hotel H1) is designated (selected) by the user of the user terminal UT. When the user operates the operation unit 11 and designates a desired language corresponding to a desired hotel (for example, clicks with a mouse), the user terminal UT can communicate with the communication unit 3 and the network. A connection request (including user-specified language information indicating the language specified by the user and hotel specifying information for specifying the hotel) is transmitted to the information providing server SA via the NW or the like. As described above, the call between the user terminal UT and the hotel telephone HTm is finally established.

  In addition, the main screen 100 shown in FIG. 6 is provided with a search condition input field 100c for inputting hotel search conditions and a “hotel search” button 100d that can be selected by the user. For example, when a user searches for a travel destination hotel, the user inputs the travel destination country name and city name as search conditions in the search condition input field 100c from the operation unit 11 and designates a “hotel search” button 100d. The information shown is transmitted to the information providing server SA. The information providing server SA that has received the information indicating the search condition searches for a hotel corresponding to the search condition and transmits the hotel information of the hotel to the user terminal UT. The content such as the hotel name displayed on the display unit 100b is changed.

The main screen 100 shown in FIG. 6 is provided with an “x” (close) button for closing the menu screen 100, a “logout” button for logging out, and various other buttons. Since there is no relationship, the description is omitted.
[2. Operation of information provision system]
Next, operation | movement of the information provision system S which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated using FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing information exchange and the like in the information providing system S.

  First, in the user terminal UT, in a state where the main screen 100 as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display unit 12, the user operates the operation unit 11 and is displayed on the hotel information display unit 100b. When a desired language (for example, English (English)) of the hotel H1 is designated (for example, clicked with the mouse), a connection request is sent from the user terminal UT via the communication unit 3 and the network NW, etc. It is transmitted to SA (step S1). At this time, in the user terminal UT, for example, “call connected” is displayed on the display unit 12, and “pulluru” is output as audio from the speaker.

  Next, when the connection request is received by the information providing server SA, the user terminal UT enters a call waiting (holding) state, for example, “call waiting” is displayed on the display unit 12, and a message to that effect is displayed from the speaker. Is output as a voice (continues until a telephone call is established with the hotel telephone HT11 in step S8 described later).

  On the other hand, in the information providing server SA, the address information or telephone number of the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1 of the hotel H1 specified by the hotel specifying information included in the connection request is acquired from the hotel information database 51, and according to the address information. A call is made to the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1 (step S2). At this time, a ringing tone sounds in the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1. Then, for example, when the hotel receptionist picks up the handset of the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1 (or when the receptionist presses the response button displayed on the display unit of the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1), A response to the call is made from the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1 to the information providing server SA (step S3). When the response is received by the information providing server SA, a call between the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1 and the information providing server SA is established (step S4).

  When the call is established in this way, the native language (for example, English) corresponding to the hotel H1 identified by the hotel identification information included in the connection request is identified from the hotel information database 51, and the notification described in the native language is provided. Information for notifying the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1 that a telephone response in the language (for example, English) indicated by the user-specified language information included in the connection request is requested. Is transmitted from the information providing server SA to the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1 (step S5). Note that, here, the customer information (for example, “AAAAA”) indicating the staff (for example, “AAAAA”) that can handle the language (for example, English) indicated by the user-specified language information included in the connection request. It is more effective if (staff name) is acquired from the hotel information database 51 and included in the notification information and transmitted.

  When the notification information is received by the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1, a message (for example, “Please, English.”) Included in the notification information from the speaker of the receiver (or the headphone with a microphone) of the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1. ") Is output (may be displayed) as audio.

  Then, the contact person at the hotel H1 who heard the message transfers the call to the hotel telephone HT11 used by the corresponding staff who can speak the language (for example, Japanese) specified by the user of the user terminal UT. Is transferred from the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1 to, for example, the hotel telephone HT11 (step S6). At this time, a ring tone sounds in the hotel telephone HT11. Then, when the staff picks up the handset of the hotel telephone HT11 and presses a response button (for example, “1” button), information indicating that the telephone is answered is transmitted to the information providing server SA (step S7).

  Thus, when information indicating that the information providing server SA has answered the call is received, a call is established between the hotel telephone HT11 and the user terminal UT in the call waiting state (step S8). The relevant staff of the hotel H1 and the user can speak by telephone, and the staff can promptly respond in the language requested by the user. Thereby, the user can easily interact with the staff of the hotel H1 without hesitation in the language used by the user.

