JP3990687B2 - Network terminal - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to another software that stands by in the background (back) of the display device when a predetermined condition is satisfied while displaying a screen of a certain software program in the foreground (front surface) controlled by an operator input operation of the display device. The present invention relates to a network terminal that displays a program screen in the foreground.

  Generally, operating systems used in network terminals such as personal computers (personal computers) operate asynchronously in the background separately from programs that operate in the foreground of display devices such as word processors and spreadsheets (foreground programs). Multiple programs (background programs) can be processed. This background program displays its screen in the foreground when operator intervention is required. As a typical example that requires this operator intervention, for example, when a virus is detected by a virus monitoring program, or when an abnormality occurs due to activation processing from a server device, the call button is pressed from the handset of the softphone. Or when an incoming call request is received from a softphone. Hereinafter, a case where an incoming call request is received from the outside with a soft phone will be described as an example.

  In order to spread the Internet from the conventional telephone connection on the public line and save telephone charges, H. IP telephones using protocols such as H.323 and SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) have become widespread. For this reason, a telephone handset is connected to a general-purpose network terminal such as a personal computer, and the telephone function is realized together. This is called a softphone. The handset is equipped with only a dial button, a speaker, and a microphone, like a normal telephone, and various displays are shared by displaying on a personal computer screen. This network terminal is loaded with application software for realizing the IP telephone function.

  For example, if you receive a call from outside while performing general work such as a word processor or spreadsheet on a PC equipped with a soft phone, you can use a handset sound or a PC screen system as an incoming call display method. There were methods such as displaying incoming calls in the display area. If you only want to play the handset sound, the operator will temporarily stop working, open the phone function screen on the computer, and open the screen to display the caller in order to know who has received the call. It was necessary to confirm. In this method, it was troublesome to interrupt the operation and open the telephone function screen. In particular, when the operator wears a headset on the head, such as a call center, there is no key to be operated like a handset on the headset. It is. In such a case, the switching operation from the general business to the telephone function screen is troublesome. As another method, the method of displaying the incoming call display in the system display area tends to be overlooked because it is generally displayed small in the corner of the screen.

In addition, the following techniques are known as various incoming call display technologies. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-133260 discloses a technique for displaying an incoming call on a part of a function screen when an incoming call is received when switching from a standby screen to a function screen. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228688 discloses a technique for displaying an incoming call icon when an incoming call is received on any screen, and enabling an incoming call response by selecting this icon. Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for automatically popping up a memo mail display window on the foreground without a callee operation.
JP 2004-7144 A JP 2002-368842 A JP-A-11-98250

However, a network terminal having a conventional telephone function has the following problems.
(1) On a network terminal such as a personal computer with a man-machine interface, if an asynchronous event such as an incoming call occurs while a general business key is being entered on the foreground program display screen, a background program such as an incoming call screen is displayed. The screen suddenly comes to the front for the operator.
(2) For this reason, the key input data may be erroneously sent to a background program such as an incoming call screen while the operator's operation is transitioning from a general job to a background program.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a network terminal that can solve the above-described problems and can suitably display a background screen in the foreground in a predetermined case.

  The above-described problem is displayed on the foreground with a first means for displaying the first screen in the foreground of the display device and a second screen waiting in the background of the display device when a predetermined condition is satisfied. A network terminal having a second means for operating and an input device for operating the first and second screens, and operating the first screen when the predetermined condition is satisfied The network terminal that displays the second screen in the foreground according to the input state of the input device solves the problem.

  Here, the input state can be an input state obtained by prediction. For example, assuming that the probability and interval of input generation by the input device follow a statistical distribution such as Poisson distribution, the next input state can be predicted, and the second screen can be displayed in the foreground accordingly. The display of the second screen on the foreground can be performed with a certain delay time according to the input state. The first screen may be an information input screen, the second screen may be an IP phone screen, and when the predetermined condition is satisfied, an IP phone call may be received. it can. In this case, the information input screen refers to a screen that is displayed on the display device when performing general work such as inputting information such as characters using a word processor. The IP phone screen refers to, for example, a phone operation softphone screen displayed on a display device when operating a softphone.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides a function for determining the input state of the input device that operates the first screen displayed in the foreground of the display device when a predetermined condition is satisfied, according to the determination result of the input state, The present invention relates to a program for causing a computer to realize a function of displaying a second screen waiting in the background of the display device in the foreground. Here, the input state may be at least one of an input speed and a specific key input operation in the input device. The first screen may be an information input screen, the second screen may be an IP phone screen, and when the predetermined condition is satisfied, an IP phone call may be received. it can.

