JP2024068624A - Information processing device, information input support system, information input support method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To estimate the issues and needs of a user's customers and present information to the user to be proposed to the customers. [Solution] An information input support system having a terminal device operated by a user and an information processing device capable of communicating with the terminal device, the information processing device having an acquisition unit that acquires activity information including information about the user and information about the user's activities with customers through dialogue with the user, an estimation unit that estimates the needs of the customers based on the activity information, and a communication unit that transmits speech information including the needs of the customers to the terminal device, and the terminal device has a display control unit that displays the speech information. [Selected Figure] Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information input support system, an information input support method, and a program.

Dialogue system technologies such as chatbots that assist users who are involved in tasks that require the input of information in the input of information have been known for some time. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that manages a user's behavioral records and activity schedules, notifies the user of a message requesting the input of a report, and estimates the user's activity schedule based on the input report.

However, conventional technology was not able to estimate the issues and needs of a user's customers and present the user with information to suggest to those customers.

In view of the above problems, an embodiment of the present invention aims to estimate the problems and needs of a user's customers and present the user with information to be proposed to the customers.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an information input support system having a terminal device operated by a user and an information processing device capable of communicating with the terminal device, the information processing device having an acquisition unit that acquires activity information including information about the user and information about the user's activities with customers through dialogue with the user, an estimation unit that estimates the needs of the customers based on the activity information, and a communication unit that transmits speech information including the needs of the customers to the terminal device, and the terminal device has a display control unit that displays the speech information.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to estimate the issues and needs of a user's customers and present the user with information to be proposed to the customers.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic diagram of an information input support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an information processing apparatus and a personal computer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration diagram of functional blocks in an information input support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a state transition diagram in the information input support system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a sequence relating to a dialogue process in the information input support system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a first display screen of the information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a second display screen of the information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a third display screen of the information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a fourth display screen of the information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a fifth display screen of the information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a sixth display screen of the information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a seventh display screen of the information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an eighth display screen of the information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of user information in a database according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart relating to estimation of customer needs and suggested information according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing another example of the display screen of the information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Below, embodiments of an information processing device, an information input support system, an information input support method, and a program according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[First embodiment]
<System Overview>
1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic diagram of an information input support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information input support system 1 includes, for example, a terminal device 5 connected to a communication network 2 such as the Internet, a cloud network 4, and an information processing device 3 disposed in the cloud network 4.

The terminal device 5 is a personal computer 6 operated by a user, or an information terminal 7 such as a smartphone or tablet terminal. The terminal device 5 accepts operations by the user to access a chatbot that assists with information input, or operations by the user to input a message to be sent to the chatbot. Here, a chatbot is a function or service that automatically conducts a dialogue with a user. Furthermore, the terminal device 5 displays, on the screen of the terminal device 5, messages that the user inputs to the terminal device 5, messages that the terminal device 5 receives from the chatbot, etc. Here, the messages may be called speech information.

The information processing device 3 is a device for providing the functionality of a chatbot that assists with information input. For example, the information processing device 3 receives information about the user, information about the user's customers, and information about the user's activities with customers (activity information such as daily reports) from a terminal device 5 operated by a user in the company's sales department. Furthermore, based on the information received from the terminal device 5, the information processing device 3 estimates the issues and needs of the user's customers and information to be proposed to the customers, and transmits the estimated information to the terminal device 5. The information proposed to the customers is, for example, information for solving the issues and needs of the customers, such as information or products in which the customers are interested or concerned.

In this way, the information input support system 1 can estimate the issues and needs of the user's customers and present the user with information to be proposed to the customers. The system configuration of the information input support system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an example. The information processing device 3 does not need to have all the functions of a chatbot. For example, some of the functions may be realized by a module (external module) of another service provided by the cloud network 4. The information processing device 3 may be located not in the cloud network 4 but in a company's LAN (Local Area Network) or the like. The LAN may be a network in which access from an external network is restricted by a firewall or the like. The information input support system 1 may include any number of information processing devices 3 and terminal devices 5. The communication network 2 may include a connection section by wireless communication such as mobile communication or wireless LAN. In addition, in the dialogue between the user and the chatbot, the user may be able to input utterances using voice.

<Hardware configuration example (information processing device 3, personal computer 6)>
Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 3 and the personal computer 6 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 2, the information processing device 3 and the personal computer 6 are constructed by a computer, and include a CPU 501, a ROM 502, a RAM 503, a HD (Hard Disk) 504, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) controller 505, a display 506, an external device connection I/F (Interface) 508, a network I/F 509, a bus line 510, a keyboard 511, a pointing device 512, a DVD-RW (Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable) drive 514, and a media I/F 516.

