JP2011197914A - Communication system, minutes creation method, minutes creation apparatus, and minutes creation program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system, a minutes creation method, a minutes creation apparatus, and a minutes creation program which can efficiently extract information required for creating minutes and which are capable of creating optimum minutes for a remote conference utilizing the communication system.SOLUTION: The communication system includes a plurality of PCs to perform a remote conference. Each PC receives an input of a minutes memorandum from a user during the remote conference. Each PC makes time information correspond to the inputted minutes memorandum (S14). A host PC to be one of the plurality of PCs acquires minutes memorandums from respective PCs (S17). The host PC extracts a minutes memorandum to be included in the minutes from one or more acquired minutes memorandums based on the time information made to correspond to respective minutes memorandums (S18 to S27). The host PC creates the minutes of the remote conference by using the extracted minutes memorandum (S29).

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system, a minutes creation method, a minutes creation device, and a minutes creation program for recording the results of a conference executed using a plurality of communication devices.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a communication system including a plurality of communication devices connected via a network has been used in order for a plurality of users who are not at the same site to perform a remote conference. A user who uses a communication system may record a result of a remote conference in order to make a person who cannot participate in the conference know the content of the conference. However, if a meeting participant creates a meeting minutes alone, unnecessary information may be included in the minutes or necessary information may not be included. In addition, the burden on the minutes maker will increase.

  In the electronic conference system described in Patent Document 1, document, image, and audio data to which time information or the like is added is broadcast to all communication devices that constitute the system. The server stores all broadcast data. The server generates document data at regular intervals while reproducing the stored audio data in time order, and stores the data as minutes. The server may extract and reproduce a plurality of data with overlapping time information as important items.

JP-A-8-297624

  Since the electronic conference system described in Patent Document 1 cannot create a minutes by using a document for creating the minutes, unnecessary contents may be included in the minutes. Furthermore, since document data is generated at regular intervals, the required contents may not be included in the minutes. When extracting a plurality of data with overlapping time information as important items, it is necessary for the server to store all the data including unnecessary data. Therefore, it has been difficult to efficiently extract information necessary for creating the minutes and create the optimum minutes.

  The present invention relates to a communication system, a minutes creation method, and a minutes creation apparatus that can efficiently extract information necessary for creating minutes and create an optimum minutes for a remote conference using the communication system. , And to provide a minutes-taking program.

  In the communication system according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of users mutually transmit / receive data including at least one of voice data and character data at each of a plurality of bases in order to perform a remote conference. And a minutes creation device for creating a minutes that is a record of the contents of the remote conference, which is at least one of the devices connected to the plurality of communication devices and the plurality of communication devices. In the communication system, the communication device accepts input of minutes memos, which are character data input by a user to create the minutes during a remote conference, and minutes by the accepting means When an input of a memo is accepted, an association unit that associates time information with the minutes memo, and the association unit associates time information with the minutes memo. Transmission means for transmitting attached minutes memo data to the minutes creation device, the minutes creation device obtaining the minutes memo data from the plurality of communication devices, and the acquisition By extracting the minutes memo included in the minutes based on the time information associated with each minutes memo from one or more minutes memos acquired by the means, the minutes Creating means for creating.

  The communication system according to the first aspect associates time information with the minutes memo input by the user to create the minutes. The communication system extracts the minutes memo from one or more minutes memos based on the time information, and creates the minutes. Therefore, the communication system can efficiently extract the information determined to be necessary for the user to create the minutes based on the time information, and can create the optimum minutes. The communication system can reduce the amount of information stored to create the minutes.

  The creation means includes, for each of a plurality of time zones set between the start and end of the conference, one or more minutes memos that include the time associated with the time zone by the association means. A specifying means for specifying the minutes, and at most one minutes memo from among one or more minutes memos specified for one time zone by the specifying means as minutes memos included in the minutes Extraction means for extracting based on the information may be provided.

  Minute minutes memos with the same content are easily input by a plurality of users in the same time zone. Accordingly, the communication system efficiently uses the time information associated with the minutes memo to indicate that the minutes memos having the same contents input by a plurality of users in the same time zone are included in the minutes. Can be prevented. As a result, the communication system can easily create minutes including necessary contents and having no duplicate contents.

  The creating means may further comprise first determining means for determining whether or not the number of minutes notes specified for one time zone by the specifying means is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The extraction means may extract one minutes memo when the first judgment means determines that the number of minutes memos is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The communication system can appropriately include in the minutes the content that many users have determined to be included in the minutes. As a result, the communication system can easily create the minutes including necessary contents.

  The creating means determines whether there is a minutes memo including at least one of keywords stored in the storage means in advance in the minutes memo specified for one time zone by the specifying means. Two determination means may be further provided. The extracting means may extract one minutes memo when it is determined by the second determining means that there is a minutes memo including the keyword. The communication system can easily create a minutes including necessary contents by setting important keywords in advance to create the minutes.

  The minutes creation apparatus may associate each of the minutes memos acquired from the plurality of communication devices by the acquisition unit with the communication device that has received the input of the minutes memo. The extracting means has the highest priority according to the priority of each of the plurality of communication devices stored in the storage means in advance when a plurality of minutes memos are specified for one time zone by the specifying means. A minutes memo acquired from a high communication device may be extracted as a minutes memo included in the minutes. The communication system can easily and appropriately extract one of the minutes memos having the same contents inputted in the same time zone according to the priority order.

  The extracting means may include the minutes memo included in the minutes based on the number of characters included in the identified minutes memo when a plurality of minutes memos are specified for one time period by the specifying means. May be extracted. The communication system can easily and appropriately extract one of the minutes memos having the same contents input in the same time zone based on the number of characters. The communication system can include a minutes memo with an appropriate number of characters in the minutes.

