JP3616302B2 - Information communication equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present inventionInformation communication equipmentMore specifically, for example, the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) address information of a website established by the company is included in an e-mail for introducing event information, etc.Information communication equipmentAbout.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, when a company holds an exhibition for corporate promotion, etc., it is often notified to customers, etc. that the event has been announced, but a method of notifying such information from a single location to many partners. Examples include a method of delivering an invitation by mail, a method of broadcasting such as television and radio, and a method of delivering an e-mail over the Internet.
[0003]
Among these methods, in the method of delivering an invitation, first, a sender creates a notification letter such as a round-trip postcard or an envelope, and delivers it to each customer based on a customer list or the like. When each customer receives the notice, the customer writes various items such as participation / non-participation and the participation date / time in the check box and entry field in the text, and returns them to the sender. When the reply is received by the sender, the information written in the reply is collected and organized by hand counting or the like to create a list of prospective participants, a customer service schedule, and the like. In addition, such a list of prospective participants is distributed to the relevant departments and persons in charge.
[0004]
However, such a method for delivering an invitation has the disadvantage that it takes a very complicated manpower from creating a notice to mailing it, mailing it back, and collecting and organizing information.
[0005]
In addition, broadcast methods such as television and radio generally have one-way notifications, and there is a disadvantage that the probability of obtaining a reply from a customer or the like is low. In addition, the method for using such a public broadcast network itself is extremely complicated and expensive.
[0006]
Therefore, in recent years, with the rapid spread of the so-called Internet, various types of information notifications to a large number of customers as described above are disclosed on websites and homepages (HP) held by the company, and the notifications It has been proposed to accept a reply from each customer by so-called e-mail.
[0007]
According to such a method using the Internet, if one web page is created or one text email is created, the information to be notified to a large number of customers can be quickly and easily delivered at once. be able to. Also, since replies from each customer can be communicated as data signals by e-mail, the replies can be processed in data, so that the information of each customer carried by the reply is collected and organized. Can be performed very simply.
[0008]
Further, according to such a communication system, in addition to the notification and reply regarding the event holding as described above, for example, registration of various members, exchange of information for the members, or various member services using the Internet, for example, online As for shops, it is possible to collect and organize information of each customer extremely easily.
[0009]
In general, homepages and websites are set so that they can be accessed not only by specific customers but also by users of an unspecified number of information terminals. In information communication with customers using the Internet as described above, In order to ensure communication security, identification information such as ID numbers and passwords for identifying each customer is set, and the customer is a provider only when the customer enters a regular ID number and password. The information can be transmitted to the customer, or the customer can withdraw information from the provider.
[0010]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the information communication system using the conventional Internet as described above, identification information such as an ID number and a password may be input in order to ensure communication security when a customer exchanges information. Although indispensable, there is a problem that the operation for inputting such an ID number and password takes time and the operation until access is complicated.
[0011]
In addition, the customer first receives an e-mail, and in order to register his / her information for the event displayed on the e-mail, the customer opens a desired home page or a predetermined website page introduced in the e-mail. From the above, the customer's information is written in a predetermined designated frame, but the receiving side needs to manage the customer information to be input in association with identification information for identifying the customer. There is a problem that the operation is extremely complicated for the customer because the identification information for individually identifying the customer such as his / her name, ID number, and his / her name must be entered in the frame specified together with the information of .
[0012]
In addition, the customer may forget or mistakenly remember his / her ID and password, and the website cannot be accessed unless the correct ID or password is remembered, which is extremely inconvenient. .
[0013]
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and information communication for communicating with customers by including URL address information of a website established by the company in an e-mail for introducing event information and the like. In an apparatus and an information communication system, it is possible to identify an accessing person who has made an access and collect information communicated at the time of the access by a simple operation.Information communication equipmentIs to provide.