Of these, the CPU 501 controls the operation of the information processing device 3 and the personal computer 6 as a whole. The ROM 502 stores programs such as IPL used to drive the CPU 501. The RAM 503 is used as a work area for the CPU 501. The HD 504 stores various data such as programs. The HDD controller 505 controls the reading or writing of various data from the HD 504 according to the control of the CPU 501. The display 506 displays various information such as a cursor, menu, window, character, or image. The external device connection I/F 508 is an interface for connecting various external devices. In this case, the external device is, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or a printer. The network I/F 509 is an interface for data communication using the communication network 2. The bus line 510 is an address bus, a data bus, or the like for electrically connecting each component such as the CPU 501 shown in FIG. 2.

The keyboard 511 is a type of input means equipped with multiple keys used to input characters, numbers, or various instructions. The pointing device 512 is a type of input means for selecting and executing various instructions, selecting a processing target, moving the cursor, and the like. The DVD-RW drive 514 controls the reading and writing of various data from the DVD-RW 513, which is an example of a removable recording medium. Note that the DVD-RW drive 514 is not limited to a DVD-RW, and may be a DVD-R or the like. The media I/F 516 controls the reading and writing (storing) of data from the recording medium 515, such as a flash memory.

<Hardware configuration example (information terminal 7)>
3 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an information terminal 7 such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the information terminal 7 includes a CPU 401, a ROM 402, a RAM 403, an EEPROM 404, a CMOS sensor 405, an image sensor I/F 406, an acceleration/direction sensor 407, a media I/F 409, and a GPS receiver 411.

Of these, the CPU 401 controls the operation of the entire information terminal 7. The ROM 402 stores the programs used to drive the CPU 401, such as the CPU 401 and the IPL. The RAM 403 is used as a work area for the CPU 401. The EEPROM 404 reads or writes various data, such as programs for the information terminal 7, under the control of the CPU 401. The CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor 405 is a type of built-in imaging means that captures an image of a subject (mainly a self-portrait) under the control of the CPU 401 to obtain image data. Note that instead of a CMOS sensor, an imaging means such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor may be used. The imaging element I/F 406 is a circuit that controls the driving of the CMOS sensor 405. The acceleration/orientation sensor 407 is a variety of sensors, such as an electronic magnetic compass that detects geomagnetism, a gyrocompass, and an acceleration sensor. The media I/F 409 controls the reading and writing (storage) of data from and to a recording medium 408, such as a flash memory. The GPS receiver 411 receives GPS signals from GPS satellites.

The information terminal 7 also includes a long-distance communication circuit 412, a CMOS sensor 413, an image sensor I/F 414, a microphone 415, a speaker 416, an audio input/output I/F 417, a display 418, an external device connection I/F (Interface) 419, a short-distance communication circuit 420, an antenna 420a of the short-distance communication circuit 420, and a touch panel 421.

Of these, the long-distance communication circuit 412 is a circuit that communicates with other devices via the communication network 2. The CMOS sensor 413 is a type of built-in imaging means that captures an image of a subject under the control of the CPU 401 to obtain image data. The image sensor I/F 414 is a circuit that controls the drive of the CMOS sensor 413. The microphone 415 is a built-in circuit that converts sound into an electrical signal. The speaker 416 is a built-in circuit that converts an electrical signal into physical vibrations to generate sounds such as music and voice. The sound input/output I/F 417 is a circuit that processes the input and output of sound signals between the microphone 415 and the speaker 416 under the control of the CPU 401. The display 418 is a type of display means such as a liquid crystal or organic EL (Electro Luminescence) that displays an image of a subject, various icons, etc. The external device connection I/F 419 is an interface for connecting various external devices. The short-range communication circuit 420 is a communication circuit such as NFC (Near Field Communication) or Bluetooth (registered trademark). The touch panel 421 is a type of input means that allows the user to operate the information terminal 7 by pressing the display 418.

The information terminal 7 also includes a bus line 410. The bus line 410 is an address bus, a data bus, etc., for electrically connecting the components such as the CPU 401 shown in FIG. 3.

<About the function>
4 is a diagram showing an example of a functional block diagram of the information input support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information processing device 3 has a communication unit 10, a generation unit 11, an acquisition unit 12, a determination unit 13, an estimation unit 14, and a control unit 15. Each of these units is a function or means realized by a CPU 501 executing instructions included in one or more programs installed in the information processing device 3. The storage unit 16 can be realized by, for example, a storage device such as a HD 504 included in the information processing device 3.

The communication unit 10 is a communication function possessed by the information processing device 3, and transmits and receives information to and from the terminal device 5 and the like via the communication network 2. For example, the communication unit 10 transmits speech information to the communication unit 20 of the terminal device 5, including greetings, questions, answer candidates, customer needs, information proposed to the customer, and the progress of the dialogue, to be presented to the user.