  The minutes creation method according to the second aspect of the present invention is such that, in order for a plurality of users to perform a remote conference, data including at least one of voice data and character data at each of a plurality of bases is transmitted and received. A plurality of communication devices, a device connected to the plurality of communication devices, and a minutes creation device that creates a minutes, which is a record of the contents of the remote conference, and is at least one of the plurality of communication devices. A minutes creation method performed by a communication system provided, wherein the communication device accepts input of minutes notes which are character data inputted by a user to create the minutes during a remote conference And an association step for associating time information with the minutes memo when the minutes memo input is accepted by the acceptance step. And a transmission step of transmitting the minutes memo data associated with the time information in the association step to the minutes creation device, and the minutes creation device receives the minutes from the plurality of communication devices. An acquisition step of acquiring data of the recorded notes, and the minutes based on the time information associated with each of the minutes notes from the one or more minutes notes acquired by the acquisition step A creation step for creating the minutes is performed by extracting the minutes notes to be included.

  According to the minutes creation method according to the second aspect, the communication system associates the time information with the minutes memo input by the user to create the minutes. The communication system extracts the minutes memo from one or more minutes memos based on the time information, and creates the minutes. Therefore, the communication system can efficiently extract the information determined to be necessary for the user to create the minutes based on the time information, and can create the optimum minutes. The communication system can reduce the amount of information stored to create the minutes.

  The minutes creation device according to the third aspect of the present invention executes a remote conference by transmitting and receiving data including at least one of voice data and character data at each of a plurality of bases between a plurality of communication devices. A minutes creation device used in a communication system, wherein during a remote conference, the minutes memo data, which is character data input by a user in order to create a minutes that is a record of the contents of the remote conference, Acquired from the communication device, when the data of the minutes memo is acquired by the acquisition means, the association means for associating time information with the acquired minutes memo, and acquired by the acquisition means The minutes memo included in the minutes based on the time information associated with each minutes memo from one or more minutes memos By extracting, and a creation means for creating the minutes.

  The minutes creation apparatus according to the third aspect associates the time information with the minutes memo input to the communication device by the user to create the minutes. The minutes creation device extracts the minutes notes from one or more minutes notes based on the time information, and creates the minutes. Therefore, the minutes creation device can efficiently extract the information that the user determines to be necessary for creating the minutes based on the time information, and can create the optimum minutes. The minutes creation device can reduce the data of the information stored for creating the minutes.

  The minutes creation program according to the fourth aspect of the present invention executes a remote conference by transmitting and receiving data including at least one of voice data and character data at each of a plurality of bases between a plurality of communication devices. A minutes creation program to be executed by a minutes creation device used in a communication system, and a character input by a user during a remote conference to create a minutes as a record of the contents of the remote conference An acquisition step of acquiring data of the minutes memo, which is data, from the communication device, and an association for associating time information with the acquired minutes memo when the data of the minutes memo is acquired by the acquisition step Step and one or more minutes memos acquired in the acquisition step. Based on the time information associated with the notes to extract the minutes notes including the minutes to execute a generating step of generating the minutes.

  According to the minutes creation program according to the fourth aspect, the minutes creation device associates time information with the minutes memo input to the communication device by the user to create the minutes. The minutes creation device extracts the minutes notes from one or more minutes notes based on the time information, and creates the minutes. Therefore, the minutes creation device can efficiently extract the information that the user determines to be necessary for creating the minutes based on the time information, and can create the optimum minutes. The minutes creation device can reduce the amount of information stored to create the minutes.

1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration of a communication system 100 according to a first embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of PC1. It is a figure which shows an example of the image displayed on the display apparatus 34 during a remote conference. It is a flowchart of the client process performed when PC1 operate | moves as a client PC. It is a flowchart of the host process performed when PC1 operate | moves as a host PC. It is a figure which shows an example of a data structure of the minutes memo which host PC acquires from each PC1 and memorize | stores in RAM12. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the process in which the minutes are produced from the minutes memo shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure of the communication system 200 which concerns on 2nd embodiment, and the electrical structure of the server 101. FIG. It is a flowchart of the client process which PC102 performs. 4 is a flowchart of server processing executed by a server 101.

  Hereinafter, a communication system 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention and a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) 1 included in the communication system 100 will be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings to be referred to are used for explaining technical features that can be adopted by the present invention. The configuration of the apparatus, the flowcharts of various processes, and the like described in the drawings are not intended to be limited to these, but are merely illustrative examples.

  A system configuration of a communication system 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The communication system 100 includes a plurality of PCs 1. Each PC 1 transmits / receives data to / from other PCs 1 via a network 8 such as the Internet. Specifically, the PC 1 can directly transmit and receive data such as video, audio, text, and the like with each of the other PCs 1 by P2P (peer to peer). In addition, what can be used as a communication apparatus and a minutes creation apparatus in the present invention is not limited to the PC 1. For example, it is also possible to use a dedicated video conference terminal or the like arranged at each site for performing a video conference as the communication device and the minutes creation device in the present invention.

  The communication system 100 is a video conference system for executing a remote conference using audio and video. Each PC 1 transmits the audio data input by the microphone 31 (see FIG. 2) and the video data input by the camera 33 to the other PC 1. Based on the data received from the other PC 1, each PC 1 outputs the sound of the other base from the speaker 32 (see FIG. 2) and causes the display device 34 to display the video of the other base. As a result, audio and video from a plurality of locations are shared within the communication system 100. Therefore, according to the communication system 100, even when all the users are not in the same base, the users can smoothly execute the conference. There may be one or more users at one base.

