JP2013069245A - Terminal management device, application distribution system, terminal management method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manage information for a terminal connected to a network.SOLUTION: A terminal management device 10 comprises: a terminal information acquisition part 11 for, at the time of being connected to a terminal, acquiring terminal identification information and terminal environment information for the terminal; a contract information storage part 12 for storing server information for identifying a server of a business operator providing application service, upon preliminarily associating it with the terminal identification information for the terminal managing a service contract for the application service in the terminal management device 10; a terminal authentication part 13 for authenticating the terminal on the basis of whether or not the acquired terminal identification information is stored in the contract information storage part 12; a terminal environment information storage part 14 for, when the terminal is authenticated, storing the acquired terminal identification information and terminal environment information; and a transmission part 15 for, in response to a request for transmission of the terminal environment information, transmitting the terminal environment information in the terminal environment information storage part 14 in conformity with the terminal identification information for the terminal subject to the request for transmission, on the basis of the server information acquired from the contract information storage part 12.

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal management apparatus, a terminal management method, and a program for managing information on a terminal connected to a network, and an application distribution system that automatically distributes an application to a terminal using the terminal management apparatus.

  In general, when inquiring about applications installed on a terminal, the OS type and version of the terminal, the performance of parts such as CPU and memory, device information such as connected keyboard and mouse, etc. are asked. At this time, the user had to examine the information by himself.

  In recent years, the number of terminals that allow users to download favorite applications and add functions, such as smartphones and tablet terminals, has increased rapidly, and users have more opportunities to download and install applications. However, in the conventional application installation method, it is necessary to input instructions multiple times from the user side. Thus, in principle, a system has been proposed in which a program can be downloaded to a computer and installed without clicking with no input from the user (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-28225 A

  However, in the system described in Patent Document 1, from downloading to installation of an application can be performed almost automatically. However, since the application differs depending on the type and version of the OS, the application to be downloaded must be selected by the user. There was a problem of not becoming. In addition, when there are a large number of service terminals as in the case of providing solutions for corporations, or even when an individual owns multiple terminals, it is difficult to select an application suitable for each. It was. Further, in order to realize the system described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary for an operator providing an application service to independently construct the system, which increases the cost of the system.

  Conventionally, when a user makes an inquiry, the user has to check information such as the type and version of the OS of the terminal. Therefore, when a user who is not familiar with the terminal such as an elderly person or a child makes an inquiry, the operator However, there are problems that it takes a long time to obtain necessary information and that the problem cannot be solved because information cannot be obtained.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and manages the information of the terminal, so that the business operator can provide the application service without any modification on the server of the business operator or the user terminal. It is an object of the present invention to provide a terminal management apparatus, a terminal management method, a terminal management program, and an application distribution system that can acquire necessary information and can automatically download an application to a terminal.

  The present invention proposes the following matters in order to solve the above problems. In addition, in order to make an understanding easy, although the code | symbol corresponding to embodiment of this invention is attached | subjected and demonstrated, it is not limited to this.

  (1) The present invention is a terminal management apparatus connected via a network to a terminal, a server of a provider that provides an application service to the terminal, and when the terminal is connected, Terminal information acquisition means (for example, the terminal information acquisition unit 11 in FIG. 1) that acquires terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and terminal environment information that is information related to the setting environment of the terminal from the terminal; In the terminal management apparatus, server information for identifying the server of the provider providing the application service that has a use contract in the terminal is stored in association with the terminal identification information of the terminal that manages the use contract of the application service. Contract information storage means (for example, contract information storage unit 12 in FIG. 1) and the acquired terminal identification information are stored in the contract information storage means. The terminal identification information obtained when the terminal is authenticated by the terminal authentication means (for example, the terminal authentication unit 13 in FIG. 1) and the terminal authentication means for authenticating the terminal depending on whether or not the terminal is authenticated. A terminal environment information storage unit (for example, the terminal environment information storage unit 14 in FIG. 1) that stores the acquired terminal environment information in association with the terminal environment information, and a transmission request for the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage unit Terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means for the terminal based on the server information acquired from the contract information storage means based on the terminal identification information of the terminal that has made the transmission request. And a transmitting means (for example, the transmitting unit 15 in FIG. 1) for transmitting the terminal.