The generation unit 11 generates speech information to be presented to the user, including a greeting, a question and answer candidates, the customer needs estimated by the estimation unit 14, and information to be proposed to the customer.

The acquisition unit 12 acquires activity information including information about the user and information about the user's activities with customers based on answers to questions and reports about sales activities received from the user.

The determination unit 13 determines the progress of the activity based on the activity information acquired by the acquisition unit 12. The determination method will be described in detail later.

The estimation unit 14 estimates the needs of the customer based on the user's activity information, the progress of the activity, and the like. The estimation unit 14 also estimates information that the user will propose to the customer based on information such as the user's activity information, the progress of the activity, and the customer's needs.

The control unit 15 manages the state of the dialogue with the user and controls the state transition according to a predetermined dialogue progression order.

The memory unit 16 stores information about the user's activities, the progress of the activities, the needs of the customer, and information to be proposed to the customer.

The terminal device 5 has a communication unit 20, a display control unit 21, and an operation reception unit 23. Each of these units is a function or means realized by the CPU 501 executing instructions contained in one or more programs installed in the personal computer 6 constituting the terminal device 5. Alternatively, each of these units is a function or means realized by the CPU 401 executing instructions contained in one or more programs installed in the information terminal 7 constituting the terminal device 5.

The communication unit 20 is a communication function possessed by the terminal device 5, and transmits and receives information to and from the information processing device 3 and the like via the communication network 2. For example, the communication unit 20 receives speech information from the communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3, including greetings, questions, answer candidates, customer needs, information proposed to the customer, and the progress of the dialogue, to be presented to the user.

The display control unit 21 displays on the screen of the terminal device 5 speech information to be presented to the user, including greetings, questions, answer candidates, customer needs input by the user, customer needs estimated by the estimation unit 14 of the information processing device 3, information to be proposed to the customer, the progress of activities with the customer, and the progress of the dialogue.

The operation reception unit 22 receives operations such as character input and button presses by the user via a keyboard, pointing device, or the like of the terminal device 5. Alternatively, the operation reception unit 22 receives input of speech in a voice dialogue by the user via, for example, the microphone 415 of an information terminal 7, which is one of the terminal devices 5.

<State transition diagram in information input support system>
5 is a diagram showing an example of a state transition diagram in an information input support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The state transition diagram shown in Fig. 5 shows the state transition of a chatbot that interacts with a user. The process of each step in Fig. 5 will be described below.

Step S31: The generation unit 11 of the information processing device 3 generates speech information including a greeting to be sent to the user. The communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3 transmits the generated speech information to the communication unit 20 of the terminal device 5.

Step S32: The acquisition unit 12 of the information processing device 3 acquires activity information including information about the user and information about the user's activities with customers based on the responses and reports regarding sales activities received from the user.

Step S33: The determination unit 13 of the information processing device 3 determines the progress of the activity based on the activity information acquired in step S32.

Step S34: The estimation unit 14 of the information processing device 3 estimates the issues and needs of the user's customers based on the activity information and the progress of the activity.

Step S35: The control unit 15 of the information processing device 3 confirms with the user whether the information acquired in steps S32 to S34 is correct, and if it is correct, transitions the process to step S37, and if it is not correct, transitions the process to step S36.

Step S36: The memory unit 16 of the information processing device 3 stores the information modified by the user.

Step S37: The estimation unit 14 of the information processing device 3 estimates information to be proposed to the customer for presentation to the user.

Step S38: The control unit 15 of the information processing device 3 checks with the user whether there are any reports of other activities, and if there are any reports of other activities, transitions the process to step S32, and if not, transitions the process to step S39.

By performing the above processes, the information input support system 1 manages the state of the dialogue with the user and controls the state transition. The following describes the details of the processes executed at each step.

<Sequence diagram of dialogue processing in information input support system>
Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a sequence related to dialogue processing in an information input support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this sequence, a chatbot that supports information input acquires information about the user's activities while having a dialogue with a user who is engaged in sales activities. The process of each step in Fig. 6 will be described below using examples of display screens of a terminal device 5 (information terminal 7) operated by a user, as shown in Figs. 7 to 12.

Step S50: The operation reception unit 22 of the terminal device 5 receives an operation by a user to access the chatbot. The operation by the user may be, for example, a user inputting some speech content in an application for interacting with the chatbot. The communication unit 20 of the terminal device 5 transmits an access request to the chatbot to the communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3. Here, the access request includes information for identifying the user (such as a user identifier).