  Furthermore, the communication system 100 can create a minutes that is a result of the study status of the remote conference. The communication system 100 can automatically and efficiently extract information determined by the user that needs to be included in the minutes, and can create an optimum minutes.

  The electrical configuration of the PC 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The PC 1 includes a CPU 10 that controls the PC 1. A ROM 11, a RAM 12, a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as “HDD”) 13, and an input / output interface 19 are connected to the CPU 10 via a bus 18. The ROM 11 stores a program for operating the PC 1, initial values, and the like. The RAM 12 temporarily stores various information used in the control program. The HDD 13 is a non-volatile storage device that stores various types of information such as a control program. Instead of the HDD 13, a storage device such as an EEPROM or a memory card may be used. A program for executing processing to be described later is stored in the HDD 13. The program may be read into the HDD 13 from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, or may be stored in the HDD 13 from a server or the like via a network.

  The input / output interface 19 is connected to an audio input processing unit 21, an audio output processing unit 22, a video input processing unit 23, a video output processing unit 24, an operation input processing unit 25, and an external communication I / F 26. The voice input processing unit 21 processes input of voice data from the microphone 31 that inputs voice. The audio output processing unit 22 processes the operation of the speaker 32 that outputs audio. The video input processing unit 23 processes input of moving image data from the camera 33 that captures video. The video output processing unit 24 processes the operation of the display device 34 that displays video. The operation input processing unit 25 processes data input from the operation unit 35 such as a keyboard and a mouse. The external communication I / F 26 connects the PC 1 to the network 8.

  With reference to FIG. 3, an example of the in-conference screen displayed during the remote conference on the display device 34 connected to each PC 1 will be described. The example shown in FIG. 3 is an example of a mid-conference screen displayed on the display device 34 of the base A when the PC 1 is arranged at each of the base A, the base B, and the base C and a remote conference is being executed. is there. In the upper part of the in-conference screen, there are provided a video display unit 41 for displaying the video of the site B, which is another site, and a video display unit 42 for displaying the video of the site C. The user at the site A can smoothly execute the conference while viewing the images of the sites B and C which are remote locations. A material display unit 44 for displaying materials is provided in the lower left of the screen during the meeting. The PC 1 can display the material shared during the remote conference on the material display unit 44. Therefore, the user can execute the conference while viewing the shared material.

  An input memo display unit 45 is provided at the lower right in the in-conference screen. On the input memo display section 45, a minutes memo input by the user to the PC 1 by operating the operation section 35 (see FIG. 2) is displayed. The minutes memo is a memo input by the user to create the minutes. In the communication system 100, during execution of the remote conference, the user inputs the content of the conference determined to be included in the minutes by operating the operation unit 35 to the PC 1 at the local site. The PC 1 accepts the character data input to the operation unit 35 as a minutes memo. When the PC 1 accepts the input of the minutes memo, the PC 1 associates the time information with the minutes memo.

  In the communication system 100, a PC 1 operating as a host device (hereinafter referred to as “host PC”) among a plurality of PCs 1 acquires all minutes memos accepted by each PC 1 in the system. The host PC extracts the minutes memo included in the minutes based on the time information associated with each minutes memo. As a result, the communication system 100 can automatically and appropriately include information that the user determines to be necessary for creating the minutes.

  Hereinafter, processing executed by the PC 1 will be described. As described above, in the communication system 100, one of the plurality of PCs 1 operates as a host PC for creating the minutes (the “minutes creation device” in the present invention). The PC 1 other than the host PC in the communication system 100 operates as a client PC. In the first embodiment, each of the plurality of PCs 1 in the communication system 100 can execute both operations of the host PC and the client PC. The user instructs the PC 1 which PC 1 is to be operated as the host PC. The designated PC 1 operates as a host PC. However, the selection method of the host PC is not limited to this. For example, the communication system 100 may select the PC 1 having the highest processing capacity (for example, the number of CPU clocks) of various data among the plurality of PCs 1 in the system as the host PC.

  An outline of processing for executing a remote conference will be described. Each of the CPU 10 of the client PC and the CPU 10 of the host PC establishes communication with another PC 1 when an instruction to start a remote conference is input, and transmits data such as voice data to the other PC 1. Send and receive. Each CPU 10 causes the display device 34 to display the in-conference screen (see FIG. 3) based on the received data, and causes the speaker 32 to output the sound of another base. As a result, a remote conference is executed. Since the process for executing the remote conference is well known, this detailed description is omitted.

  With reference to FIG. 4, the client process executed by the client PC to create the minutes will be described. When the user operates the operation unit 35 and inputs an instruction to execute a remote conference to the client PC, the CPU 10 of the client PC executes client processing according to a program stored in the HDD 13. The client process is performed in parallel with the process for executing the remote conference described above.

  When the client process is started, the time is unified with other PCs 1 in the communication system 100, and time measurement is started (S1). By unifying the time between the plurality of PCs 1, the communication system 100 can include an appropriate minutes memo in the minutes according to the time information associated with the minutes memo. Even when the time measured by each PC 1 before the start of the remote conference is shifted (especially when a remote conference is held between remote locations where a time difference exists), the communication system 100 creates appropriate minutes. can do. Specifically, the PC 1 may measure time based on the time of a specific PC 1 (for example, a host PC) of the communication system 100. The PC 1 may unify the time with reference to a point in time when all communications in the communication system 100 are established.

  It is determined whether or not a minutes memo has been input by the operation unit 35 (S2). If it has not been input (S2: NO), it is determined whether or not a minutes memo transmission instruction has been received from the host PC (S3). Although details will be described later, when the remote conference ends, the host PC instructs the client PC to transmit the input minutes memo to the host PC. If a transmission instruction has not been received (S3: NO), the determinations of S2 and S3 are repeated.