[0014]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An information communication apparatus according to the present invention discloses event holding information, opens a website capable of accepting external access and event participation information, and sends at least e-mail to an external information communication apparatus via a communication network. An information communication device for transmittingStorage means for storing customer information relating to a plurality of customers including identification information for identifying the customers;Address information for accessing the website andIdentification information read from the storage meansA URL address formed by combining the URL address and the external information communication apparatus into the external information communication apparatus by including the URL address in the event holding notification e-mail to be transmitted to the external information communication apparatus; When access is made to the website from the external information communication device based on the URL address in the e-mail delivered to the information communication device ofSince the identification information in the URL address is any of the identification information included in the customer information stored in the storage means, the customer whose access is identified by the identification informationAnd an identification means for identifying that
Based on the URL address in the e-mail delivered to the external information communication device, when the access to deliver event participation information from the external information communication device to the Web site is made, the URL The event information delivered is associated with the customer information of the customer identified by the identification means from the identification information in the address and stored in the storage means.Is.
[0015]
Further, the event participation information may be information on whether or not the communication partner can participate in the event, and the participation date and time when participating.
[0016]
Alternatively, the communication partner may be a customer of the event organizer, and the customer representative may grasp the event participation information.
[0017]
[0018]
[0019]
[0020]
That is, according to the present inventionInformation communication equipmentThe email sourceofAddress information accessible to a Web site (Web page) where the information communication device publishes event holding information and accepts event participation information from outsideclientThe URL address formed by combining the identification information for identifying the URL is included in advance in the event notification email transmitted to the external information communication device and transmitted.
[0021]
That emailOutsideWhen it is delivered to other information communication devices,OutsideA customer who is a user of the information communication device looks at the e-mail and based on the URL address thereinOutsideThe information communication device accesses the Web site.
[0022]
At this time, the URL address has already been included from the time it was included in the e-mail.OutsideOf information communication equipmentIdentify customers who are usersSince the identification information is included in combination, this URL address is used by the customer clicking,OutsideInformation communication device by accessing from the information communication deviceIs the identification meansBased on the identification information in the URL address, the access isIdentified by identification informationclientIs due toCan be identified. Therefore, the information communication apparatus can automatically authenticate and accept the access at that time without the customer performing an operation of inputting the identification information.
[0023]
AndWhen access to deliver event participation information is made based on the URL address in the e-mail from an external information communication device, the information communication means identifies the access by the customer identified by the identification information. The event participation information sent from the external information communication device at the time of the access is automatically stored in the storage means in association with the customer specifying information determined based on the identification information from the external information communication device.
[0024]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0025]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This information communication system includes a server 1 on the host side having a Web server 2 (Information communication equipment), The Internet 3 (communication network), and the information communication terminal device 4 (using a customer personal computer) (External information communication device) And the main part is composed.
[0026]
More specifically, the server 1 establishes a Web site having an HP (homepage; hereinafter abbreviated as HP) that publishes event holding information and the like as will be described later. It goes without saying that this Web site is constructed on software using hardware such as a Web site use environment by the Web server 2.
[0027]
The server 1 includes a mail server 11 (transmission means), a router 12 using a communication modem, an access identification unit 13, a customer information collection unit 15 (information collection unit) to which a storage device 24 is connected, a Web While the server 2 and the control unit 14 for controlling them are built in, the interface 21 is used for various input operations for executing e-mail communication and the like with a monitor 21 of a display device such as a CRT of a terminal. An input device 22 such as a keyboard and a printer 23 are connected via a bus line or the like.
[0028]
Here, it is assumed that a plurality of monitors 21, printers 23, and input devices 24 owned by each department in the company are connected to the server 1 via a LAN.
[0029]
Needless to say, the mail server 11 has a function of creating a general electronic mail. In addition, the mail server 11 accesses a specific Web page provided from the Web server 2 following the Internet protocol (http). Web page address code 101 (address information) for identification and access code 102 (identification information) for identifying a customer are combined into one set to create URL address 100, which is incorporated into an e-mail and transmitted. It has a function. As a result, when a customer or the like who has received an e-mail clicks on the URL address 100 included in the e-mail, the customer automatically receives a specific Web page provided from the Web server 2 using the URL address 100. Access is started.