The acquisition unit 12 of the information processing device 3 may also acquire information about the user's planned activities from a database at a predetermined time. For example, the acquisition unit 12 may acquire information about the planned activities (such as company names) for which business negotiations are scheduled for that day at 9:00 every morning, thereby enabling efficient dialogue with the user who is making a report after the business negotiations.

Step S51: The control unit 15 of the information processing device 3 launches the chatbot in response to the access request.

Step S51a: The acquisition unit 12 of the information processing device 3 accesses the database 41 to refer to user information corresponding to the information identifying the user included in the access request in step S50. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of user information in a database according to an embodiment of the present invention. The database shown in FIG. 15 includes user information 80 and user information 81. The user information 80 includes an identifier (userid) that identifies a user and information (userMailAddress) that indicates the email address of the user, and the user information 81 includes schedule information (companyList) for a specified date (workDate) that is associated with the email address of the user. The schedule information (companyList) includes a company name (companyName), a plan name (plan), and an identifier (Id) that identifies the plan. The user information 80 may also include information related to the user's username. Returning to FIG. 6, the explanation will be given.

Step S51b: The acquisition unit 12 of the information processing device 3 acquires the user information referenced in step S51a from the database 41. The storage unit 17 of the information processing device 3 stores the acquired user information.

Step S52: The generation unit 11 of the information processing device 3 generates speech information including a greeting to be sent to the user. The speech information is, for example, "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. XX." Here, the storage unit 17 of the information processing device 3 stores, for example, user information for associating a user identifier with a user name in advance. The generation unit 11 generates the speech information by acquiring the user name "XX" from the user identifier based on the user information. The communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3 transmits the generated speech information to the communication unit 20 of the terminal device 5. The display control unit 21 of the terminal device 5 displays the received speech information on the screen of the terminal device 5. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a first display screen of an information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. On the display screen 71 of FIG. 7, a user's speech is displayed on the right side of the screen, and a chatbot's speech is displayed on the left side of the screen. The speech 1000 is the speech ("hi") input by the user in step S50 to start a dialogue with the chatbot. Speech 1101 is the utterance ("Thank you for your hard work, Mr. XXX.") that the chatbot sent as a greeting in response to utterance 1000 by the user in step S52. Let's return to Figure 6 for further explanation.

Step S53: The generation unit 11 of the information processing device 3 generates speech information including a question sentence to be asked of the user in order to obtain information regarding the sales activity reported by the user. The content of the question may be, for example, the company name of the customer of the sales activity, the names of other members of the sales department who will be working together, the name of the customer, the customer's role, and the results of the activity. The communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3 transmits the generated speech information to the communication unit 20 of the terminal device 5. The display control unit 21 of the terminal device 5 displays the received speech information on the screen of the terminal device 5.

Step S54: The operation reception unit 22 of the terminal device 5 receives an operation by the user to input an answer to the question. The communication unit 20 of the terminal device 5 transmits speech information including the answer input by the user to the communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3.

Step S55: The acquisition unit 12 of the information processing device 3 acquires the activity information of the user based on the answers and reports on sales activities received from the user by repeatedly executing steps S53 and S54. The activity information includes information about the user, the customer's company name, the customer's name, the business negotiation between the user and the customer, and information about the participants in the business negotiation. The information about the user is, for example, the user's name, affiliation, email address, the company name of the customer in charge, and the activity date of the activity with that customer. The storage unit 16 of the information processing device 3 stores the acquired activity information. As an example of a question to the user and the user's answer in steps S53 and S54, the utterance 1201 in FIG. 7 displays the utterance "Please report on your activities. Please enter the company name first." as a question, and further displays "A Industry" and "Other" as answer candidates. The utterance 1202 displays that the user selected "A Industry" as an answer from the answer candidates presented in the utterance 1201. The utterance 1311 displays a question asking the names of other members of the sales department who will be working together. The utterance 1312 displays the user's answer to the question of the utterance 1311. The utterance 1321 displays a question asking the name of the customer. The utterance 1322 displays the user's answer to the question of the utterance 1321. The utterance 1331 displays a question asking the role of the customer and answer candidates. Here, the role of the customer may be, for example, the customer's job title (president, department manager, section manager, etc.) or the type of job (sales, technology, accounting, etc.). The utterance 1332 displays a number ("2") selected from the answer candidates as the user's answer to the question of the utterance 1331. Furthermore, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a second display screen of the information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. The utterance 1333 on the display screen 72 of FIG. 8 displays a question asking whether or not to add another customer who participated in the business negotiation and answer candidates ("yes" and "no"). Utterance 1334 displays the answer ("No") selected from the candidate answers as the user's answer to the question in utterance 1333. Utterance 1341 displays a question asking about the result of the activity ("Please enter the result of the activity."). Utterance 1342 displays the result of the activity entered by the user as the user's answer to the question in utterance 1341. Let's return to Figure 6 for an explanation.