  According to this invention, the terminal information acquisition means acquires terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and terminal environment information that is information related to the setting environment of the terminal from the terminal in response to the connection with the terminal. The contract information storage means stores in advance the server of the provider that provides the application service that has a use contract in the terminal in association with the terminal identification information of the terminal that manages the use contract of the application service in the terminal management device. Stores identifying server information. The terminal authentication means authenticates the terminal depending on whether or not the acquired terminal identification information is stored in the contract information storage means. The terminal environment information storage means stores the acquired terminal environment information in association with the acquired terminal identification information when the terminal authentication means authenticates the terminal. Based on the server information acquired from the contract information storage unit based on the terminal identification information of the terminal requested to transmit in response to the transmission request of the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage unit, For the terminal, the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means is transmitted. Therefore, information on the terminal setting environment and server information of the service provider that provides the application service for which the terminal has a usage contract are managed, and information on the terminal setting environment is transmitted to the service provider that provides the application service. Accordingly, the business operator can acquire necessary terminal information when terminal information such as inquiry, installation, and update is required.

  (2) In the terminal management device according to (1), the terminal environment information storage means stores the terminal environment information corresponding to the acquired terminal identification information when the terminal environment information is stored. A terminal management device that determines whether or not environmental information and the acquired terminal identification information are different, and updates the stored terminal environmental information to the acquired terminal identification information if they are different is suggesting.

  According to this invention, the terminal environment information storage means, if the terminal environment information corresponding to the acquired terminal identification information is stored, is the stored terminal environment information different from the acquired terminal identification information? If not, the stored terminal environment information is updated to the acquired terminal identification information. Therefore, when the terminal environment information is changed, the information in the terminal environment information storage unit can be updated.

  (3) The present invention distributes the application service application that has a usage contract in the terminal according to the transmitted terminal identification information and terminal environment information for the terminal management device of (1) or (2). A distribution instruction transmission / reception means (for example, receiving application distribution server information for identifying an application distribution server and an instruction for introducing the application from the application distribution server, and transmitting the received application distribution server information and the instruction for introduction to the terminal (for example, 3 proposes a terminal management apparatus comprising the distribution instruction transmission / reception unit 16) of FIG.

  According to this invention, the distribution instruction transmission / reception means specifies an application distribution server that distributes an application service application that has a use contract in the terminal, according to the transmitted terminal identification information and terminal environment information. Information and an application installation instruction are received from the application distribution server, and the received application distribution server information and the installation instruction are transmitted to the terminal. Therefore, the terminal can download from the application distribution server an application service application that has a use contract in the terminal, based on the application distribution server information received from the terminal management apparatus.

  (4) The present invention proposes a terminal management apparatus characterized in that the terminal environment information includes at least information related to an operating system of the terminal in the terminal management apparatus of (1) to (3). .

  According to the present invention, the terminal environment information includes at least information related to the operating system of the terminal. Therefore, the terminal management apparatus can manage information regarding the operating system of the terminal, which is an important matter for the application.

  (5) The present invention relates to the terminal management device according to (1) to (4), wherein the terminal is any one of a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a home appliance, a personal computer, a laptop, and a portable information terminal. A terminal management device is proposed.

  According to the present invention, the terminal can be any one of a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a home appliance, a personal computer, a laptop, and a portable information terminal.

  (6) The present invention is a terminal management method in a terminal, a server of a provider that provides an application service to the terminal, and a terminal management apparatus connected via a network, wherein the terminal is connected to the terminal. Accordingly, terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and terminal environment information that is information related to the setting environment of the terminal are acquired from the terminal, and the application service usage contract is managed in advance by the terminal management device. In association with the terminal identification information of the terminal to be executed, the server information for identifying the server of the provider providing the application service that has a use contract in the terminal is stored in the contract information storage means, and the acquired terminal identification information is The terminal is authenticated depending on whether it is stored in the contract information storage means, and when the terminal is authenticated, In association with the acquired terminal identification information, the acquired terminal environment information is stored in the terminal environment information storage means, and in response to the terminal environment information transmission request stored in the terminal environment information storage means, the transmission request is Transmitting the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage unit for the terminal based on the server information acquired from the contract information storage unit based on the terminal identification information of the received terminal A terminal management method is proposed.