According to the present invention, the following network terminal can be obtained.
(1) When the background program requires operator intervention, competition control can be performed with the foreground program. Therefore, the background screen can be suitably displayed in the foreground in a predetermined case.
(2) Thereby, for example, when an asynchronous event such as an incoming call occurs during a terminal operation, a transition to an operator intervention operation of a background program such as an incoming call screen can be performed smoothly. In addition, it is possible to greatly reduce the frequency at which key input data for general business is erroneously input to a background program such as an incoming call screen during the transition during terminal operation.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a network terminal according to the present invention will be described by taking a personal computer (PC) equipped with a softphone as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, a POS terminal or other dedicated terminal. The same applies to.
In this embodiment, a case where an asynchronous event “incoming call” in a softphone competes with a keyboard input operation in a general business by a personal computer will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration example to which a network terminal according to the present invention is connected. The system of this example includes a personal computer (PC) 1 as a network terminal, a softphone handset 2 for an IP phone, a server device 3, a gateway 4, a public line network 5, and an external phone 6. The personal computer 1 has a softphone function, and the handset 2 has a microphone and a speaker for performing transmission / reception for the softphone. The server device 3 performs telephone control and outgoing / incoming control using a VoIP function known by SIP or the like, such as conversion of a telephone number and an IP address. The gateway 4 performs signal system conversion between a general public line network 5 and an IP telephone network. An external telephone 6 that is a general analog telephone is connected to the public line network 5.

  The personal computer 1 normally displays an information input screen for general work such as a word processor in the foreground of the display device. Here, when an IP phone call is received, the IP phone screen that has been waiting in the background is displayed in the foreground of the display device. At this time, in the present invention, an information input screen such as a word processor is displayed. The IP phone screen is displayed in the foreground according to the input state of an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse that operates. Details thereof will be described later. Before that, first, a configuration example of hardware and software of the personal computer 1 will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware block configuration example of the personal computer 1 shown in FIG. The personal computer 1 of this example includes a CPU 101, a memory 102, a LAN control board 103, an input device 104, a display device 105, an external storage device (HDD) 106, and a USB control board 107. Connected to. The CPU 101 controls the entire personal computer, and the memory 102 temporarily stores computer programs and tables. The LAN control board 103 controls a local area network (LAN) interface. The input device 104 is an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse, and the display device 105 is a display device such as a monitor or a liquid crystal panel. The HDD 106 is, for example, an external storage device such as a hard disk that stores computer programs, tables, and databases related to application software such as word processors, spreadsheets, and IP phones (softphones). The USB control board 107 is a handset. 2 for controlling a USB signal system, for example.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a software block configuration example of the personal computer 1 shown in FIG. As illustrated, the personal computer 1 includes a softphone application unit 110, an operating system (OS) 120, and an input / output control unit 130. The softphone application unit 110 includes an event control unit 111, a voice control unit 112, a transmission control unit 113, an incoming call control unit 114, and a screen operation control unit 115. The input / output control unit 130 includes a LAN control unit 131, a handset control unit 132 connected to the handset 2, a hard disk control unit 133 connected to the HDD 106, an input control unit 134 connected to the input device 104, and the display device 105. The display control unit 135 is connected.

In the softphone application unit 110, the event control unit 111 receives and controls various input / output events via the OS 120. The voice control unit 112 instructs the handset control unit 132 or the LAN control unit 131 to transfer voice data to be transmitted / received. In other words, the received voice message is received from the LAN control unit 131 to the event control unit 111 and the voice control unit 112, and is decompressed into voice data by the voice control unit 112. Data can be sent to the handset control unit 132 and heard as a received sound. On the contrary, at the time of transmission, the voice data input from the handset 2 is transferred from the handset control unit 132 to the voice control unit 112 via the event control unit 111, and the voice control unit 112 receives the received voice data. It is divided and compressed to generate a voice message. The data is sent to the LAN control unit 131, and the LAN control unit 131 sends it as a voice message. The transmission control unit 113 receives a transmission instruction operation event from the handset 2 or the input device 104 via the input / output control unit 130 and activates the screen operation control unit 115 for transmission. The incoming call control unit 114 controls incoming calls from the external telephone 6 that have passed through the LAN control board 103. The screen operation control unit 115 performs outgoing / incoming operation control through a screen for operating the softphone.
The OS 120 performs schedule management such as input / output control, event notification, application activation, and termination.