  When the user of the client PC operates the operation unit 35 and inputs the minutes memo to the input memo display unit 45 (see FIG. 3) and gives a confirmation instruction (S2: YES), the CPU 10 of the client PC reads the minutes memo. Is received (S4). Specifically, the input character data of the minutes memo is stored in the HDD 13 in association with the time information measured at that time. The process proceeds to S3. When receiving the minutes memo transmission instruction from the host PC (S3: YES), the CPU 10 of the client PC transmits all the minutes memo data stored in the HDD 13 to the host PC together with the associated time information ( S5). Client processing ends.

  With reference to FIG. 5 to FIG. 7, the host process executed by the host PC to create the minutes will be described. When the user operates the operation unit 35 and inputs an instruction to execute a remote conference to the host PC, the CPU 10 of the host PC executes host processing according to a program stored in the HDD 13. The host process is performed in parallel with the process for executing the remote conference described above.

  When the host process is started, the time is unified with the other PCs 1 in the communication system 100 in the same manner as the process at the start of the client process, and time measurement is started (S11). It is determined whether or not a minutes memo has been input by the operation unit 35 (S12). If it has not been input (S12: NO), it is determined whether or not the remote conference has ended (S13). If the remote conference has not ended (S13: NO), the determinations of S12 and S13 are repeated.

  When the user of the host PC operates the operation unit 35 and inputs the minutes memo to the input memo display unit 45 (see FIG. 3) and gives a confirmation instruction (S12: YES), the CPU 10 of the host PC reads the minutes memo. Is received (S14). More specifically, as with the client process, the input text data of the minutes memo is stored in the HDD 13 in association with the time information measured at that time. The process proceeds to S13. When the process that is being performed in parallel with the host process to execute the remote conference ends (S13: YES), the CPU 10 of the host PC performs a process of creating a minutes from the minutes memo.

  A transmission instruction is transmitted to each client PC in order to transmit all the minutes memo stored together with the time information by the client PC to the host PC (S16). All of the minutes memos transmitted from each client PC and the minutes memos accepted by the host PC itself are acquired (S17). Since the communication system 100 according to the first embodiment aggregates the minutes memos to the host PC after the remote conference is completed, it is possible to prevent an increase in the amount of data transmitted and received during the remote conference. Therefore, the remote conference is executed smoothly.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the acquired minutes memo is stored in the RAM 12 in association with each PC 1 that has received the minutes memo. As described above, each minutes memo is associated with information on the time when the instruction to confirm the entry of the minutes memo was issued. During the remote conference, each user independently determines the input contents of the minutes memo. However, since the user determines the input content according to the progress of the remote conference, if the time when each user inputs the minutes memo is close, the contents of the minutes memo are likely to be the same. Therefore, the CPU 10 of the host PC includes all the minutes notes (see FIG. 6) input by each PC 1 in the communication system 100 based on the time information associated with each minutes note. Extract the minutes notes.

  Returning to the description of FIG. Processing for specifying one or a plurality of minutes notes input in the same time zone is performed (S18 to S20). First, among minutes memos that have not yet been specified, the input time of the minutes memo with the earliest associated time (input time) is acquired (S18). In the example shown in FIG. 6, since the input time of the minutes memo input at “10:00” at the A site is the earliest, “10:00” is acquired.

  One time zone for extracting the minutes memo is set (S19). The host PC performs the subsequent processing on the assumption that a plurality of minutes notes included in the same time zone have the same contents. The start point of the time zone is set to the time acquired in S18. If each user inputs less than one minutes memo within a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes in the example shown in FIG. 7) from the start point of the time period, the end point of the time period is set a predetermined time after the start point. . The host PC performs subsequent processing assuming that the contents of the minutes memos input after the lapse of the predetermined time (entered in different time periods) are different by setting one time period to the predetermined time or less. Can do. On the other hand, if one user has entered the second minutes memo within a predetermined time from the start point, the contents of the meeting at the time of entry of the first minutes memo and the second time of entry Are assumed to be different. Accordingly, the end point of the time zone is set immediately before any user first inputs the second minutes memo (for example, one second before the second input time). As a result, the host PC can reduce the possibility that the contents that need to be included in the minutes are not included in the minutes.

  Specifically, in the example shown in FIG. 6, when “10:00” is acquired in S18, the start point of the time zone is set to “10:00”. It is searched whether or not the same user has input the second minutes memo within 5 minutes from “10:00”. In the time zone within 5 minutes from “10:00”, only one minutes memo is input at the base A and the base B, and no minutes memo is input at the base C. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 7, the time zone where the start point is “10:00” and the end point is “10:05” after 5 minutes (specifically, one second before “10:05”) is 1 Is set. The host PC assumes that the contents of the minutes memo input after “10:05” are different from the contents of the minutes memo input before “10:05”, and then performs the subsequent processing. Can be done.

  If a minutes memo input before “10:05” has already been identified as a candidate to be included in the minutes, “10:08” is acquired as the earliest input time in S18. In S19, the start point of the time zone is set to “10:08”. In the time zone within 5 minutes from “10:08”, no minutes memo is inputted at the site A, and only one minutes memo is inputted at the sites B and C. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 7, one time zone having a start point “10:08” and an end point “10:13” is set.