  According to this invention, the terminal management method acquires terminal identification information for identifying a terminal and terminal environment information that is information related to a setting environment of the terminal from the terminal in response to being connected to the terminal, In the terminal management apparatus, the server information for identifying the server of the provider providing the application service that has a use contract in the terminal is associated with the terminal identification information of the terminal that manages the application service use contract. Authenticates the terminal depending on whether the terminal identification information stored and acquired in the storage means is stored in the contract information storage means. When the terminal is authenticated, the terminal identification information is acquired in association with the acquired terminal identification information. The terminal environment information is stored in the terminal environment information storage means, and a transmission request is made in response to the transmission request for the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means. Based on the obtained server information from the contract information storage unit based on the terminal identification information of the terminal, the terminal transmits the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storing means. Therefore, information on the terminal setting environment and server information of the service provider that provides the application service for which the terminal has a usage contract are managed, and information on the terminal setting environment is transmitted to the service provider that provides the application service. Accordingly, the business operator can acquire necessary terminal information when terminal information such as inquiry, installation, and update is required.

  (7) The present invention is a terminal management program in a terminal, a server of a provider that provides an application service to the terminal, and a terminal management apparatus connected via a network, wherein the computer is connected to the terminal Accordingly, terminal information acquisition means (for example, the terminal information acquisition unit of FIG. 1) that acquires terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and terminal environment information that is information related to the setting environment of the terminal from the terminal. 11), a terminal environment information storage unit (for example, the terminal environment information storage unit 14 in FIG. 1) that stores the acquired terminal environment information in association with the acquired terminal identification information, and a usage contract in the terminal in advance. A contract for storing server information for identifying the server of the provider providing the connected application service in association with the terminal identification information In response to the transmission request for the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means (for example, the contract information storage unit 12 in FIG. 1) and the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means, Based on the server information acquired from the contract information storage means based on the transmission means for transmitting the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means for the terminal (for example, the transmission unit 15 in FIG. 1), Has proposed a terminal management program to function as

  According to this invention, the terminal information acquisition means acquires terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and terminal environment information that is information related to the setting environment of the terminal from the terminal in response to the connection with the terminal. The terminal environment information storage means stores the terminal environment information acquired by the terminal information acquisition means in association with the terminal identification information acquired by the terminal information acquisition means. The contract information storage means stores, in advance, server information that identifies a server of a business provider that provides an application service that has a usage contract in the terminal in association with the terminal identification information. Based on the server information acquired from the contract information storage unit based on the terminal identification information of the terminal requested to transmit in response to the terminal environment information transmission request stored in the terminal environment information storage unit. The terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means is transmitted for the terminal. Therefore, information on the terminal setting environment and server information of the service provider that provides the application service for which the terminal has a usage contract are managed, and information on the terminal setting environment is transmitted to the service provider that provides the application service. Accordingly, the business operator can acquire necessary terminal information when terminal information such as inquiry, installation, and update is required.

  (8) The present invention includes a terminal (for example, the terminal 40 of FIG. 3) via a network, a server of an operator that provides an application service used by the terminal (for example, the application service server 20 of FIG. 3), An application distribution system including an application distribution server (for example, the application distribution server 30 in FIG. 3) that distributes the application service and a terminal management apparatus (for example, the terminal management apparatus 10 in FIG. 3) that manages information on the terminal. The terminal transmits terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and terminal environment information that is information related to a setting environment of the terminal to the terminal management apparatus in response to being connected to the network. The terminal management apparatus receives the terminal identification information and the terminal from the terminal. The terminal information acquisition means (for example, the terminal information acquisition unit 11 in FIG. 3) that acquires the end environment information and the terminal management device associate with the terminal identification information of the terminal that manages the application service use contract in advance. Contract information storage means (for example, the contract information storage unit 12 in FIG. 3) for storing server information for identifying the server of the provider providing the application service in the terminal, and the acquired terminal Depending on whether identification information is stored in the contract information storage means, the terminal authenticates the terminal by authentication means (for example, the terminal authentication unit 13 in FIG. 3) for authenticating the terminal, and the terminal authentication means. Terminal environment information storage means for storing the acquired terminal environment information in association with the acquired terminal identification information (for example, the terminal environment information storage of FIG. 3) Section 14) and server information acquired from the contract information storage means based on the terminal identification information of the terminal that has made the transmission request in response to the transmission request of the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means The terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means for the terminal, for example, the transmission unit 15 of FIG. 3, the server in advance the terminal Application distribution server identification information for identifying an application distribution server that identifies an application distribution server that stores an application according to environment information and storing an application according to the received terminal environment information; and the received Sends an application installation instruction according to the terminal environment information to the terminal management device The terminal management apparatus further includes distribution instruction transmission / reception means (for example, the distribution instruction transmission / reception unit 16 in FIG. 3) for transmitting the application distribution server information and the introduction instruction received from the server to the terminal. , In accordance with the introduction instruction received from the server via the terminal management device, based on the received application distribution server identification information, download the application from the application distribution server, and introduce the downloaded application It proposes an application distribution system.