Step S56: The determination unit 13 of the information processing device 3 determines the progress of the activity based on the activity information acquired by the acquisition unit 12 and the like. The determination unit 13 determines the progress of the activity based on, for example, a response obtained by asking the user about the progress of the activity. Alternatively, the determination unit 13 may estimate the progress of the activity based on information such as the activity information acquired by the acquisition unit 12. Alternatively, the determination unit 13 may determine the progress of the activity by requesting the external module 40 to estimate the progress of the activity. When requesting the external module 40 to estimate the progress of the activity, the communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3 transmits an estimation request including the activity information acquired by the acquisition unit 12 and the like to the external module 40, and receives the estimated progress of the activity from the external module 40. As an example of a screen display when asking the user about the progress of the activity, the utterance 1351 in FIG. 8 displays a question sentence "Please select a progress level" that asks the user about the progress of the activity, along with answer candidates. Here, the progress level indicates that the progress of the activity is more advanced as the level number increases. In utterance 1352, the number of the candidate answer ("4") entered by the user as the user's answer to the question in utterance 1351 is displayed. Also, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a third display screen of an information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. As an example of a screen display when the degree of progress of an activity estimated by the external module 40 is used, in utterance 2001 on display screen 73 of FIG. 9, the degree of progress of an activity estimated by the external module 40 based on activity information acquired from the user is presented to the user. Let us return to FIG. 6 for further explanation.

Step S57: The estimation unit 14 of the information processing device 3 estimates the customer's needs based on the activity information acquired by the acquisition unit 12 and the progress of the activity determined by the determination unit 13. In response to an instruction from the estimation unit 14, the communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3 transmits a request to the external module 40 to estimate the customer's needs, including information such as the activity information and the progress of the activity.

Step S58: The external module 40 estimates the customer's needs based on information such as the activity information and the progress of the activity, for example, using a machine learning model that has been trained in advance using the activity information, the progress of the activity, and the customer's needs as training data. Alternatively, the external module 40 may estimate the customer's needs by searching the Internet or a database, etc., using vocabulary contained in the information such as the activity information and the progress of the activity. The communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3 receives the customer's needs estimated by the external module 40 from the external module 40.

Step S59: The generation unit 11 of the information processing device 3 generates speech information including the activity information acquired by the acquisition unit 12, the progress of the activity determined by the determination unit 13, and a question for confirming whether the customer's needs estimated by the estimation unit 14 are correct. The communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3 transmits the generated speech information to the communication unit 20 of the terminal device 5. The display control unit 21 of the terminal device 5 displays the received speech information on the screen of the terminal device 5.

Step S60: The operation reception unit 22 of the terminal device 5 accepts an operation by the user to input an answer to the question. The communication unit 20 of the terminal device 5 transmits utterance information including the answer input by the user to the communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a fourth display screen of the information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the utterance 1361 of the display screen 74 of FIG. 10, a question sentence and answer candidates for confirming with the user whether the customer's needs are correct or not are displayed. The user selects "1" for the answer candidates if the presented customer's needs are correct (suitable), "2" if they are incorrect and will be corrected, or "3" if they are incorrect and will be corrected later. In the utterance 1362, it is displayed that the user selected "1" as the answer. In the utterance 1363, the chatbot's response to the answer to the user's utterance 1362 is displayed. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a fifth display screen of the information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. The utterance 1401 on the display screen 75 in FIG. 11 displays a question and possible answers to confirm with the user whether the report content (activity content), progress level (activity progress), and customer needs are correct. The user selects "correct" for the possible answers if they wish to correct the presented content, or selects "yes" if the presented content is correct. The utterance 1402 displays that the user has selected "yes" as the answer. Let us return to FIG. 6 for an explanation.

Step S61: The memory unit 16 of the information processing device 3 stores the activity information, the progress of the activity, and the customer needs that have been revised based on the user's response in step S60.

Step S62: The estimation unit 14 of the information processing device 3 estimates information that the user proposes to the customer based on information such as the user's activity information, the progress of the activity, and the customer's needs. Upon instruction from the estimation unit 14, the communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3 transmits an estimation request for customer proposed information, including information such as the activity information, the progress of the activity, and the customer's needs, to the external module 40.