The input / output control unit 130 includes a driver for controlling a keyboard, a handset, a LAN, and the like. That is, the LAN control unit 131 includes a driver for controlling the LAN interface, TCP / IP protocol control, and the like, and the handset control unit 132 includes a driver for controlling the USB interface, hardware control of the handset, and the like. The hard disk control unit 133 includes a driver such as SCSI for controlling the HDD 106, management such as file creation and deletion. The input control unit 134 includes an input driver such as a keyboard and a mouse that controls the input device 104. The display control unit 135 includes a display driver that controls the display device 105, video memory management, and the like.
Next, an example of the appearance of the soft phone screen (IP phone screen) and the handset in the personal computer 1 will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a softphone screen in the personal computer 1 shown in FIG. The softphone screen 140 of this example includes a numeric keypad number input area 141 for dial input, a guidance display area 142 for displaying various statuses such as “Yobidachu”, a numeric keypad area 143 created on the screen, and outgoing / incoming calls A button 144, a disconnect button 145, and a control button area 146 are provided. Here, by selecting the numeric keypad in the numeric keypad area 143, dial input can be made to the numeric keypad input area 141. After dial input, a call operation can be performed by pressing the call / receive button 144. When an incoming call is received, the incoming call operation can be performed by pressing the outgoing / incoming button 144. By pressing the disconnect button 145, the telephone can be disconnected. The control button area 146 has various control buttons (not shown) for transferring, holding, etc., for example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance of the handset 2 in the personal computer 1 shown in FIG. The handset 2 of this example includes a speaker 201, a call incoming / outgoing button 202, a disconnect button 203, a numeric keypad input area 204, and a microphone 205. The handset 2 can perform a call operation by selecting a numeric keypad in the numeric keypad area 204, inputting a dial, and pressing a call button 202, like a normal telephone. When an incoming call is received, the incoming call operation can be performed by pressing the outgoing / incoming button 202. By pressing the disconnect button 203, the telephone can be disconnected.
Next, an example of a telegram format of the IP phone and a telegram format between the personal computer 1 and the handset 2 will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a telegram format for an IP phone. This example shows a message format in an upper layer of the TCP / IP protocol using a LAN message, and includes a source address 601, a destination address 602, a session number 603, and content 604. The source address 601 and the destination address 602 are identification addresses of a source and a destination such as an IP phone URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) for designating a telephone number or a telephone, respectively. For example, when the session number 603 is a code indicating outgoing / incoming call control (SIP) of an IP phone (soft phone), the content 604 is connection (call incoming / outgoing) or disconnection, and the session number 603 is voice data (RTP) of the phone. ), The content 604 is telephone voice data.

  FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating an example of a message format between the personal computer 1 and the handset 2. FIG. 4A shows a message format from the handset 2 to the personal computer 1, an identifier “IN” 701 indicating that the input is from the handset 2 to the personal computer 1, and an input code 702 that is input key information. And are included. FIG. 5B shows a message format from the personal computer 1 to the handset 2, an identifier “OUT” 711 indicating that the output is from the personal computer 1 to the handset 2, and an output such as a display from the personal computer 1. Code 712 is included. In addition, by dividing the audio data, it is possible to transmit and receive in the same electronic message format.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an input journal of input events from the input device 104 of the personal computer 1. The input journal of this example includes an input time 801 and, for example, an input key code 802 of the keyboard. As shown in the figure, the input key code (0, 1, ENTER, A, A) corresponding to the input time 801 is shown. , B, etc.) are recorded in time series. Here, the input key code 802 is, for example, a character code. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The input key code 802 may be content indicating a matrix position of a key, contact (make), and break (break) before conversion to the character code.

  FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams showing examples of event formats generated from the input control unit 134 of the personal computer 1 to the softphone application unit, particularly the event control unit 111. FIG. 5A shows “INPUT 0” as the input attribute 901 and the value of “number of strokes / sec” as the input speed 902 actually inputted. The input speed 902 represents the number of keystrokes generated at a monitoring input interval, which will be described later, by the speed, and indicates the input speed and frequency during the current input. FIG. 5B shows an event that “INPUT 1” is shown as the input attribute 901 and “ENTER” key is pressed as the monitored key event (monitoring key event) 903.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an event journal generated from the input control unit 134 of the personal computer 1 to the softphone application unit, particularly the event control unit 111. The input journal of this example includes an event occurrence time 1001, an input attribute 1002 (901), and event contents 1003. The event content 1003 stores a monitoring input speed 902 and a monitoring key event 903 corresponding to the input attribute 1002 (901) in time series.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of preset of items whose input is monitored by the input control unit 134 in the input state from the input device 104. In this example, a monitor input interval 1101, a monitor input speed 1102, an activation delay time 1103, and a monitor key 1104 are included. For example, in this example, the monitoring input interval 1101 is equal to the event “INPUT 0” or “INPUT 1”, in this example, the number of keystrokes at every one second interval. It means that it is counting and monitoring. The monitoring input speed 1102 is for monitoring whether or not the keystroke input speed generated at the monitoring input interval 1101 exceeds the monitoring input speed. In this example, “1 stroke / sec” is set. Has been. As a result, it is possible to reduce the probability of contention with the operator by capturing the change in the keystroke input speed and starting the application by incoming call when the input frequency is in the direction of decreasing.