  According to the present invention, in response to being connected to the network, the terminal transmits terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and terminal environment information that is information related to the setting environment of the terminal to the terminal management apparatus. Further, the terminal downloads the application from the application distribution server based on the received application distribution server identification information in accordance with the introduction instruction received from the server via the terminal management apparatus, and introduces the downloaded application. The terminal management device includes terminal information acquisition means, contract information storage means, terminal authentication means, terminal environment information storage means, transmission means, and distribution instruction transmission / reception means. The terminal information acquisition unit acquires, from the terminal, terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and terminal environment information that is information related to the setting environment of the terminal in response to the connection with the terminal. The contract information storage means stores in advance the server of the provider that provides the application service that has a use contract in the terminal in association with the terminal identification information of the terminal that manages the use contract of the application service in the terminal management device. Stores identifying server information. The terminal authentication means authenticates the terminal depending on whether or not the acquired terminal identification information is stored in the contract information storage means. The terminal environment information storage means stores the acquired terminal environment information in association with the acquired terminal identification information when the terminal authentication means authenticates the terminal. Based on the server information acquired from the contract information storage unit based on the terminal identification information of the terminal requested to transmit in response to the transmission request of the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage unit, For the terminal, the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means is transmitted. The distribution instruction transmission / reception means transmits the application distribution server information and the introduction instruction received from the server to the terminal. The server holds in advance application distribution server identification information for identifying an application distribution server that stores an application corresponding to the terminal environment information, and an application distribution server identification of the application distribution server that stores the application corresponding to the received terminal environment information Information and an application installation instruction corresponding to the received terminal environment information are transmitted to the terminal management apparatus. Therefore, based on the information of the terminal managed by the terminal management device, the application can be automatically downloaded to the terminal by providing the terminal with the information of the application distribution server that distributes the application to be installed, that is, installed or updated. can do.

  According to the present invention, by managing the information of the terminal, the operator can obtain necessary information without modifying the server of the provider that provides the application service or the user's terminal, and the terminal Automatic downloading of applications to can be realized.

It is a figure which shows the function structure of the terminal management apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the flow of the terminal information storage process of the terminal management apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the application delivery system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the flow of the application delivery process which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the constituent elements in the present embodiment can be appropriately replaced with existing constituent elements and the like, and various variations including combinations with other existing constituent elements are possible. Therefore, the description of the present embodiment does not limit the contents of the invention described in the claims.

<First Embodiment>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

<Functional configuration of terminal management device>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a terminal management apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. The terminal management apparatus 10 manages information on a specific terminal connected via a network, and manages the information on the managed terminal as a provider (hereinafter referred to as a service) that provides an application service that has a usage contract for the terminal. To the business). It is not necessary for the terminal management device 10 to prepare an application for acquiring information on a terminal for which each service provider has a contract for using an application service, or to hold information on the acquired terminal. The terminal information can be acquired at the time (for example, when inquiring, installing, updating, etc.).

  The terminal management apparatus 10 is not owned by the service provider, but is owned by a provider, for example, a communication provider, between the service provider and the user of the terminal. Here, the terminal managed by the terminal management apparatus 10 may be a terminal that can be connected to a network and uses an application, such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a home appliance, a personal computer, a laptop, or a portable information terminal.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the terminal management device 10 includes a terminal information acquisition unit 11, a contract information storage unit 12, a terminal authentication unit 13, a terminal environment information storage unit 14, and a transmission unit 15.

  The terminal information acquisition unit 11 acquires terminal identification information and terminal environment information as terminal information from the terminal. In the terminal, the URL and IP address of the terminal management apparatus 10 that manages the terminal are set in advance. When the terminal is connected to the network, the terminal identification information and the IP address are set based on the set URL and IP address. The terminal environment information is transmitted to the terminal management apparatus 10.

