JP4745801B2 - Meeting support program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a conference support program, and more particularly to a conference support program for supporting the holding of an electronic conference held between terminal devices connected via a network.

  In an electronic conference system using an IP network, a conference is held via a terminal device connected by a conference participant to the IP network under monitoring by a conference server that manages the entire conference. In such an electronic conference system, as a standard for performing communication such as voice, video, and document data, for example, H.264 is used. H.323 is known.

  When a conference is held, the conference organizer needs to register and register the conference participants and the date and time of the conference with the electronic conference system and notify all the conference participants. When setting the meeting date and time, it is necessary to inquire the convenience of the date and time of the prospective attendee by telephone or e-mail, etc., and adjust the date according to the result to determine the date and time. was heavy. Therefore, when designation of a prospective participant is entered, the schedule information of the designated prospective participant is referred to, and candidates for the conference date and time are extracted based on the obtained free / busy information to reduce the burden on the conference organizer. A conference system has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

By the way, even if the date and time of the conference is determined in accordance with the schedule of the conference participants in this way, there are cases where the attendees are unable to attend because of the inconvenience of the participants. Or you may want to hold a meeting right away with urgent requirements. In such a case, checking the convenience of the participant directly by telephone places a considerable burden on the conference organizer. Therefore, a service providing system has also been proposed that, when designation of a conference participant is input, confirms presence information of the designated conference participant and activates an audio-video communication service when participation in the conference is possible. (For example, see Patent Document 2).
JP 2002-169939 A (paragraph numbers [0044] to [0054], FIG. 8) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-304666 (paragraph numbers [0018] to [0019], FIG. 1)

  The conventional electronic conferencing system is based on the premise that the meeting organizer has selected meeting participants in advance, and extracts the meeting date and time candidates according to the set schedule of meeting participants and checks the presence information. Or doing. For this reason, the work of the conference organizer selecting and registering the conference participants is essential.

  However, in practice, it is a troublesome task to select all the conference participants related to the conference to be held. For example, if the creator of the material used in the meeting, the person in charge in the related department, or the related meeting has been held in the past, all participants in the meeting are investigated and picked up as the target person. Thereafter, it is necessary to appropriately select a conference participant from these target persons according to the purpose of the conference.

  Conventionally, such time-consuming work has been performed manually, and there has been a problem that a considerable burden is placed on the conference organizer. For this reason, it is desired to reduce the burden on the meeting organizer by supporting such work.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and provides a conference support program that supports the work of determining participants in an electronic conference system and can reduce the burden on the conference organizer. With the goal.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a conference support program for causing a computer to execute the process shown in FIG. The conference support program according to the present invention is applied to the conference support apparatus 10 and can cause a computer to execute the following processing. When the electronic conference is held, the conference support apparatus 10 associates the participant information regarding the participants of the electronic conference with the conference related information including the material used in the electronic conference, and the conference information storage unit (Hereinafter referred to as a conference information database) 11. Then, when the related material search means 12 accepts the electronic conference participant setting request from the conference organizer terminal (user terminal in the figure) 20a, the conference information database 11 is searched based on the identification information of the conference organizer. The conference related information including the material associated with the conference organizer is extracted and presented to the conference organizer terminal (user terminal) 20a. Participant search means 13 searches conference information database 11 based on the search key when selecting any document or information item as a search key from the conference related information including the material extracted by the meeting organizer based on the presentation, and selects it. Participant information associated with the selected material or information item is extracted and provided to the meeting organizer terminal (user terminal) 20a.

  According to such a conference support device 10, when an electronic conference is held, the conference information database 11 is associated with the conference related information including the material using the participant information of the participants who participated in the electronic conference. Stored. Thus, each time an electronic conference is held, participant information associated with the conference related information is accumulated in the conference information database 11. Then, when the electronic conference participant setting request is received from the conference organizer terminal (user terminal) 20a, the conference information database 11 is searched based on the identification information of the conference organizer, and the past electronic data associated with the conference organizer is retrieved. Conference-related information including materials used for the conference is extracted. A list of conference related information including the extracted material is presented to the conference organizer terminal (user terminal) 20a. When the meeting organizer selects any item from the list as a search key and this search key is input via the meeting organizer terminal (user terminal) 20a, the meeting information database 11 is searched and associated based on the search key. The extracted participant information is extracted, and the participant information is provided to the conference organizer terminal (user terminal) 20a.