  If the minutes memos input before “10:13” have already been identified as candidates, “10:14” is acquired as the earliest input time in S18. In S19, the start point of the time zone is set to “10:14”. It is searched whether or not the same user inputs the second minutes memo in the time zone within 5 minutes from “10:14”. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the user at the site A inputs the first minutes memo to “10:14”, and the second minutes memo to “10:16” two minutes later. is doing. The user at the site C inputs the first minutes memo to “10:14”, and further inputs the second minutes memo to “10:17” three minutes later. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, “10:16”, which is the time when the second minutes memo was first input, is set as the end point of the time zone, and one time zone is set. Thereafter, the time zone is set according to the same algorithm.

  Returning to the description of FIG. When the time zone is set (S19), one or more minutes memos included in the set one time zone are specified as candidates to be included in the minutes (S20). In order to reduce the possibility of unnecessary minutes memos being included in the minutes, it is determined whether or not the number of minutes memos specified in S20 is a predetermined number or more (S21). The predetermined number serving as a determination criterion can be arbitrarily set. In the first embodiment, the minimum value among the natural numbers of half or more of the PCs 1 in the communication system 100 is set as the predetermined number. Therefore, in the example shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, “2” is a predetermined number. If the number of minutes included in one time zone is a predetermined number or more (S21: YES), a plurality of identified minutes memos are selected as minutes memos indicating the contents to be included in the minutes (S23).

  In the example shown in FIG. 7, in the time zone “10:29 to 10:34” and the time zone “10:45 to 10:50”, only one minutes memo is specified as a candidate. Yes, smaller than a predetermined number. However, in all time zones other than the above time zone, the number of minutes memos to be specified is two or three, so that the minutes memos indicating the contents to be included in the minutes are selected.

  If the minutes included in one time zone are less than the predetermined number (S21: NO), it is determined whether or not a predetermined keyword is included in the specified minutes memo (S22). ). The keywords are words and sentences that are likely to be included when important contents for creating the minutes are input. In the first embodiment, a plurality of keywords are stored in the HDD 13 in advance. For example, it is included in the case where “time limit” that is a keyword when content indicating the deadline is input as a minutes memo, “agenda” that is a keyword when a remote conference agenda is input, and the result of the conference is input “Summary”, “Result”, “Target”, etc., which are keywords that are highly likely to be stored, are stored in the HDD 13. When the keyword is included in the minutes memo (S22: YES), the minutes memo including the keyword is selected as the minutes memo indicating the contents to be included in the minutes (S24). Therefore, the host PC can reduce the possibility that the minutes memos that need to be included in the minutes are not included in the minutes. If the keyword is not included (S22: NO), the specified minutes memo is not included in the minutes, and the process directly proceeds to the determination of S28.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, the number of minutes memos is less than a predetermined number in the time zone “10:29 to 10:34” and the time zone “10:45 to 10:50”. However, since the minutes memo of the time zone of “10:29 to 10:34” includes the keyword “limit”, it is selected as the minutes memo indicating the contents to be included in the minutes. On the other hand, the minutes memo in the time zone of “10:45 to 10:50” does not include the keyword, and thus is not included in the minutes.

  When the minutes memo indicating the contents to be included in the minutes is selected (S23, S24), it is determined whether or not the priority order is set for the plurality of PCs 1 (S25). The user can cause the host PC to extract the minutes memo according to the priority order of the PC 1 when extracting one of the plurality of minutes memos that are likely to have the same contents as the minutes memo included in the minutes. it can. For example, the user can input the priority of the user in charge of the clerk of the remote conference as No. 1 and the priority of the user in charge of the moderator as No. 2 to the host PC in advance at the start of the remote conference. When the priority order is set (S25: YES), the CPU 10 of the host PC is input to the PC 1 of the user having the highest priority order among the selected one or more minutes notes. The minutes memo is extracted as the minutes memo included in the minutes (S27). When the priority order is not set (S25: NO), the minutes memo with the smallest number of characters is extracted from the selected one or more minutes memos (S26). The CPU 10 can create a concise and easy-to-read minutes by extracting the minutes memo having the smallest number of characters.

  It is determined whether all of the acquired minutes notes have already been identified as candidates to be included in the minutes (S28). If all the minutes notes are not specified (S28: NO), the process returns to S18, and the processing such as setting the time zone and extracting the minutes notes is repeated (S18 to S27). When all of the acquired minutes notes are specified (S28: YES), the extracted minutes notes are arranged in the order of the associated times, and the minutes are created (S29). As a result, the minutes as illustrated on the right side of FIG. 7 are created. FIG. 7 exemplifies the minutes created when the priority order is set for the PC 1 in the order of the base A, the base C, and the base B. The minutes to be created are the minutes created by efficiently extracting the contents that the user has determined to be necessary. Minute memos with the same contents entered in the same time zone are not duplicated, and necessary contents are included in the minutes. The created minutes are stored in the HDD 13. The host process ends.

  As described above, the communication system 100 according to the first embodiment associates time information with the minutes memo input by the user to create the minutes. The communication system 100 extracts the minutes memo from the input one or more minutes memos based on the time information, and creates the minutes. Therefore, the communication system 100 can efficiently extract information that is determined to be necessary for the user to create the minutes based on the time information, and can create the optimum minutes. The communication system 100 does not need to store voices and the like input during a remote conference, and can create a minutes by storing only the minutes notes. Therefore, the communication system 100 can reduce the data amount of the information stored in order to create the minutes.

  Specifically, the communication system 100 sets one or more time zones so as not to overlap with other time zones between the start and end of the remote conference. The communication system 100 extracts at most one minutes memorandum input from the same time zone as the minutes memo included in the minutes. Minute minutes memos with the same contents are easily input by a plurality of users in the same time zone. Therefore, the communication system 100 efficiently uses the time information associated with the minutes memo to indicate that the minutes memos having the same contents input by a plurality of users in the same time zone are included in the minutes. Well can be prevented. As a result, the communication system 100 can easily create minutes including necessary contents and having no duplicate contents.