Step S63: The external module 40 estimates information to be proposed to the customer based on information such as the activity information, the progress of the activity, and the customer's needs, for example, using a machine learning model that has been trained in advance using the activity information, the progress of the activity, the customer's needs, and information to be proposed to the customer as training data. Alternatively, the external module 40 may estimate information to be proposed to the customer by searching the Internet or a database, etc., using vocabulary contained in the activity information, the progress of the activity, the customer's needs, and information to be proposed to the customer. The communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3 receives the information to be proposed to the customer estimated by the external module 40 from the external module 40.

Step S64: The memory unit 16 of the information processing device 3 stores the received information to be proposed to the customer.

Step S65: The generation unit 11 of the information processing device 3 generates speech information to be presented to the user, including at least one of the customer needs estimated by the estimation unit 14 and information proposed to the customer. The communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3 transmits the generated speech information to the communication unit 20 of the terminal device 5. The display control unit 21 of the terminal device 5 displays the received speech information on the screen of the terminal device 5. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a sixth display screen of the information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the utterance 1501 on the display screen 76 of FIG. 12, the customer proposal information to be proposed to the customer estimated by the estimation unit 14 in steps S62 to S63, a question asking whether or not to send the customer proposal information to the user's email address, and candidate answers to the question are displayed. In the utterance 1502, "do" selected by the user from the candidate answers as a response to the question is displayed. Let us return to FIG. 6 for explanation.

Step S66: The communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3 sends an email containing the customer proposal information presented to the user in step S65 to the user's email address.

Step S67: The generation unit 11 of the information processing device 3 generates speech information including a question message that asks the user whether there is a report on other activities. Here, the generation unit 11 may generate the speech information including the progress of the dialogue between the user and the chatbot. The progress of the dialogue is, for example, information such as how many reports have been completed out of the total number of activities of the user at the current time. The communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3 transmits the generated speech information to the communication unit 20 of the terminal device 5. The display control unit 21 of the terminal device 5 displays the received speech information on the screen of the terminal device 5. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a seventh display screen of the information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the utterance 1601 of the display screen 77 of FIG. 13, a question message that asks the user whether there is a report on other activities and candidate answers to the question message are displayed. In the utterance 1701, "End" selected by the user from the candidate answers as a response to the question message is displayed. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of an eighth display screen of the information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. The utterance 2002 on the display screen 78 in FIG. 14 displays the dialogue progress, a question asking the user if there are any reports on other activities, and candidate answers to the question. Here, the dialogue progress is displayed as indicating that three out of ten user activity reports have been completed. The utterance 1701 displays "End," which the user selected from the candidate answers as a response to the question. Let us return to FIG. 6 for further explanation.

Step S68: If there is no report of other activities by the user, the generation unit 11 of the information processing device 3 generates utterance information including a greeting to be presented to the user at the end of the dialogue. The communication unit 10 of the information processing device 3 transmits the generated utterance information to the communication unit 20 of the terminal device 5. The display control unit 21 of the terminal device 5 displays the received utterance information on the screen of the terminal device 5.

This completes the processing in the sequence diagram in Figure 6.

<Estimation of customer needs and proposal information for customers>
The following describes in detail the method for estimating customer needs in steps S57 and S58 in the sequence diagram of Fig. 6, and the method for estimating proposed information to the customer in steps S62 and S63. Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart related to the estimation of customer needs and proposed information according to an embodiment of the present invention. The process of each step in Fig. 16 will be described below.

Step S90: The acquisition unit 12 of the information processing device 3 reads the activity information acquired in step S55 of the sequence diagram of FIG. 6 (e.g., utterance 1342 in FIG. 8) and the progress of the activity determined in step S56 (e.g., utterance 1352 in FIG. 8).

Step S91: The decision unit 13 of the information processing device 3 decides whether or not a proposal to the customer is necessary. For example, the estimation unit 14 decides that a proposal to the customer is necessary when the progress of the activity acquired in step S90 is a predetermined value or when the progress is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. If the decision unit 13 decides that a proposal to the customer is necessary, the control unit 15 of the information processing device 3 transitions the process to step S92, otherwise transitions the process to step S53 in FIG. 6 to ask questions about other sales activities.

Step S92: The estimation unit 14 of the information processing device 3 extracts the customer's needs from the activity information acquired in step S90. For example, the activity information is utterance 1342 in FIG. 8 ("Please suggest a system that can automatically save in response to the ** problem. I will look into it and propose it next time."), and "Please suggest a system that can automatically save in response to the ** problem." is extracted as the customer's need. Alternatively, the estimation unit 14 may extract a character string (such as "automatic save," "system") for searching for the customer's needs from the activity information.