  In the present invention, the participant information in the past electronic conference is stored in the conference information database in association with the conference related information including the used material, and the conference information database is searched according to the conference participant setting request, Providing meeting organizers with information about participants associated with a specified document or information item. As a result, the conference organizer obtains information related to the participants who participated in the past electronic conference using the desired material or the past electronic conference related to the desired information item. Based on this, it is possible to set the participants of the electronic conference scheduled to be held. Participants who have participated in related electronic conferences are likely to be related to the current agenda, and by presenting those participants, it is possible to easily select necessary participants.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the concept of the invention applied to the embodiment will be described, and then the specific contents of the embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of the invention applied to the embodiment.

  The conference system according to the present invention is a conference support that provides support up to and at the time of holding an electronic conference between the user terminals 20a, 20b, and 20c connected via a network (not shown) and the user terminals 20a, 20b, and 20c. A device 10 is included.

  The conference support apparatus 10 includes a conference information database 11, a related material search unit 12, a participant search unit 13, a conference holding processing unit 14, a conference control unit 15, and a presence information acquisition unit 16, and the processing functions of each unit are as follows. This is realized by the computer executing the conference support program. The user terminal 20 a includes a meeting request unit 21, a material selection unit 22, and a meeting holding request unit 23. The terminal B (20b) and the terminal C (20c) are the same as the user terminal 20a. In the following description, it is assumed that the conference organizer's terminal is the user terminal 20a.

  The conference information database 11 is a database that stores participant information related to participants of the held electronic conference in association with related information such as materials used in the electronic conference and the theme of the conference. The related information including the related material can be searched from the identification information of the participant. Conversely, the corresponding participant information can be searched using the material or the related information as a search key. In addition to conference participant information, material creator information relating to the creator of the material is also stored in association with the material.

  When the related material search unit 12 receives the electronic conference participant setting request input from the conference request unit 21 of the user terminal 20a of the conference organizer, the related material search unit 12 searches the conference information database 11 using the conference organizer as a search key, Extract all materials or related information associated with the meeting organizer. The extracted material or related information is transmitted to the user terminal 20a and provided to the conference organizer. The meeting organizer refers to the main member of the meeting, and may be other than the user of the user terminal 20a as necessary. For example, it may be desirable to perform a search with a previous person or another person, such as when planning an electronic conference related to a business handed over from a previous person.

  The participant search means 13 searches the conference information database 11 based on the search key selected by the material selection means 22 among the materials or related information extracted by the related material search means 12. Then, participant information and material creator information associated with the search key are extracted. Based on the extracted participant information and material creator information, a participant list in which corresponding participants and material creators are registered is created, transmitted to the user terminal 20a, and provided to the conference organizer. At this time, the presence information of the participant and the material creator is acquired from the presence information acquisition means 16 and attached to the participant list. The presence information acquisition unit 16 may add presence information to the participant list created by the participant search unit 13 and transmit the presence information to the user terminal 20a.

  The conference holding processing unit 14 performs processing such as adjustment of the date and time of conference holding and notification of conference holding based on the selected participant input from the conference holding request unit 23. It is also possible to perform a process of inviting participants to a conference to be held immediately or to a conference currently being held.

  The conference control means 15 controls the electronic conference held by the conference organizer, associates the participant information of this conference with related information including the used material, and stores the related information in the conference information database 11. The document takes any form such as document data, electronic data such as video / audio data, etc. in addition to the document, but has unique identification information attached thereto, and is managed by this identification information in the conference information database 11. Further, not only conference participant information but also material creator information is stored in association with the material. The related information is information related to the conference such as the theme of the conference and the target product, and can be obtained, for example, by extracting a keyword from the notification of the conference held or the material distributed to the participants of the material. In addition, the conference organizer may arbitrarily set it.

  The presence information acquisition unit 16 acquires the presence information of the participant and the material creator extracted by the participant search unit 13 and notifies the participant search unit 13 of the acquired presence information. The presence status of each user (at present, absent, busy, return immediately, away from the seat, etc.) is managed by a presence management device (not shown). A state (during a meeting, preparing for a meeting, etc.) is added and sent to the participant search means 13.