  The communication system 100 can appropriately include in the minutes the contents that a predetermined number or more of users have determined to be included in the minutes. As a result, the communication system 100 can easily include necessary contents in the minutes. The communication system 100 can include the contents of the minutes memo in the minutes when the minutes memo including a predetermined keyword exists in the minutes memos belonging to the same time zone. Therefore, if an important keyword is set in advance for creating the minutes, the user can easily make the communication system 100 create the minutes including necessary contents.

  When a plurality of minutes notes belong to one time zone, the communication system 100 extracts the minutes notes input to the PC 1 having the highest priority as a minutes note to be included in the minutes. Can do. Therefore, the communication system 100 can appropriately extract one of the minutes memos having the same contents input in the same time zone according to the priority order. The communication system can easily and appropriately extract one of the minutes memos having the same contents input in the same time zone based on the number of characters. In other words, the communication system 100 can include a minutes memo having an appropriate number of characters in the minutes.

  In the first embodiment, the PC 1 corresponds to the “communication device” of the present invention. Among the plurality of PCs 1, the PC 1 operating as the host PC corresponds to a “minutes creation device”. The CPU 10 that accepts the input of minutes memos in S4 of FIG. 4 and S14 of FIG. 5 functions as “accepting means”. The CPU 10 that associates the time information with the minutes memo in S4 of FIG. 4 and S14 of FIG. 5 functions as “association means”. The CPU 10 that transmits the minutes memo data to the host PC in S5 of FIG. 4 functions as a “transmission means”. The CPU 10 that acquires the minutes memo data in S17 of FIG. 5 functions as an “acquisition means”. The CPU 10 that creates the minutes memo in S18 to S19 in FIG. 5 functions as a “creating unit”.

  The CPU 10 that identifies the minutes memos that are candidates for inclusion in the minutes in S20 of FIG. 5 functions as the “identifying means”. The CPU 10 that extracts at most one minutes memo in S21 to S27 in FIG. 5 functions as an “extraction unit”. CPU10 which judges whether the number of minutes notes is more than predetermined number in S21 of FIG. 5 functions as a "first judgment means". The CPU 10 that determines whether or not there is a minutes memo including the keyword in S22 of FIG. 5 functions as a “second determination means”.

  The process of receiving the minutes memo input in S4 of FIG. 4 and S14 of FIG. 5 corresponds to the “acceptance step”. The process of associating time information with the minutes memo in S4 of FIG. 4 and S14 of FIG. 5 corresponds to the “association step”. The process of transmitting the minutes memo data to the host PC in S5 of FIG. 4 corresponds to a “transmission step”. The process of acquiring the minutes memo data in S17 of FIG. 5 corresponds to an “acquisition step”. The process of creating the minutes memo in S18 to S19 in FIG. 5 corresponds to the “creation step”.

  The communication system 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and the server 101 and PC 102 included in the communication system 200 will be described with reference to FIGS. The communication system 200 according to the second embodiment is different from the configuration and processing of the communication system 100 according to the first embodiment only in part of the system configuration and executed processes. Therefore, the description of the same configuration and processing is simplified.

  With reference to FIG. 8, a system configuration of a communication system 200 according to the second embodiment will be described. The communication system 200 includes a server 101 and a plurality of PCs 102. Each PC 102 transmits / receives data to / from another PC 102 via the server 101. As a result, audio and video at a plurality of locations where each PC 102 is arranged are shared in the communication system 200. In the second embodiment, a video conference terminal or the like can be used instead of the PC 102 as in the first embodiment.

  The electrical configuration of the server 101 will be described with reference to FIG. The server 101 includes a CPU 110. A ROM 111, a RAM 112, an HDD 113, and an input / output interface 119 are connected to the CPU 110 via a bus 118. Further, an external communication I / F 126 is connected to the input / output interface 119. The server 101 is connected to the network 8 by an external communication I / F 126. Note that the electrical configuration of the PC 102 is the same as the electrical configuration of the PC 1 according to the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  With reference to FIG. 9, client processing executed by the PC 102 according to the second embodiment will be described. When the user operates the operation unit 35 and inputs an instruction to execute a remote conference to the PC 102, the CPU of the PC 102 executes client processing according to a program stored in the HDD 13. When the process is started, it is determined whether or not a minutes memo has been input by the user (S52). When the minutes memo is input (S52: YES), the minutes memo data as character data is immediately transmitted to the server 101 (S54). If not input (S52: NO), it is determined whether or not an instruction to end the remote conference is input from the server 101 (S53). If an end instruction has not been input (S53: NO), the determinations of S52 and S53 are repeated. When an end instruction is input (S53: YES), the client process ends.

  With reference to FIG. 10, server processing executed by the server 101 according to the second embodiment will be described. When the CPU 110 of the server 101 receives an instruction to execute a remote conference from any of the PCs 102, it executes server processing according to a program stored in the HDD 113. When the process is started, time measurement is started (S61). It is determined whether or not the minutes memo data has been received from the PC 102 (S62). If received (S62: YES), the received minutes memo data is stored in the HDD 113 in association with the time information measured at that time (S64). That is, the time measured by the server 101 is associated with the minutes memo input to any PC 102. Therefore, it is not necessary to unify the time within the communication system 200. If the minutes memo data has not been received (S62: NO), it is determined whether or not an instruction to end the remote conference has been received from any of the PCs 102 (S63). If not received (S63: NO), the process returns to the determination of S62.