[0030]
The Web page address code 101 may be the domain name of the Web server 2 when connecting to the home page of the Web server 2, but here, the Web page address code 101 is directly directed to a specific Web page specified by a predetermined address in the Web server 2. In order to connect the information communication terminal device 4 on the customer side, the Web page address including the domain name of the Web server 2 is the Web page address code 101.
[0031]
As an example of the access code 102, as shown in FIG. 2, an ID 103 that can identify a customer and a so-called dedicated password 104 for confirming the legitimacy of the access are continuously displayed following the Web page address code 101. It is suitable to make it. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and information such as the customer name and other attributes may be further added to the access code 102. Or, conversely, if only to confirm the legitimacy of access, only the password may be set as the access code 102. If only the customer needs to be specified, only the ID may be set as the access code 102. Needless to say.
[0032]
Further, when creating the e-mail including the URL address 100 as described above, the mail server 11 sends information such as a customer ID and a dedicated password corresponding to the specified attribute to the customer information collecting unit 15. It also has a function of selecting and reading from stored customer information, and automatically loading it one by one for each e-mail addressed to each customer. For example, when creating an e-mail for event notification to a customer in a specific department, the customer data corresponding to the attribute of a customer in a specific department is automatically searched, and a list of customers and their individual It is also possible to read information such as the ID 103 corresponding to the mail address of each customer and the dedicated password 104 and automatically incorporate the information into the position representing the path name of the URL address 100 as the access code 102. is there.
[0033]
The router 12 is a communication device that selects a network connecting the server 1 and various external communication terminals based on an identification number (network address) for each network and performs communication. This router 12 may be a general one.
[0034]
When there is an access from the external information communication terminal device 4 to the Web server 2 that provides a Web page (see FIG. 4) for event participation registration that prompts the customer to input, the access identification unit 13 Whether it is possible to determine whether or not the access code 102 as described above is included in all the codes of the URL address 100 accessed from the beginning, and whether or not the customer input information input by the access can be authenticated as valid It is determined whether or not the access is made by the customer, and the access code 102 identifies which customer is making the access.
[0035]
If the access is authenticated as valid, information can be read from and written to the Web page provided by the Web server 2 until the access is accepted and terminated. Further, the customer who has made the access is specified from information such as an ID included in the access code 102.
[0036]
However, when the access code 102 as described above is not included in all the codes of the URL address 100 or when the predetermined valid access code 102 is not included, the access at that time The web page for event participation registration is displayed on the external information communication terminal device 4, but the input from there is ignored. In such a case, as shown in an example in FIG. 5, a Web page dedicated to displaying the event schedule notification HP is displayed, and customer registration and event registration may be performed by another method. Good.
[0037]
When various information is written from the customer to the Web page for event participation registration of the Web server 2, the customer information collecting unit 15 reads the customer input information in association with the customer specifying information into the storage device 24. / Store in a rewritable state. Then, for example, when a customer information read command corresponding to a specific attribute is input from the input device 22, the customer information collection unit 15 selects and reads the corresponding information and displays it on the monitor 21 or by the printer device 23. Print output.
[0038]
The control unit 14 is a central processing unit that controls the operation of each part constituting the main part of the server 1 as described above, and can be constructed on a small scale with a microprocessor of a personal computer and its peripheral elements.
[0039]
The information communication terminal device 4 on the individual customer side uses a personal computer or the like to access the Internet 3 by, for example, dial-up connection, connect to the mail server 11 or the Web server 2, and browse various HPs. It is. The information communication terminal device 4 may be an information communication terminal device 4 such as a personal computer having a general function.