  In this example, the determination is based on the comparison of the monitoring input speed 1102, but a probability distribution such as an exponential distribution or a Poisson distribution can be used by using the input interval itself and its variation. As a result, the next input state can be predicted to improve accuracy. The accuracy of these predictions can be improved by a learning function.

  In addition, the activation delay time 1103 delays the time to activate the softphone screen from the reception of the event of the arrival of the LAN message content 604 when the keystroke input speed exceeds the monitoring input speed 1102, for example. Shows time. The monitoring key 1104 designates a monitoring key to be monitored in addition to the monitoring input speed 1102. In this example, it is an “ENTER” key. This is a key for delimiting input, and the operator's habit of entering an input pause immediately after inputting the “ENTER” key is focused on. By starting the application by receiving an incoming call during this suspension period, the probability of competition with the operator is reduced. In addition to the “ENTER” key, the monitoring key 1104 may be a key such as “DEL” or “BS”, or a plurality of these may be designated.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the LAN control unit 131, the input control unit 134, and the event control unit 111. First, when a message is received from the outside (S1201), the LAN control unit 131 determines whether or not the session number 603 of the received message indicates a softphone-related code (S1202). As a result, if “No”, other processing is performed (S1203). That is, the corresponding application is activated to execute related processing. On the other hand, in the case of “Yes”, that is, in the case of a message indicating “received call” or “voice message” received, an incoming call event is generated for the softphone application unit 110 (S1204).

  Next, the input control unit 134 counts the number of keystrokes input from, for example, a keyboard at every monitoring input interval 1101 in the next loop of steps S1211, S1212. That is, first, the number of keystrokes is counted (S1211), and it is determined whether the monitoring input interval 1101 has elapsed (S1212). As a result, if “No”, the process returns to step S1211 to count the number of keystrokes again. On the other hand, if “Yes”, the input speed is calculated from the number of keystrokes counted (measured) at the monitoring input interval 1101 (S1213), and the keystroke input speed event (INPUT 0: 901, input speed 902) is detected. Occurs (S1214). This is notified to the event control unit 111, and it is determined whether or not the key designated by the monitoring key 1104 has been input (S1215). As a result, if “No”, the process returns to step S1211. On the other hand, in the case of “Yes”, a monitoring key input event (INPUT 1: 901, monitoring key 903) is generated and notified to the event control unit 111.

  Next, the event control unit 111 receives any event. That is, when an event of the keystroke input speed occurs, this is received (S1221), and an event journal is created in time series as shown in FIG. If an event for monitoring key input occurs, this event is received (S1222), and in this case as well, an event journal is created in chronological order as shown in FIG. Normally, while the input is continued, events are recorded by looping through steps S1221 and S1222. If an incoming call event is received from step S1204 (S1223), the softphone application unit 110 receives the received event and substantial softphone event processing is executed (S1224). Hereinafter, this process will be described.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the softphone event processing S1224 of FIG. First, it is determined whether the received message is an incoming message (S1301). As a result, if “No”, it is determined whether or not it is a voice message (S1302). As a result, if “No”, other processing is performed (S1303). That is, processing corresponding to other messages is performed. On the other hand, when the message received in step S1302 is a voice message (“Yes”), the event control unit 111 transmits the received voice message to the voice control unit 112 (S1304). The voice control unit 112 can decompress this into voice data, buffer it in a certain chunk, send the data to the handset control unit 132, and listen to it as a reception sound.

  When the message received in the previous step S1301 is an incoming message (“Yes”), the background program screen has been activated for an operator intervention request in the past. Monitor key input status in general business. Therefore, first, it is determined whether or not the key input is a monitoring key input event (S1311). As a result, in the case of “No”, it is determined whether or not the keystroke input speed is faster than the monitoring input speed (S1312). In this way, the key input state is monitored in steps S1311 and S1312.