  Here, the terminal identification information is information for identifying a terminal, and is, for example, an ID, a serial number, an IP address, or the like set in advance for each terminal. The terminal environment information is information related to the setting environment of the terminal, and includes, for example, the type and version of the OS, the performance of each part such as CPU and memory, hardware configuration, communication speed, and the like.

  The contract information storage unit 12 directly inputs, from the administrator of the terminal management apparatus 10, information related to the application service for which the terminal has a usage contract for the terminal managed by the terminal management apparatus 10. Alternatively, it is received from the application service server and stored. Here, the usage contract is a contract that is concluded by purchase or the like, and that allows the application service to be used by downloading or installing the application on the terminal.

  Specifically, the contract information storage unit 12 is an operator of a service provider that provides terminal identification information of each terminal managed by the terminal management device 10 and an application that has a usage contract in the terminal in association with the terminal identification information. Stores business server information for identifying a server. The business server information includes, for example, a URL. The service provider's provider server is an ASP server that is owned by the service provider and provides a service, a server that is used for inquiry processing from the owner of the terminal, and the like. Information to be used.

  The terminal authentication unit 13 is a terminal that manages the application service use contract in the terminal management apparatus 10 based on whether or not the terminal identification information acquired by the terminal information acquisition unit 11 is stored in the contract information storage unit 12. Determine whether or not. When the terminal management apparatus 10 determines that the terminal is a terminal that manages the application service usage contract, the terminal identification information and the terminal environment identification information acquired by the terminal information acquisition unit 11 are transmitted to the terminal environment information storage unit 14. To do. On the other hand, if the terminal management apparatus 10 determines that the terminal is not a terminal that manages the application service usage contract, the process ends.

  The terminal environment information storage unit 14 corresponds to the terminal identification information acquired by the terminal information acquisition unit 11 when the terminal authentication unit 13 determines that the terminal management apparatus 10 manages the application service use contract. In addition, the terminal environment information acquired by the terminal information acquisition unit 11 is stored. Further, the terminal environment information storage unit 14 determines whether or not the terminal environment information has already been stored based on the terminal identification information acquired by the terminal information acquisition unit 11. If the terminal environment information has already been stored, the stored terminal environment information is compared with the terminal environment information acquired by the terminal information acquisition unit 11. Update to the updated terminal environment information. On the other hand, when the stored terminal environment information is the same as the terminal environment information acquired by the terminal information acquisition unit 11, the terminal environment information acquired by the terminal information acquisition unit 11 is not stored in the terminal environment information storage unit 14. .

<Terminal information storage processing flow>
Here, the terminal information storage processing of the terminal management apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described using the flow of FIG.

  First, in step S1, the terminal information acquisition unit 11 acquires terminal identification information and terminal environment information as terminal information from the terminal.

  Next, in step S <b> 2, the terminal authentication unit 13 performs terminal authentication depending on whether or not the terminal identification information acquired in step S <b> 1 is stored in the contract information storage unit 12. If the terminal authentication is successful (YES), the process proceeds to step S3. If the terminal authentication is not successful (NO), the process is terminated.

  Next, in step S3, the terminal environment information storage unit 14 determines whether the terminal identification information acquired in step S1 is already stored. If it is determined that terminal identification information is stored (YES), the process proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, if it is determined that terminal identification information is not stored (NO), the process proceeds to step S6. Proceed.

  Next, in step S4, the terminal environment information storage unit 14 determines whether the terminal environment information acquired in step S1 is different from the already stored terminal environment information. If it is determined that the terminal environment information acquired in step S1 is different from the already stored terminal environment information (YES), the process proceeds to step S5, while the terminal environment information acquired in step S1; If it is determined that the terminal environment information already stored is the same (NO), the process is terminated.

  Next, in step S5, the terminal environment information storage unit 14 updates the already stored terminal environment information to the terminal environment information acquired in step S1.

  Next, in step S6, the terminal environment information storage unit 14 stores the terminal identification information and the terminal environment information acquired in step S1.

  When there is a transmission request for information stored in the terminal environment information storage unit 14, the transmission unit 15 is based on the provider server information stored in the contract information storage unit 12. The terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage unit 14 is transmitted to the server. Terminal identification information may also be transmitted.