The estimation unit 14 may also extract customer needs from the activity information using a language model trained using sequence-labeled character strings. Here, sequence labeling refers to labeling each word in the training data for training the language model to indicate the first word of an expression of customer needs, words within the expression, and words outside the expression. The language model is trained to predict sequence labeling. This makes it possible to extract the needs of each customer when multiple customer needs are included in one sentence. It is also possible to exclude words that are not related to customer needs. The language model may be a language model based on BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representation Transform).

Step S93: The estimation unit 14 of the information processing device 3 estimates customer needs similar to the customer needs extracted in step S92, or proposed information for satisfying the customer needs (or resolving the customer's issues). For example, the estimation unit 14 estimates a sentence vector with a similarity to the customer needs higher than a predetermined threshold, obtained using a language model that outputs a higher similarity the closer the meaning, as a customer need similar to the customer need. The language model may be, for example, a language model trained to vectorize customer needs with similar meanings as being close in distance and customer needs with different meanings as being far in distance. The language model may also be a language model based on sentence BERT, which trains sentence vectors based on meaning as described above.

Furthermore, the estimation unit 14 may use the needs of similar customers to estimate suggested information for satisfying the customer needs by searching the Internet or a database, etc.

Step S94: The generation unit 11 of the information processing device 3 generates speech information to be presented to the user, including at least one of the customer needs extracted in step S92 and the needs and proposed information of similar customers estimated in step S93. For example, the generation unit 11 generates the speech information by inserting the customer needs and proposed information into a predetermined position of a template created in advance.

In addition, if the customer needs presented to the user are revised by the user in steps S59 and S60 of FIG. 6, the language model used in steps S92 and S93 of FIG. 16 may be retrained based on the revised customer needs. This completes the processing in the sequence diagram of FIG. 16.

<Another example of the display screen of the terminal device 5 (information terminal 7)>
Another example of the display screen of the terminal device 5 (information terminal 7) operated by the user shown in FIG. 7 to FIG. 12 will be described. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing another example of the display screen of the information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. The display screen 83 of FIG. 17 displays a person (virtual assistant) on the left side of the screen, speech information to be presented to the user on the lower side of the screen, and options for answers to questions to the user on the right side of the screen. In addition, the speech information is output by the speaker of the terminal device 5, and the user can input speech to the terminal device 5 using voice. In this way, a user interface in which the user converses with the virtual assistant via the display screen 83 may be used. In addition, the user interface may be a 3D virtual space or a metaverse in which the user himself is displayed on the screen as an avatar.

Through the above processing, the information input support system 1 can estimate the issues and needs of the user's customers and present the user with information to propose to the customers. This can encourage the user to generate ideas in their sales activities and improve the quality of sales reports. Furthermore, in dialogue with the user, the information input support system 1 can routinely obtain the information necessary to create a sales report, confirm that the report content is correct, and present the progress of the dialogue in a predetermined dialogue progression order. This can reduce the burden on the user who creates the sales report, stabilize the content and quality of the sales report, which varies from user to user, and reduce the time it takes to create the sales report.

The following shows an example in which the external module 40 performs the steps of determining the progress in step S56 in FIG. 6, estimating the customer's needs in steps S57 and S58, and estimating the proposed information for the customer in steps S62 and S63. The external module 40 that performs these steps may be disposed outside the information processing device 3, or may be included in the determination unit 13 or estimation unit 14 of the information processing device 3.

Although several embodiments for implementing the present invention have been described above, the present invention is in no way limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, the example of the functional block configuration diagram in Figure 4 is divided according to main functions to facilitate understanding of the processing by the information processing device 3 constituting the information input support system 1. The present invention is not limited by the manner in which the processing units are divided or the names of the processing units. The processing in the information input support system 1 and the information processing device 3 can also be divided into even more processing units depending on the processing content. Also, it can be divided so that one processing unit includes even more processes.

Furthermore, each function of the above-described embodiments can be realized by one or more processing circuits. Here, the term "processing circuit" in this specification includes a processor programmed to execute each function by software, such as a processor implemented by an electronic circuit, and devices such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), DSP (digital signal processor), FPGA (field programmable gate array), and conventional circuit modules designed to execute each function described above.

The described devices are merely one of multiple computing environments for implementing the embodiments disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the information input support system 1 and the information processing device 3 include multiple computing devices, such as a server cluster. The multiple computing devices are configured to communicate with each other via any type of communication link, including a network, shared memory, etc., and perform the processing disclosed herein.