  When the determination is “Yes” in step S1311, for example, when the “ENTER” key to be monitored is input, the screen operation control unit 115 is activated (S1314). As a result, the screen in the background (back), that is, the softphone screen 140, for the notification of the incoming call to the operator and the operation intervention for taking a call, is displayed in the foreground (front) of the display device 105. Similarly, in step S1312, if the determination is “Yes”, for example, if the monitoring condition is satisfied due to a decrease in the key input speed, a certain delay time is provided until activation (S1313), and then the screen operation control unit 115 is activated (S1314), and the softphone screen 140 is displayed. In this example, the key input speed and the activation delay time are combined. However, when the step S1313 is omitted and the key input speed becomes lower than the monitoring input speed, a method of immediately starting the screen operation control unit 115 is started. Very good.

  This embodiment can be executed by a computer program. That is, when there is an incoming IP phone call, a function for determining the input state of the input device for operating the information input screen displayed in the foreground of the display device, the display according to the determination result of this input state A program for causing a computer to realize a function of displaying an IP telephone screen (softphone screen) waiting in the background of the apparatus in the foreground can be provided. Further, this program can be stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, and can be downloaded by uploading via an electric communication line such as the Internet, and is appropriately installed in a network terminal such as a personal computer. be able to.

As described above, the present invention has been described by taking as an example the conflict between an incoming call on a softphone and an input operation on a keyboard. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an incoming event on this softphone can be replaced with a virus detection event on a virus monitoring program, an activation event from a server, or a call button press event from a handset on a softphone. The present invention is applicable.
In this embodiment, the input operation from the keyboard is exemplified as the input speed and the specific monitoring key. However, the input operation by other man-machine interface such as mouse click operation and barcode input can be similarly applied. It is. Also, monitoring values such as input speed and input interval can be set for each user of the terminal device, and the predicted value of the next input state can be changed. Thereby, wrinkles according to the user are reflected, and the prediction accuracy of the next input state can be improved.

  The present invention relates to a network terminal that displays, in the foreground, another screen that stands by in the background of the display device when a predetermined condition is satisfied while the screen is displayed in the foreground of the display device, for example. there is a possibility.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration example to which the network terminal which concerns on this invention is connected. It is a figure which shows the hardware block structural example of the personal computer 1 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a software block structure of the personal computer 1 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the softphone screen in the personal computer 1 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the external appearance of the handset 2 in the personal computer 1 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the message format of IP telephone. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the example of the message | telegram format between the personal computer 1 and the handset 2. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an input journal of input events from the input device 104 of the personal computer 1. FIG. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the example of the event format generated from the input control part 134 of the personal computer 1 to the softphone application part, especially the event control part 111. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an event journal generated from an input control unit 134 of the personal computer 1 to a softphone application unit, in particular, an event control unit 111. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of presetting items whose input state from the input device 104 is monitored by the input control unit 134; 4 is a flowchart showing processing contents of a LAN control unit 131, an input control unit 134, and an event control unit 111. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of softphone event process S1224 of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 PC 2 Handset 3 Server 4 Gateway 5 Public network 6 External phone 101 CPU
102 Memory 103 LAN control board 104 Input device 105 Display device 106 HDD
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 107 USB control board 110 Softphone application part 111 Event control part 112 Voice control part 113 Transmission control part 114 Incoming control part 115 Screen operation control part 120 Operating system 130 Input / output control part 131 LAN control part 132 Handset control part 133 Hard disk control part 134 Input control unit 135 Display control unit

Claims (6)

A first means for displaying the first screen in the foreground of the display device, and a second means for displaying in the foreground a second screen waiting in the background of the display device when a predetermined condition is satisfied. means, a network terminal having a keyboard for operating the first and second screen, when the predetermined condition is satisfied, the said keyboard for operating the first screen the A network terminal, wherein the second screen is displayed in the foreground according to at least one input state of a key input speed for inputting information to one screen and an input operation of a specific key. .   The network terminal according to claim 1, wherein the input state is an input state obtained by prediction.   The network terminal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the display of the second screen on the foreground is performed with a certain delay time according to the input state.   4. The network according to claim 1, wherein the second screen is an IP phone screen and the predetermined condition is satisfied when an IP phone call is received. Terminal. Of the key input speed for inputting information to the first screen of the keyboard for operating the first screen displayed in the foreground of the display device when the predetermined condition is satisfied and the input operation of a specific key A program for causing a computer to realize a function for discriminating at least one input state and a function for displaying a second screen waiting in the background of the display device in the foreground according to the discrimination result of the input state . The second screen is an IP phone screen, and when said predetermined condition is satisfied is when a call of the IP telephone, claim 5 Symbol mounting program.

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