  In step S6, even if the telephone call is transferred from the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1 to, for example, the hotel telephone HT11, the staff is absent and the telephone is not answered (the handset of the hotel telephone HT11 is not raised) (or When the hotel telephone HT11 is busy and cannot transfer the telephone), for example, the window receptionist at the hotel H1 has an absent button provided on the hotel telephone reception processing apparatus HS1 (if the hotel telephone reception processing apparatus HS1 is a general telephone, For example, when the “2” button is pressed, information indicating that the corresponding staff is absent is transmitted to the information providing server SA via the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1, and a message indicating the absence of the staff is transmitted to the user terminal UT. Will be sent.

  Alternatively, if a staff member who can respond in the language requested by the user cannot answer the call due to a call from another user or is absent, for example, the receptionist at the hotel H1 can call the hotel phone. By pressing a reservation button (for example, “3” button when the hotel telephone reception processing apparatus HS1 is a general telephone) provided in the reception processing apparatus HS1, the information is provided via the hotel telephone reception processing apparatus HS1. It is transmitted to the server SA, registered as a telephone reservation state, and a message to that effect is transmitted to the user terminal UT. Then, when the staff telephone is finished and the reservation button is pressed again, a call is started between the hotel telephone HT11 and the user terminal UT.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the hotel which has only one hotel telephone reception processing apparatus HSm is also considered, In this case, operation | movement of the information provision system S becomes a flow shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, the process from step S11 to S15 is the same as the process from step S1 to S5 in FIG. In step S15, the hotel receptionist who has heard the message included in the notification information transmitted to the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1 can respond to the staff who can handle the language specified by the user of the user terminal UT. , Change the telephone with the staff, and the staff presses the response button of the hotel telephone reception processing apparatus HS1 (for example, the “1” button when the hotel telephone reception processing apparatus HS1 is a general telephone). Information indicating that it has exited is transmitted to the information providing server SA (step S16). Thus, when information indicating that the information providing server SA has answered the call is received, a call is established between the telephone and the user terminal UT in the call waiting state (step S17).

  In the case of FIG. 8 as well, if the corresponding staff cannot answer the telephone, in step S16, for example, the person in charge at the hotel H1 responds by pressing the absence button provided in the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1. Information indicating that the staff is absent is transmitted to the information providing server SA via the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1, and a message indicating the absence of the staff is transmitted to the user terminal UT. Alternatively, if the corresponding staff cannot answer the telephone, for example, the window receptionist at the hotel H1 presses a reservation button provided on the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1, and the information is transmitted via the hotel telephone reception processing device HS1. It is transmitted to the providing server SA, registered as a telephone reservation state, and a message to that effect is transmitted to the user terminal UT. Then, when the staff telephone is finished and the reservation button is pressed again, a call is started between the hotel telephone HT11 and the user terminal UT.

  As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the staff's telephone availability information and the staff's available language are registered in advance for each hotel and for each staff, and based on each staff's telephone availability information. In addition to determining for each hotel whether or not the hotel to which the staff belongs corresponds to the hotel, and determining the corresponding language for the hotel to which the staff belongs for each hotel based on the language that each staff can handle. Is configured so that hotel information including information indicating whether or not a telephone is available and information indicating a language that can be supported is transmitted to the user terminal UT of the logged-in user and presented to the user. , It ’s possible to know whether the staff at the desired hotel can respond in the language they can speak before they call, Without the user to hesitate, it is possible to make a phone call to the hotel.

  In addition, the supported languages transmitted to the user terminal UT are distinguished for each hotel and displayed on the user terminal UT so that they can be designated. When the user designates a desired language of a desired hotel, User-specified language information indicating language and hotel specifying information for specifying the hotel are transmitted to the information providing server SA, and a call is made from the information providing server SA to the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm of the hotel. When there is a response to the call, the notification information for causing the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm to notify that the telephone response in the language indicated by the user-specified language information is requested, Since it is configured to be transmitted to the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm, for example, the hotel receptionist knows the language requested by the user and promptly It is possible to turn the phone to the staff, the staff, it is possible to achieve a rapid response in a language that the user is requesting (for example, inquiry and booking from the user, etc.).

  Further, if the notification information is configured to be notified in the native language corresponding to the hotel specified by the hotel specifying information, for example, the hotel receptionist and the corresponding staff can easily change the content of the notification information. It is possible to grasp and take an even quicker response.

  Furthermore, the notification information is notified together with the customer information (for example, staff name) indicating the staff who can handle the language specified in the user-specified language information among the hotel staff specified by the hotel specification information. If constituted in this way, for example, the hotel receptionist and the staff can take a quicker response.

  In the above embodiment, when a general telephone is used as the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm, for example, a telephone number and a telephone are prepared for each language on the hotel side (that is, each hotel has a number of corresponding languages). A telephone is installed), and the telephone number is registered in the hotel information database 51 (for example, a unique telephone number is registered in association with each staff-supportable language), and the user uses the user terminal UT. When a desired language of a desired hotel is designated, the information providing server SA acquires a telephone number corresponding to the designated language of the hotel from the hotel information database 51 and corresponds to the obtained telephone number. When a call is made to the telephone and a response to the call is received (the telephone handset is picked up), the notification information is transmitted to the telephone. It may be configured to so that. According to this configuration, it is possible to directly connect the corresponding staff to the telephone.