[0040]
In the information communication terminal device 4 on the customer side, when the event schedule notification by the e-mail is delivered from the server 1 side, the customer opens the e-mail and browses the contents. If the customer clicks the URL address 100 included in the e-mail in advance, the web page of the Web server 2 specified by the URL address 100 can be obtained without performing a complicated operation of entering an ID, password, or the like separately. Information such as participation / non-participation in the event and date / time when participating can be written in the entry field of the Web page. In other words, access to the website constructed in the web server 2 and authentication thereof can be performed with an extremely simple operation.,An information communication system is set up.
[0041]
Next, the present invention relates toRuAn outline of the operation of the information communication system will be described. 8 to 9 are flowcharts showing the outline. First, on the server 1 side, an event notification email as shown in FIG. 3 is created. At this time, when a predetermined input operation is performed by the user on the server 1 side, the mail server 11 retrieves and reads customer information from the storage device 24 connected to the customer information collecting unit 15 (S1). Then, for each e-mail, an ID and a password corresponding to the name of the customer of the delivery destination are selected (S2), and those codes are provided as the access code 102 from the Web server 2 in FIG. The URL address 100 is combined after the address code 101 of the Web page (S3), and it is included in the contents of the e-mail (S4). On the other hand, a flag or the like carrying information to that effect is assigned to the information of a customer who has already created an e-mail (S5). The created electronic mail is delivered by the router 12 to the mail box (not shown) corresponding to the destination of the electronic mail via the Internet 3 or the like (Y to S7 in S6).
[0042]
As shown in FIG. 9, each customer opens his / her mailbox (S11), and confirms that an event notification email addressed to himself / herself has arrived. Browse (S12). Then, in order to reply to the server 1 with information on whether or not to participate in the event and the participation date and time, the URL address 100 included in the e-mail is clicked (S13). In an application for managing e-mail, a browser is associated with the URL address 100, and when clicked, the browser automatically connects to the Internet, and the Web server 2 on the server 1 side uses the Web page address code 101 included in the URL address 100. Access to the Web page to be provided is started (S14).
[0043]
By this access, the Web page shown in FIG. 4 including the format for writing the pre-registration information is displayed on the screen of the information communication terminal device 4 on the customer side (S15). The customer writes various customer input information such as attendance date / time and participation / non-participation corresponding to a predetermined blank in the format of the Web page (S16).
[0044]
On the server 1 side, when customer input information is received from the information communication terminal device 4 on the customer side, the access identification unit 13 includes the access code 102 in the URL address 100 used when accessing from the information communication terminal device 4. It is determined whether or not it is (S17).
[0045]
When this access code is the access code 102 created in step S3, specifically, the customer information stored in the storage device 24 is searched, and the ID of the customer from whom the access code 102 was created If the password is included, it is determined that a valid access code is included (Y in S18), and the customer input information written in the Web page is accessed by the customer information collection unit 15 at that time. Are stored in the storage device 24 in association with customer identification information such as ID and name (S19). The customer specifying information can be obtained from the access code 102 included in the URL address 100 used when accessing from the information communication terminal device 4.
[0046]
The customer information stored in the storage device 24 in this way is used when newly creating an e-mail different from the above or when it is necessary to grasp the participation information of each customer related to the event. Used. For example, when a customer information read command is input from the input device 22 connected via the LAN with a predetermined attribute as a condition (Y in S20), the read information is read in a format as shown in FIG. S21) and output to the monitor 23, printer 23, etc. (S21). As a result, the customer's person in charge, the department in charge of the customer, etc. can be ascertained for each department in charge of the customer and the visit date and time of the customer.
[0047]
On the other hand, when the access code 102 is not included in the URL address 100 or does not match the customer ID or password stored in the storage device 24, the valid access code 102 is not included, that is, e-mail It is determined that the access is not from the specific customer who sent the message (N in S18), the information communication terminal device 4 on the customer side is notified that the access code does not match, and the customer input information written by the access is invalidated Is performed (S22).
[0048]
On the other hand, in this system, in addition to the registration method by e-mail described above, a customer who has been notified of the event by a guide letter such as a postcard manually inputs data corresponding to the access code 102 from the information communication terminal device 4. Customer input information can also be registered.