  The transmission request includes a transmission request from a service provider and a transmission request according to the update of the terminal environment information storage unit 14. The transmission request from the service provider is a transmission request for terminal environment information of a predetermined terminal from the service provider. For example, when an inquiry is made to the service provider from the user of the terminal, the service provider needs the terminal environment information of the terminal for which the inquiry has been made and is stored in the terminal environment information storage unit 14 in the terminal management device 10. This is a case of requesting terminal environment information.

  The transmission request according to the update of the terminal environment information storage unit 14 is, for example, when the terminal environment information of a new terminal is stored in the terminal environment information storage unit 14 or when the terminal environment information storage unit has already been stored. 14 is a request for transmission of newly stored terminal environment information or updated terminal environment information when the terminal environment information stored in 14 is updated. By sending the newly stored terminal environment information or updated terminal environment information to the service provider's operator server, the operator server can confirm that the new terminal is requesting application installation or setting. It is possible to detect that a terminal whose environment has been changed is requesting an application update, and issue an installation or update instruction.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the terminal management apparatus 10 manages information on a specific terminal connected via the network, and enters a usage contract in the terminal for the managed terminal information. It can be provided to service providers that provide existing application services. As a result, it is not necessary for the terminal management device 10 to prepare an application for each service provider to acquire information on a terminal that has an application service use contract, or to hold the acquired terminal information. The terminal information can be acquired from the terminal management device 10 when necessary (for example, at the time of inquiry, installation, update, etc.).

<Second Embodiment>
<Configuration of application distribution system>
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, an application distribution system 1 using a terminal management device will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of the application distribution system 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the application distribution system 1 includes a terminal management apparatus 10, an application service server 20, an application distribution server 30, and a terminal 40, and these devices are connected via a network. Although only one application service server 20 and one application distribution server 30 are shown, a plurality of application service servers 20 and application distribution servers 30 may be used.

  The terminal management apparatus 10 includes a terminal information acquisition unit 11, a contract information storage unit 12, a terminal authentication unit 13, a terminal environment information storage unit 14, a transmission unit 16, and a distribution instruction transmission / reception unit 17. In addition, about the component which attaches | subjects the same code | symbol as 1st Embodiment, since it has the same function, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The transmission unit 16 acquires the terminal identification information and the terminal environment information acquired from the terminal 40 from the contract information storage unit 12 using the acquired terminal identification information in response to the new storage in the terminal environment information storage unit 14. The acquired terminal environment information is transmitted to the application service server 20 based on the application service server information. At this time, the transmission unit 16 transmits to the application service server 20 together with the terminal environment information of the new terminal.

  In addition, the transmission unit 16 uses the acquired terminal identification information to update the contract information storage unit in response to the terminal environment information in the terminal environment information storage unit 14 being updated with the terminal identification information and the terminal environment information acquired from the terminal 40. Based on the application service server information acquired from 12, the terminal environment information acquired is transmitted to the application service server 20. At this time, the transmission unit 16 transmits the information to the application service server 20 together with the terminal environment information of the existing terminal.

  The distribution instruction transmission / reception unit 17 receives an application installation instruction or update instruction from the application service server 20 to the terminal 40 and the application distribution server information, and transmits the application distribution server information to the terminal 40.

  The application service server 20 is an ASP (Application Service Provider) server owned by a provider that provides an application service, and stores application distribution server information that identifies the application distribution server 30 that distributes the application. Specifically, the application distribution server information is stored in association with the terminal environment information. For example, even if the same application is prepared for each OS type such as Windows (registered trademark) or Linux, an application corresponding to the OS type is distributed in association with the OS type. Application distribution server information for specifying the application distribution server to be stored is stored.

  Further, the application service server 20 acquires the application distribution server information based on the terminal environment information received from the terminal management apparatus 10, and transmits the acquired application distribution server information and an installation instruction or an update instruction. When the terminal environment information is received from the terminal management apparatus 10 and is received together with the terminal environment information of the new terminal, the distribution instruction transmission / reception unit 17 transmits the installation instruction, and the terminal of the existing terminal When it is received together with environmental information, the distribution instruction transmission / reception unit 17 transmits an update instruction.

  The application distribution server 30 distributes the application to the terminal 40 in response to a request from the terminal 40. The application distribution server 30 may be provided inside the application service server 20 and the terminal management apparatus 10.