For example, aspects of the present invention are as follows.
<1> An information input support system having a terminal device operated by a user and an information processing device capable of communicating with the terminal device, wherein the information processing device has an acquisition unit that acquires activity information including information about the user and information about the user's activities with customers through dialogue with the user, an estimation unit that estimates the needs of the customers based on the activity information, and a communication unit that transmits speech information including the needs of the customers to the terminal device for presentation to the user, and the terminal device has a display control unit that displays the speech information.
<2> The information input support system described in <1>, wherein the activity information includes information regarding at least one of the customer's company name, the customer's name, a business negotiation between the user and the customer, and participants in the business negotiation.
<3> The information input support system described in <1> or <2>, wherein the estimation unit estimates proposed information to be proposed to the customer based on the needs of the customer, and the communication unit transmits speech information including the proposed information to the terminal device.
<4> The information input support system according to any one of <1> to <3>, further comprising a determination unit that determines a progress level of the activity based on the activity information.
<5> The information input support system described in <4> further includes a control unit that controls the dialogue to allow the user to confirm whether the activity information, the progress of the activity, and the customer's needs are correct.
<6> The information input support system described in any of <1> to <5>, wherein the communication unit transmits speech information including the customer needs, the progress of the activity, and the progress of the dialogue input by the user to the terminal device.
<7> The information input support system according to any one of <1> to <6>, wherein the user is able to input speech using voice in the dialogue.
<8> The information input support system described in any one of <1> to <7>, wherein the estimation unit extracts the customer's needs from the activity information using a language model trained using sequence-labeled character strings.
<9> The information input support system described in <3>, wherein the estimation unit estimates as the proposed information a customer need similar to the customer's need or information for satisfying the customer's need based on information related to a sentence vector whose similarity to the customer's need is higher than a predetermined threshold, obtained using a language model that outputs a higher similarity the closer the meaning is.
<10> The information input support system described in <8> or <9>, wherein the language model is re-learned using the activity information, the progress of the activity, and the customer needs as modified by the user.

Reference Signs List 1 Information input support system 2 Communication network 3 Information processing device 4 Cloud network 5 Terminal device 6 Personal computer 7 Information terminal 10, 20 Communication unit 11 Generation unit 12 Acquisition unit 13 Determination unit 14 Estimation unit 15 Control unit 16 Storage unit 21 Display control unit 22 Operation reception unit

JP 2019-185161 A

Claims (13)

An information input support system having a terminal device operated by a user and an information processing device capable of communicating with the terminal device,
The information processing device includes:
an acquisition unit that acquires activity information including information about the user and information about the user's activities with customers through a dialogue with the user;
an estimation unit that estimates the needs of the customer based on the activity information;
a communication unit that transmits speech information including the needs of the customer to the terminal device,
The terminal device
A display control unit that displays the speech information;
An information input support system having the above configuration. The information input support system of claim 1, wherein the activity information includes information regarding at least one of the customer's company name, the customer's name, a business negotiation between the user and the customer, and participants in the business negotiation. The estimation unit estimates proposal information to be proposed to the customer based on the needs of the customer,
The information input support system according to claim 1 , wherein the communication unit transmits the speech information including the proposal information to the terminal device. The information input support system according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit that determines the progress of the activity based on the activity information. The information input support system according to claim 4, further comprising a control unit that controls the dialogue so that the user can confirm whether the activity information, the progress of the activity, and the customer's needs are correct. The information input support system according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit transmits the speech information, including the needs of the customer, the progress of the activity, and the progress of the dialogue, input by the user, to the terminal device. The information input support system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the user can input utterances using voice in the dialogue. The information input support system according to claim 1, wherein the estimation unit extracts the needs of the customer from the activity information using a language model trained using sequence-labeled character strings. The information input support system according to claim 3, wherein the estimation unit estimates, as the proposed information, the needs of a customer similar to the needs of the customer or information for satisfying the needs of the customer based on information related to a sentence vector whose similarity to the needs of the customer is higher than a predetermined threshold value, obtained using a language model that outputs a higher similarity the closer the meaning is. The information input support system according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the language model is retrained using the customer needs modified by the user. An information processing device capable of communicating with a terminal device operated by a user,
an acquisition unit that acquires activity information including information about the user and information about the user's activities with customers through a dialogue with the user;
an estimation unit that estimates the needs of the customer based on the activity information;
a communication unit that transmits speech information including the needs of the customer to the terminal device to be presented to the user;
An information processing device having the above configuration. An information input support executed by an information processing device capable of communicating with a terminal device operated by a user,
acquiring, through an interaction with the user, activity information including information about the user and information about the user's activities with customers;
estimating a need of the customer based on the activity information;
sending speech information including the customer's needs to the terminal device for presentation to the user;
The information input support method includes the steps of: An information processing device capable of communicating with a terminal device operated by a user,
acquiring, through interaction with the user, activity information including information about the user and information about the user's activities with customers;
estimating the needs of the customer based on the activity information;
transmitting speech information including the customer's needs to the terminal device for presentation to the user;
A program that executes the following.

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