(Modification)
In the above embodiment, the hotel telephone reception processing device HSm and the hotel telephone HTm connected thereto are provided for each hotel. However, the functions equivalent to the user terminal UT are provided one by one for each hotel staff. A terminal device (hereinafter referred to as a “staff terminal”) having the above may be provided.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration example of the information providing system S according to the modification. In the example of FIG. 9, staff hotels ST1 to STk are provided for each staff in each hotel H1 to Hk, and these staff terminals ST1 to STk are connected to the network NW. The configuration and functions of the staff terminals ST1 to STk are the same as those of the user terminal UT described with reference to FIG.

  In the case of this modification, in the hotel information database 51, the address information of the staff terminal of the staff belonging to each hotel is registered instead of the address information of the hotel telephone reception processing device of each hotel. When the information providing server SA permits the login in response to a login request related to the messenger function from the staff terminal (this includes the hotel ID and the staff ID), the presence information of the logged-in staff (For example, “online”) is registered in association with the staff ID of the staff in the hotel information database 51 as information that can be handled by telephone. After that, whenever the presence information of the staff is changed (for example, changed from “online” to “away” or changed from “online” to “busy”), the information providing server SA changes Will be registered in the hotel information database 51.

  Based on the presence information of each staff registered in this way, the information providing server SA determines whether or not each hotel can accept a telephone call. For example, if the presence information of any one of the staff belonging to a hotel is online, the telephone availability information of the hotel is determined as being available for telephone. On the other hand, for example, if there is no staff whose presence information is “online” among the staff belonging to the hotel (that is, any staff is “offline”, “away” or “busy”), the telephone of the hotel Correspondence availability information is determined as a telephone availability. In addition, the available languages of each hotel are determined and registered based on the available languages of each staff member who is online belonging to the hotel (based on the available languages of each staff member who are available for telephone belonging to the hotel) As in the case of

  FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating information exchange and the like in the information providing system S according to the modification.

  In the case of this modification, when a connection request is transmitted from the user terminal UT to the information providing server SA in step S21 shown in FIG. 10, the information providing server SA is specified by the hotel specifying information included in the connection request. The staff who belong to the hotel H1 can respond to telephone calls in the language (for example, English) indicated by the user-specified language information included in the connection request and is online (for example, “AAAAA”). The address information of the staff terminal ST1 corresponding to the staff is obtained from the hotel information database 51, and a call is made to the staff terminal ST1 according to the address information of the staff terminal (step S22). At this time, the information providing server SA transmits a message informing the staff terminal ST1 that the staff will answer the call, and the message is displayed on the display screen of the display unit of the staff terminal ST1. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, a small screen (toaster screen) 202 in which the message is described is displayed so as to rise from the right corner of the display screen 201. When the staff of the staff terminal ST1 sees the message and presses the response button, a response to the call is made from the staff terminal ST1 to the information providing server SA (step S23). Then, when there is a response to the call from the staff terminal ST1, the information providing server SA establishes a call between the user terminal UT and the staff terminal ST1 (step S24). As a result, the user and the staff interact with each other using headphones with a microphone.

  Moreover, in the said modification, the hotel which has only one staff terminal is also considered, In this case, operation | movement of the information provision system S becomes a flow shown in FIG. Note that the processing in steps S31 and S34 shown in FIG. 11 is the same as the processing in steps S21 and S24 in FIG. Then, in step S32 of FIG. 11, the information providing server SA makes a call to the staff terminal ST1, and at this time, the language and the language specified by the user from the information providing server SA to the staff terminal ST1. A message indicating the name of the staff and the like and informing the staff to answer the call is transmitted, and the message is displayed on the display screen of the display unit of the staff terminal ST1. Then, the contact person using the staff terminal ST1 looks at the message, calls the corresponding staff who can handle the language specified by the user of the user terminal UT, and when the staff presses the response button, A response to the call is sent from the staff terminal ST1 to the information providing server SA (step S33).

  According to the configuration of such a modified example, it is possible to deal with the language requested by the user more quickly on the hotel side.

  In addition, although the said embodiment is embodiment when taking a hotel as an example as a group, it is applicable also to other facilities.