The user terminal 20a will be described.
The meeting request unit 21 transmits a request (hereinafter referred to as a meeting request) for the user (in this case, the meeting organizer) to set a participant of the electronic meeting to the related material search unit 12. If necessary, attach identification information of the meeting organizer or designated person to the request. In addition, the material acquired from the related material search means 12 or the list information of the related information is displayed on the display means and presented to the conference organizer.

  When the meeting organizer selects an arbitrary item as a search key based on a list of materials or related information provided by the meeting request unit 21 via a display device or the like, the document selection unit 22 selects the search key as a participant search unit. 13 to send. Further, the participant list acquired from the participant search means 13 is displayed on a display means or the like and presented to the meeting organizer.

  When the conference organizer selects a participant based on the participant list provided by the material selection unit 22 via the display device or the like, the conference holding request unit 23 transmits the selected participant information to the conference holding processing unit 14. To do.

An operation of the conference system having the conference support apparatus 10 having such a configuration will be described.
The meeting organizer who plans the meeting makes a meeting request to the meeting support apparatus 10 via the meeting request unit 21 of the user terminal 20a. In the conference support apparatus 10, the related material search unit 12 searches the conference information database 11 based on the identification information of the conference organizer, extracts the material or related information associated with this conference organizer, and the conference request unit 21. To the meeting organizer via In the conference information database 11, the materials used in the conference in which the conference organizer participated by the conference control means 15 and the related information of the conference are stored in association with the conference organizer. As a result, the conference organizer can acquire a list of materials used in conferences in which the conference organizer has participated in the past or related information.

  The meeting organizer selects any document or related information such as a document to be reused in the current meeting from the list as a search key for the participant search, and notifies the meeting support apparatus 10 via the document selection means 22. To do. In the conference support apparatus 10, the participant search means 13 searches the conference information database 11 based on the search key, extracts the associated participant information and material creator information, and creates a participant list. Further, the presence information of the participants set in the participant list is attached and sent to the user terminal 20a. Then, it is provided to the meeting organizer via the material selection means 22. Thereby, the conference organizer can acquire the list information of the conference participants and the material creators related to the arbitrarily selected search key and the presence information thereof. Then, the conference organizer selects a participant to be invited to the conference from the list information and presence information of the participant and the material creator, and notifies the conference support apparatus 10 via the conference holding request unit 23. In the meeting support apparatus 10, the meeting holding processing means 14 notifies the selected participant and performs processing for holding the meeting.

  When a meeting is held again using materials, the participants and creators of the meetings held using the materials are likely to be related to the current agenda. By extracting them into the list and presenting them as a participant list, it is possible to support the selection of participants by the conference organizer, and the conference organizer can easily select all necessary participants. Also, by presenting the presence information of the corresponding participant together with the participant list, it is not necessary to confirm whether or not the user is present and the selection work becomes easier. In addition, for example, participants in a meeting for a given product are likely to be related to the agenda for that product or similar products, so by automatically extracting such people using relevant information, Participant selection can be facilitated.

In the embodiment, each processing function can be shared by a plurality of processing devices, and a system configuration in which the processing is performed in cooperation with each other can be achieved.
Hereinafter, an example in which the embodiment is applied to a Web video conference system will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the conference system according to the embodiment of this invention.
The Web video conference system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a Web video conference server 100 that manages a Web video conference, a Web video conference client 200, and an MMCU (Messenger-Multimedia Control Unit) server 300. Here, the Web video conference server 100 is arranged in the Internet or DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone), and the client 200 and the MMCU server 300 are arranged in an intranet such as an in-house LAN.

  The Web video conference server 100 includes an MMC (Multimedia Meeting Center) server 110 that manages Web video conferences, an MCU (Multimedia Control Unit) server 120 that processes conference services, and a conference information database (hereinafter referred to as DB) that stores various types of information related to conferences. And a recording file (storage device) 130. The MMC server 110 manages user information and conference information for the Web video conference service. The MCU server 120 performs conference communication to control data such as video / audio / shared material and conference. The conference information DB & recorded file (storage device) 130 is a storage device accessible from the MMC server 110 and the conference control server 120, and stores information related to the conference and a recorded file recorded during the conference.