[0049]
On the event organizer side, for example, the address of the home page shown in FIG. 5 and the access ID and password stored in the storage device 24 corresponding to the access code 102 for identifying the customer are included in a guide for the customer who notifies the event. It shall be described.
[0050]
A customer who wants to register first connects the information communication terminal device 4 to the Internet, and inputs the homepage address as a connection destination using a browser. With this input, the information communication terminal device 4 displays a home page introducing the event and its contents from the Web server 2 (S23).
[0051]
A customer who wants to register event participation information clicks the pre-registration button 501 of the displayed home page, and opens the front page of the pre-registration access format shown in FIG. 7 linked to the home page. Then, the customer writes the access ID and password written in the guide in blanks 702 and 703 in the page (S24), and clicks the collation button 701.
[0052]
The access ID and password correspond to the access code 102 described above, and if the customer is guided by a guide, the access ID and password are stored in the storage device 24. If they match, the registration page is displayed as described above (S26), and the customer input information is written to the customer (S27). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S19, and the same processing as the registration processing from the e-mail is performed. In step S25, if they do not match, it is determined that the input is incorrect, and the process returns to the pre-registration front page in step S24.
[0053]
[0054]
[0055]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the information communication apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.InAccording to the present invention, the identification information for identifying the accessor is included in the part of the URL address that designates the address in the Web server (the part that displays the path name) and sent to the external information communication apparatus by e-mail. When accessing from a communication device, the accessor can be automatically identified without requiring the accesser to input identification information.
[0056]
Furthermore, the customer input information entered by the customer at the time of access as described above can be stored in correspondence with the customer specifying information without inputting the information for specifying the customer, and a database can be created without bothering the customer. it can.
[0057]
Furthermore, the information communication apparatus according to claim 3InAccordingly, the customer's person in charge, the department in charge, etc. can be ascertained for each department in charge of the customer and each visit date and time of the customer, and the customer can be smoothly handled at the event.
[0058]
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 shows the present invention.InIt is a figure which shows schematic structure of the information communication system which concerns.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a URL address and an access code.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an event holding notification e-mail created by a mail server on the server side.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a page in which a format for writing pre-registration information is included.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an HP that can only be browsed in general for an event holding advance notice;
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an output format when various customer input information stored in association with customer identification information is read with specific attributes.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a pre-registration Web page for manually inputting customer specifying information.
FIG. 8 relates to the present invention.RuIt is a flowchart showing the outline | summary of operation | movement of an information communication system.
FIG. 9 relates to the present invention.RuIt is a flowchart showing the outline | summary of operation | movement of an information communication system.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Server, 2 ... Web server, 3 ... Internet, 4 ... Information communication terminal device

Claims (3)

An information communication device that publishes event holding information, opens a website that can accept external access and event participation information, and sends at least e-mail to external information communication devices via a communication network Storage means for storing customer information relating to a plurality of customers including identification information for identifying the customers;
A URL address formed by combining the address information for accessing the Web site and the identification information read from the storage means into one email to be sent to the external information communication device in the event holding notification Sending means for incorporating and sending to the external information communication device;
When the Web site is accessed from the external information communication device based on the URL address in the e-mail delivered to the external information communication device , the identification information in the URL address is Since it is any of the identification information included in the customer information stored in the storage means, the identification means for identifying that the access is by the customer identified by the identification information ,
Based on the URL address in the e-mail delivered to the external information communication device, when the access to deliver event participation information from the external information communication device to the Web site is made, the URL An information communication apparatus characterized in that the participation information of the delivered event is associated with the customer information of the customer identified by the identification means from the identification information in the address and stored in the storage means . The information communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the event participation information includes information on whether or not the customer can participate in the event, and participation date and time when participating. 3. The information communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the customer is a customer of an event organizer, and the customer representative grasps event participation information.

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