  When the remote conference end instruction is received (S63: YES), a process of creating a minutes from the minutes memo is performed. First, among minutes memos that have not yet been identified as candidates to be included in the minutes, the reception time of the minutes memo with the earliest associated time (reception time when the server received data) is acquired (S65). ). One time zone for extracting the minutes memo is set (S66). In the second embodiment, regardless of whether or not the same user inputs the second minutes memo within a predetermined time (for example, 3 minutes), the start point of the time zone is the reception time acquired in S65. It is set, and the end of the time zone is set after a predetermined time has elapsed from the reception time. In this case, the user can increase the possibility that the input contents are included in the minutes by repeatedly inputting the minutes memos having the same contents.

  One or more minutes memos included in the set time zone are specified as candidates to be included in the minutes (S67). It is determined whether or not there are a plurality of minutes notes included in one set time zone (S68). If there is one (S68: NO), one specified minutes memo is extracted as a minutes memo to be included in the minutes regardless of whether or not a predetermined keyword is included in the minutes memo ( S69). The process proceeds to S73. In the second embodiment, at least one minutes memo is extracted from all time zones. Therefore, the communication system 200 can more strongly prevent the minutes that do not include necessary content from being created.

  When there are a plurality of minutes memos included in one time zone (S68: YES), it is determined whether or not a priority order is set for a plurality of PCs 102 (S70). If it is set (S70: YES), the minutes memo of the user with the highest priority is extracted as the minutes memo included in the minutes (S72). If the priority is not set (S70: NO), the minutes memo with the largest number of characters is extracted from the plurality of identified minutes memos (S71). The CPU 110 can easily create the minutes with a large amount of information by extracting the minutes notes with the largest number of characters. If a plurality of minutes memos are still extracted even after the processing of S71 and S72, the CPU 110 may include a plurality of minutes memos in the minutes, or one of the plurality of minutes memos. One may be selected at random and included in the minutes memo.

  It is determined whether all the received minutes notes have already been identified as candidates to be included in the minutes (S73). If all the minutes notes are not specified (S73: NO), the process returns to S65. When all the received minutes memos are specified (S73: YES), the extracted minutes memos are arranged in the order of the associated time, and the minutes are created (S74). The created minutes are transmitted to each of the PCs 102 in the communication system 200 (S75). The server 101 can easily share the minutes in the communication system 200 by transmitting the created minutes to each PC 102. The server process ends.

  As described above, the server 101 connected to each of the PCs 102 can create the minutes of the remote conference. Similar to the communication system 100 according to the first embodiment, the server 101 according to the second embodiment efficiently extracts information that the user determines to be necessary based on the time information, and the optimal agenda. A record can be created.

  The server 101 in the second embodiment corresponds to the “minutes creation device” of the present invention. The CPU 110 that acquires the minutes memo data from the PC 102 in S64 of FIG. 10 functions as an “acquisition unit”. The CPU 110 that associates the time information with the minutes memo in S64 of FIG. 10 functions as the “association means”. The CPU 110 that creates the minutes in S65 to S74 in FIG. 10 functions as a “creating unit”. The process of acquiring the minutes memo data from the PC 102 in S64 of FIG. 10 corresponds to an “acquisition step”. The process of associating time information with the minutes memo in S64 of FIG. 10 corresponds to the “association step”. The process of creating the minutes in S65 to S74 in FIG. 10 corresponds to the “creation step”.

  It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible. The communication systems 100 and 200 of the above embodiment are video conference systems for executing a remote conference using voice. However, the present invention can also be applied to other forms of communication systems. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a communication system that performs so-called “chat” in which each communication device transmits and receives character data to and from other communication devices. The present invention can also be applied to a communication system that transmits and receives only voice or character data without using video. The present invention can also be applied to a communication system that executes a remote conference while sharing material data such as figures and photographs in addition to voice.

  The communication system 100 according to the first embodiment is a so-called P2P communication system in which a plurality of PCs 1 transmit and receive data to and from each other using P2P. However, the communication system 100 of the first embodiment can be changed to a communication system in which a plurality of PCs 1 transmit and receive data via a server (so-called “server type” communication system). Similarly, the server type communication system 200 according to the second embodiment can be changed to a P2P type communication system.

  In the above embodiment, the time associated with the minutes memo input by the user is the time when the input confirmation instruction is given in the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, the server 101 receives the minutes from the PC 102. It is the time when the record memo was received. The time associated with the minutes memo is not limited to this. For example, the time when the PC 1 102 stores the minutes memo in the HDD 13 may be used. It may be the time when the user starts to input the minutes memo.

  In the above-described embodiment, various processes are performed by using characters input from the start of input until a confirmation instruction is given as a unit of a minutes memo. However, one sentence may be used as one unit. Each time a punctuation mark is entered, the minutes memo unit may be separated. Units may be separated for each paragraph.

  In the second embodiment, the length of one set time zone is fixed at 5 minutes. However, the length of one time zone can be changed. For example, the user may specify the length of one time slot. If the user increases the length of one time slot, even if there is a lag in the time when the minutes memos with the same contents are input by each user, the minutes memos with the same contents are likely to be included in the same time slot. Become. If the user shortens the length of one time zone, it becomes difficult for minutes memos with different contents to be included in the same time zone. The communication system may change the length of one time slot according to the frequency with which the minutes memo is input. For example, the communication system can shorten the length of the time zone when a large number of minutes memos are input in a short period of time, and increase the length of the time zone if the frequency of inputting the minutes memos is low. Good.

  When a plurality of minutes memos belonging to the same time period are specified, the communication systems 100 and 200 according to the above-described embodiment can add the minutes memo included in the minutes based on the priority of the PCs 1 and 102 or the number of characters of the minutes memo. Extract one. However, the method of extracting one minutes memo is not limited to these. For example, the communication system may randomly extract one of a plurality of minutes notes using a random number or the like. The communication system may automatically set priorities for each PC in the order of connection to the system, and extract the minutes notes according to the set priorities.