  In the example shown in the figure, the client 200 is constituted by each client PC-A (201), PC-B (202), and PC-C (203) arranged for each user who performs a web video conference. In the following description, a representative of each client will be described as a client 200 unless otherwise limited. The client 200 is a Web video conference client and a presence management client for the MMCU server 300.

  The MMCU server 300 manages the presence status of the user of the managed client 200 and operates in cooperation with the Web video conference server 100 to transfer messages to and from the client 200. The status of the client 200 to be managed is managed by the presence information 310. In general, in-house networks and the like often incorporate a presence management system for checking the presence status of a user. Although the existing presence management system can check the presence status of each user of the client 200, it is not linked to the Web video conference system, and therefore other conference participants by the conference organizer using the client 200 There has been a problem that the state confirmation operation of the system becomes complicated. In addition, when the Web video conference server 100 has a unique presence management function, data cannot be shared with an existing presence management system. For example, if it is not registered in the Web video conference server 100, presence management is performed. Convenience was low, such as being unable to. On the other hand, the MMCU server 300 enables the presence management function and the messenger processing function to operate in a coordinated manner, thereby improving convenience.

  In the above description, the MMCU server 300 is arranged in the intranet. However, it can be arranged on the Internet side. Thus, by separating the Web video conference server 100 and the MMCU server 300 so that they can communicate with each other, it is possible to increase security and flexibly cope with changes in the system configuration.

Here, the hardware configuration of the MMCU server 300 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the MMCU server according to the present embodiment.
The entire MMCU server 300 is controlled by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 301. A random access memory (RAM) 302, a hard disk drive (HDD) 303, a graphic processing device 304, an input interface 305, and a communication interface 306 are connected to the CPU 301 via a bus 307.

  The RAM 302 temporarily stores at least part of an OS (Operating System) program and application programs to be executed by the CPU 301. The RAM 302 stores various data necessary for processing by the CPU 301. The HDD 303 stores an OS and application programs. A monitor 308 is connected to the graphic processing device 304, and an image is displayed on the screen of the monitor 308 in accordance with a command from the CPU 301. A keyboard 309 a and a mouse 309 b are connected to the input interface 305, and signals sent from the keyboard 309 a and the mouse 309 b are transmitted to the CPU 301 via the bus 307. The communication interface 306 is connected to the network 400 and transmits / receives data to / from the client 200 and the Web video conference server 100 via the network 400.

  With such a hardware configuration, the processing functions of the present embodiment can be realized. 3 shows the hardware configuration of the MMCU server 300, the hardware configurations of the MMC server 110, the MCU server 120, and the client 200 are the same.

Next, the software configuration of each device according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a software configuration example of the Web video conference system according to the present embodiment.
The MMC server 110, in addition to schedule management such as reservation and invitation of a web video conference, a conference schedule control processing unit 111 that generates a participant list, an account processing unit 112 that manages user accounts and manages authentication of the client 200, Recording data management processing unit 113 for managing recording files stored in the conference information DB & recording file 130, recording data access right management processing unit 114 for managing access rights to the recording data stored in the meeting information DB & recording file 130, An IP telephone call control processing unit 115 and a communication processing unit 116 that perform IP telephone call control between the clients 200 are connected to the client 200 via the communication processing unit 116 to provide Web-based conference management.

  The MCU server 120 includes a voice synthesis / transcode processing unit 121 that performs voice data synthesis and code conversion processing of each client, a voice packet priority processing unit 122 that distributes voice packets according to priority, and streaming processing of video / audio data. A video / audio stream processing unit 123 to perform, a shared data distribution processing unit 124 that distributes data shared between clients such as materials to each client, a recording control processing unit 125 that controls recording of a conference instructed to record, A conference state control unit 126 and a communication processing unit 127 that control the execution are provided, and the web video conference client 220 of the client 200 is connected via the communication processing unit 127 to control the execution of the conference.

  The MMCU server 300 includes a presence state control unit 311 that manages the presence state of the client 200, an MMC server request processing unit 312 that processes a request to the MMC server 110 such as a conference request, and a messenger that transfers data such as presence information and messages. A data processing unit 313 and a communication processing unit 314 are provided, and are connected to the messenger client 230, the MMC server 110, and the MCU server 120 of the client 200 via the communication processing unit 314, and process presence management and message relay.