  The terminal 40 is a terminal for managing the application service use contract in the terminal 40 and terminal information by the terminal management apparatus 10, and the URL and IP address of the terminal management apparatus 10 that manages the terminal 40 are set in advance. Has been. The terminal 40 transmits terminal identification information and terminal environment information to the terminal management apparatus 10 as information of the terminal 40 based on the set URL and IP address in response to being connected to the network.

  Further, the terminal 40 receives an application installation instruction or update instruction and application distribution server information from the application service server 20 described later via the terminal management apparatus 10. When the terminal 40 receives the installation instruction or the update instruction, the terminal 40 downloads the application from the application distribution server 30 based on the application distribution server information, and installs or updates the application. In addition, when receiving an installation instruction or an update instruction, the terminal management apparatus also includes a launcher that downloads an application from the application distribution server 30 based on the application distribution server information and can easily start the installation process with one click. You may receive from the application service server 20 via 10. Further, an input request may be made to the user as to whether or not to install or update an application.

<Flow of application distribution processing>
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of application distribution processing according to the present embodiment. This process starts in response to the activation of the terminal 40.

  First, in step S11, the terminal 40 transmits terminal identification information and terminal environment information to the terminal management apparatus 10 as terminal information.

  Next, in step S <b> 12, the terminal information acquired from the terminal 40 described in FIG. 2 is stored in the terminal environment information storage unit 14.

  Next, in step S13, the transmission unit 16 uses the terminal identification information acquired by the terminal information acquisition unit 11 from the contract information storage unit 12 in response to the information in the terminal environment information storage unit 14 being updated in step S12. The acquired terminal environment information is transmitted to the application service server 20 based on the acquired application service server information. At this time, the transmission unit 16 newly stores the terminal identification information and the terminal environment information acquired from the terminal 40 in the terminal environment information storage unit 14 or the terminal identification information and the terminal environment information acquired from the terminal 40 in step S12. Depending on whether or not the terminal environment information storage unit 14 has been updated, whether the terminal environment information to be transmitted is the terminal environment information of a new terminal or the terminal environment information of an existing terminal is also transmitted.

  Next, in step S14, the application service server 20 acquires application distribution server information based on the terminal environment information received from the terminal management apparatus 10, and transmits the acquired application distribution server information and an installation or update instruction. To do. The installation or update instruction may be automatically performed, or may be performed after the administrator of the application service server 20 approves the installation or update from the management screen, for example.

  Next, in step S <b> 15, the distribution instruction transmission / reception unit 17 of the terminal management apparatus 10 transmits the application distribution server information received from the application service server 20 and the installation or update instruction to the terminal 40.

  Next, in step S16, the terminal 40 downloads an application from the application distribution server 30 based on the received application distribution server information.

  Next, in step S <b> 17, the application distribution server 30 distributes the application in response to a download request from the terminal 40.

  Next, in step S18, the terminal 40 installs or updates the downloaded application according to the received installation or update instruction.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, information on an application distribution server that distributes an application to be installed or updated can be provided to a terminal based on information on the terminal managed by the terminal management apparatus. As a result, automatic downloading of the application to the terminal can be realized.

  The terminal management device and the application distribution system of the present invention are recorded by recording the processing of the terminal management device and the application distribution system on a computer-readable recording medium, causing the device to read and execute the program recorded on the recording medium. Can be realized. The computer system here includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

  Further, the “computer system” includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW (World Wide Web) system is used. The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.

  The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments, and includes designs and the like that do not depart from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Terminal management apparatus 11 Terminal information acquisition part 12 Contract information storage part 13 Terminal authentication part 14 Terminal environment information storage part 15 Transmission part

Claims (8)