  The method of extracting one minutes memo based on the number of characters is not limited to the method shown in the above embodiment. For example, the communication system may extract a minutes memo having the smallest number of characters among minutes memos having a predetermined number of characters or more as minutes memos included in the minutes. In this case, the communication system does not extract a minutes memo whose number of characters is less than the predetermined number. Accordingly, the communication system can prevent a minutes memo having an insufficient amount of information (for example, a minutes memo in which a confirmation instruction is erroneously input during the memo input) from being included in the minutes. The communication system has one of a setting for extracting the minutes memo with the smallest number of characters (setting in the first embodiment) and a setting for extracting the minutes memo with the largest number of characters (setting in the second embodiment). May be selected by the user.

1 PC
10 CPU
13 HDD
34 display device 35 operation unit 100 communication system 101 server 102 PC
110 CPU
113 HDD
200 Communication System

Claims (9)

A plurality of communication devices that mutually transmit and receive data including at least one of voice data and character data at each of a plurality of bases in order for a plurality of users to perform a remote conference;
A communication system comprising: a device connected to the plurality of communication devices; or a minutes creation device that creates a minutes that is a record of the contents of the remote conference, which is at least one of the plurality of communication devices. ,
The communication device
Accepting means for accepting input of minutes memos, which are character data inputted by the user to create the minutes during the remote conference;
An association means for associating time information with the minutes memo when an input of the minutes memo is accepted by the acceptance means;
Transmission means for transmitting the minutes memo data associated with the time information by the association means to the minutes creation device,
The minutes creation device
Acquisition means for acquiring minutes memo data from the plurality of communication devices;
By extracting the minutes memo included in the minutes based on the time information associated with each minutes memo from one or more minutes memos acquired by the acquisition means, A communication system comprising a creation means for creating a record. The creating means includes
A specifying unit that specifies one or more minutes memos included in the time period for each of a plurality of time zones set between the start and end of the meeting. When,
Extracting means for extracting at most one minutes memo from among one or more minutes memos specified for one time zone by the specifying means as minutes memos included in the minutes based on a predetermined condition; The communication system according to claim 1, further comprising: The creating means includes
A first judging means for judging whether or not the number of minutes notes specified for one time zone by the specifying means is greater than or equal to a threshold;
3. The communication system according to claim 2, wherein the extraction unit extracts one minutes memo when the first determination unit determines that the number of minutes memos is equal to or greater than a threshold value. 4. The creating means includes
A second judging means for judging whether or not there is a minutes memo including at least one of keywords stored in the storage means in the minutes memo specified for one time zone by the specifying means; Prepared,
4. The communication system according to claim 2, wherein the extraction unit extracts one minutes memo when it is determined by the second determination unit that there is a minutes memo including a keyword. The minutes creation device associates each of the minutes memos acquired from the plurality of communication devices by the acquisition unit with the communication device that has received the input of the minutes memo,
The extracting means has the highest priority according to the priority of each of the plurality of communication devices stored in the storage means in advance when a plurality of minutes memos are specified for one time zone by the specifying means. 5. The communication system according to claim 2, wherein a minutes memo acquired from a high communication device is extracted as a minutes memo included in the minutes.   The extracting means may include the minutes memo included in the minutes based on the number of characters included in the identified minutes memo when a plurality of minutes memos are specified for one time period by the specifying means. The communication system according to claim 2, wherein the communication system is extracted. A plurality of communication devices that mutually transmit and receive data including at least one of voice data and character data at each of a plurality of bases in order for a plurality of users to perform a remote conference;
The apparatus is connected to the plurality of communication devices or at least one of the plurality of communication devices, and is performed by a communication system including a minutes creation device that creates minutes as a record of the contents of the remote conference. A method for creating minutes,
The communication device
A reception step of accepting an input of a minutes memo, which is character data input by a user to create the minutes during a remote conference;
A step of associating time information with the minutes memo when an input of the minutes memo is accepted by the acceptance step;
Transmitting the minutes memo data associated with the time information by the association step to the minutes creation device; and
The minutes creation device
An acquisition step of acquiring minutes memo data from the plurality of communication devices;
By extracting the minutes memo included in the minutes based on the time information associated with each minutes memo from one or more minutes memos acquired in the acquisition step, A method for creating minutes, comprising: performing a creation step for creating a record. A minutes creation device used in a communication system for performing a remote conference by transmitting and receiving data including at least one of voice data and character data at each of a plurality of bases between a plurality of communication devices,
Acquiring means for acquiring from the communication device the data of the minutes memo which is character data input by the user to create the minutes that are the contents of the contents of the remote meeting during the remote meeting;
Corresponding means for associating time information with the acquired minutes memo when data of the minutes memo is acquired by the acquisition means;
By extracting the minutes memo included in the minutes based on the time information associated with each minutes memo from one or more minutes memos acquired by the acquisition means, the minutes And a means for creating a minutes. Minutes creation to be executed by a minutes creation device used in a communication system for performing a remote conference by transmitting and receiving data including at least one of voice data and character data at a plurality of bases between a plurality of communication devices A program,
On the computer,
An acquisition step of acquiring from the communication device data of a minutes memo which is character data input by a user to create a minutes that is a record of the contents of the remote conference during a remote conference;
An association step of associating time information with the acquired minutes memo when the minutes memo data is acquired in the acquisition step;
By extracting the minutes memo included in the minutes based on the time information associated with each minutes memo from one or more minutes memos acquired in the acquisition step, the minutes And a minutes creation program to execute the creation step.

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