It is a figure showing an example of outline composition of information service system S concerning this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of schematic structure of information provision server SA. It is a figure which shows the example of registration information in the hotel information database. It is a figure which shows the example of registration information in the user information database 52, respectively. It is a block diagram which shows an example of schematic structure of the user terminal UT. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen in the display part 12 of the user terminal UT. It is a sequence diagram which shows the exchange etc. of the information in the information provision system S. It is a sequence diagram which shows the exchange etc. of the information in the information provision system S. It is a figure which shows the schematic structural example of the information provision system S which concerns on a modification. It is a sequence diagram which shows the exchange etc. of the information in the information provision system S which concerns on a modification. It is a sequence diagram which shows the exchange etc. of the information in the information provision system S which concerns on a modification.

Explanation of symbols

1, 11 Operation unit 2, 12 Display unit 3, 13 Communication unit 4, 14 Drive unit 5, 15 Storage unit 6, 16 Input / output interface unit 7, 17 System control unit 7a, 17a CPU
7b, 17b ROM
7c, 17c RAM
8, 19 System bus 18 Headphone with microphone 51 Hotel information database 52 User information database SA Information provision server UT User terminal HSm Hotel telephone reception processing device HTm Hotel telephone S Information provision system NW network

Claims (8)

A terminal device used by the user;
A server device that transmits group information about a group to which a plurality of respondents who perform telephone correspondence from the user with respect to a predetermined service belong to the terminal device via a network;
An information providing system comprising:
The server device
Telephone information that indicates whether or not the person in charge is available for a telephone call from a user, and a language that the person can deal with;
Based on the telephone availability information of each of the responders, a group telephone availability determination means for determining whether or not the organization of the organization to which the responder belongs
A group-capable language determination means for determining a language that can be supported by a group to which the corresponding party belongs, based on a language that each of the responders can handle;
Group information transmission for transmitting the group information to the terminal device including telephone support availability information indicating whether or not the determined group can handle a telephone and language information indicating a language that the determined group can support. Means, and
The terminal device
Group information receiving means for receiving group information distributed from the server device;
Group status display means for displaying the received group information;
An information providing system comprising: A server device that transmits group information about a group to which a plurality of respondents who perform telephone correspondence from a user with respect to a predetermined service belong to a terminal device used by the user via a network, and displays the group information.
Telephone information indicating whether or not the corresponding person is in a state where telephone can be received from the user, and a language that can be handled by the corresponding person; ,
Based on the telephone availability information of each of the responders, a group telephone availability determination means for determining whether or not the organization of the organization to which the responder belongs
A group-capable language determination means for determining a language that can be supported by a group to which the corresponding party belongs, based on a language that each of the responders can handle;
Group information transmission for transmitting the group information to the terminal device including telephone support availability information indicating whether or not the determined group can handle a telephone and language information indicating a language that the determined group can support. Means,
A server device comprising: The server device according to claim 2,
After the group information is transmitted to the terminal device, user-specified language information indicating any language specified by the user from the languages that can be handled by the group displayed on the terminal device, and the Designated language information receiving means for receiving group identification information for identifying a group;
The user-specified language information received when a call is made to the telephone processing device corresponding to the group specified by the received group specifying information via a communication means, and when there is a response to the call. Notification information transmitting means for transmitting to the telephone processing device notification information for notifying the telephone processing device that a telephone response in the language indicated by
A server device comprising: The server device according to claim 3,
The notification information informs the organization specified by the organization identification information in a native language registered in advance that a telephone response in the language indicated by the user-specified language information is requested. Server apparatus characterized by the above. In the server apparatus according to claim 3 or 4,
The notification information is information for notifying that the telephone support in the language indicated by the user-specified language information is requested, together with the response information indicating the response capability that can be handled in the language. A server device. The server device according to claim 2,
After the group information is transmitted to the terminal device, user-specified language information indicating any language specified by the user from the languages that can be handled by the group displayed on the terminal device, and the Designated language information receiving means for receiving group identification information for identifying a group;
Communication means for a terminal device corresponding to an addressable person in a language indicated by the received user-specified language information among a plurality of respondents belonging to the group specified by the received group specifying information Call control means for establishing a call between the terminal device of the user and the terminal device of the user when there is a response to the call,
A server device comprising:   An information provision processing program that causes the server device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 to function. An information providing method in a server device that transmits group information related to a group to which a plurality of respondents who perform telephone correspondence from a user regarding a predetermined service belong to a terminal device used by the user via a network and displays the group information. There,
A step of pre-registering, for each of the respondents, telephone support availability information indicating whether or not the responder is in a phone ready state from a user, and a language that the responder can handle;
Determining whether or not a telephone service of an organization to which the responder belongs based on the telephone serviceability information of each of the responders;
Determining a language that can be supported by an organization to which the respondent belongs, based on a language that each of the responders can handle;
Transmitting the group information to the terminal device including telephone support availability information indicating whether or not the determined group can handle telephone calls, and language information indicating a language that the determined group can support;
An information providing method comprising:

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