A terminal management device connected via a network to a terminal, a server of a provider that provides an application service to the terminal,
Terminal information acquisition means for acquiring, from the terminal, terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and terminal environment information that is information related to a setting environment of the terminal, in response to being connected to the terminal;
A server for identifying in advance in the terminal management apparatus the server of the provider that provides the application service that has a use contract in the terminal in association with the terminal identification information of the terminal that manages the use contract of the application service Contract information storage means for storing information;
Terminal authentication means for authenticating the terminal depending on whether or not the acquired terminal identification information is stored in the contract information storage means;
A terminal environment information storage means for storing the acquired terminal environment information in association with the acquired terminal identification information when the terminal is authenticated by the terminal authentication means;
In response to the transmission request for the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage unit, based on the server information acquired from the contract information storage unit based on the terminal identification information of the terminal requested to transmit, For the terminal, transmission means for transmitting the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means,
A terminal management apparatus comprising:   If the terminal environment information corresponding to the acquired terminal identification information is stored, the terminal environment information storage means determines whether the stored terminal environment information is different from the acquired terminal identification information. If it is different, the terminal management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stored terminal environment information is updated to the acquired terminal identification information.   In accordance with the transmitted terminal identification information and terminal environment information, application distribution server information for identifying an application distribution server that distributes an application of an application service that has a usage contract in the terminal, and an instruction for introducing the application, The terminal management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a distribution instruction transmission / reception unit configured to receive the application distribution server information and the introduction instruction received from the application distribution server and transmit the received application distribution server information and an introduction instruction to the terminal.   The terminal management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the terminal environment information includes at least information related to an operating system of the terminal.   The terminal management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the terminal is any one of a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a home appliance, a personal computer, a laptop, and a portable information terminal. A terminal management method in a terminal, a server of a provider providing an application service to the terminal, and a terminal management apparatus connected via a network,
In response to being connected to the terminal, terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and terminal environment information that is information related to the setting environment of the terminal are acquired from the terminal,
A server for identifying in advance in the terminal management apparatus the server of the provider that provides the application service that has a use contract in the terminal in association with the terminal identification information of the terminal that manages the use contract of the application service Store the information in the contract information storage means,
Depending on whether or not the acquired terminal identification information is stored in the contract information storage means, the terminal is authenticated,
When the terminal is authenticated, the acquired terminal environment information is stored in the terminal environment information storage unit in association with the acquired terminal identification information,
In response to the transmission request for the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage unit, based on the server information acquired from the contract information storage unit based on the terminal identification information of the terminal requested to transmit, For the terminal, transmitting the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means,
A terminal management method characterized by the above. A terminal management program in a terminal, a server of a provider providing an application service to the terminal, and a terminal management device connected via a network,
Computer
Terminal information acquisition means for acquiring, from the terminal, terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and terminal environment information that is information related to a setting environment of the terminal, in response to being connected to the terminal;
Terminal environment information storage means for storing the acquired terminal environment information in association with the acquired terminal identification information;
Contract information storage means for storing server information for identifying the server of the provider providing an application service that has a usage contract in advance in the terminal in association with the terminal identification information;
In response to the transmission request for the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage unit, based on the server information acquired from the contract information storage unit based on the terminal identification information of the terminal requested to transmit, For the terminal, transmission means for transmitting the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means,
Terminal management program to function as. Application distribution comprising a terminal, a server of a provider that provides an application service used by the terminal, an application distribution server that distributes an application of the application service, and a terminal management device that manages the terminal information A system,
In response to being connected to the network, the terminal transmits terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and terminal environment information that is information related to a setting environment of the terminal to the terminal management device,
The terminal management device
Terminal information acquisition means for acquiring the terminal identification information and the terminal environment information from the terminal;
A server for identifying in advance in the terminal management apparatus the server of the provider that provides the application service that has a use contract in the terminal in association with the terminal identification information of the terminal that manages the use contract of the application service Contract information storage means for storing information;
Terminal authentication means for authenticating the terminal depending on whether or not the acquired terminal identification information is stored in the contract information storage means;
A terminal environment information storage means for storing the acquired terminal environment information in association with the acquired terminal identification information when the terminal is authenticated by the terminal authentication means;
In response to the transmission request for the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage unit, based on the server information acquired from the contract information storage unit based on the terminal identification information of the terminal requested to transmit, For the terminal, transmission means for transmitting the terminal environment information stored in the terminal environment information storage means,
With
The server holds application distribution server identification information for identifying an application distribution server that stores an application corresponding to the terminal environment information in advance, and the application distribution of the application distribution server that stores the application according to the received terminal environment information Server identification information and an application installation instruction according to the received terminal environment information are transmitted to the terminal management device,
The terminal management device further includes distribution instruction transmission / reception means for transmitting the application distribution server information and the introduction instruction received from the server to the terminal,
The terminal downloads the application from the application distribution server based on the received application distribution server identification information in response to the installation instruction received from the server via the terminal management apparatus, and introduces the downloaded application. An application distribution system characterized by

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