  The client 200 includes a web browser 210 that performs web-based processing, a web video conference client 220 that operates as a web video conference client, and a messenger client 230 that operates as a messenger client under the management of the MMCU server 300. The web video conference client 220 includes a video processing unit 221 that compresses and decompresses video signals, an audio processing unit 222 that compresses and decompresses audio signals, a conference data processing unit 223 that processes data generated during the conference, and an MCU server 120. A connection control processing unit 224 and a communication processing unit 225 that control the connection of the video server, exchange video / audio and other data with the MCU server 120 connected via the communication processing unit 225, and provide the user with a web video conference Process to provide. The messenger client 230 includes a presence information processing unit 231 that performs processing related to presence information, a message transmission / reception processing unit 232 that processes a message transmitted to another device or a message acquired from another device, and a connection control that controls a connection with the MMCU server 300. A processing unit 233 and a communication processing unit 234 are provided to exchange presence information, message data, and the like with the MMCU server 300, and perform processing for transmitting presence information and messages of other devices to the user. It also performs processing for transmitting the presence information and message of its own device to other devices.

  In the Web video conference system configured as described above, each client 200 is connected to a microphone that collects the user's voice and a camera that captures the user, and an audio signal input from the microphone and a captured video signal are received by the video processing unit. The data is transmitted to the MCU server 120 via the audio processing unit 222 and the audio processing unit 222. The conference proceeds by the MCU server 120 synthesizing and distributing the video / audio signals collected from each client to each client.

  Hereinafter, conference support processing executed in the Web video conference system until a conference is held will be described. There are two types of conferences: an instant meeting that can be held immediately without prior reservation, and a schedule meeting that is reserved and held in advance. In the instant meeting, an invitation to the conference held by the conference organizer is issued to the selected participant, and a conference including the selected participant is started. In addition, there is a case where the meeting organizer makes a meeting request to an arbitrary participant and the meeting is held by the requested participant. On the other hand, in the schedule meeting, a conference opening notice is transmitted to the selected participants by e-mail or the like in advance, and the conference is held when the designated date and time are reached. The process up to the selection of the participant is performed in the same procedure as in the instant meeting. However, in the case of a scheduled meeting, it is not necessary to refer to the current presence information of the user.

Here, the operation of the Web video conference system according to the embodiment will be described in the case where the conference organizer holds an instant meeting.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of processing when the conference organizer of the present embodiment holds an instant meeting.

  In the example of the figure, it is assumed that the conference data 131, 132, 133 stored in the conference information DB & recording file 130 are stored in association with a conference identification code, conference participants, and used materials.

  First, a meeting organizer (user A) who uses the client 200 makes a meeting request to the Web video conference server 100 via the client 200 (step S1). The Web video conference server 100 receives the conference request and the user A ID.

  The Web video conference server 100 searches the conference data 131, 132, 133 based on the ID of the user A, extracts materials for the conferences 131 and 133 in which the user A is included in the participants, and lists the materials. Is transmitted to the client 200 (step S2). The client 200 displays the material list display screen 241 on the display device based on the received material list, and provides the user A with the material list. In the example of the figure, material a (meeting 090261), material b (meeting 090261) and material d (meeting 093603) are displayed.

  When the user A refers to the material list display screen 241 and selects the material a, the client 200 notifies the Web video conference server 100 that the material a has been selected (step S3).

  When the Web video conference server 100 receives the notification that the material a is selected, the Web video conference server 100 performs a search using the material a as a search key, extracts participant information associated with the material a, creates the participant list information, It transmits to the client 200 (step S4). The presence information is added to the participant list information by the MMCU server 300 and is sent to the client 200. In the example in the figure, participants B and C (conference 092601) who participated in the conference 131 held in the material a, and participants B, D, and E (conference 092602) that participated in the conference 132 are extracted. In addition, whether or not A attends this meeting is added as necessary. The client 200 displays a presence list display screen 242 on the display device based on the received participant list and presence information, and provides the user A with the participant and its presence information. In the example of the figure, the names of participants (user B and user C) of the conference in which user A is present and their presence information (user B is present and user C is absent) are displayed. Similarly, the names of participants (user D and user E) of the conference in which user A did not attend, and their presence information (user D is present and user E is away) are displayed.

  User A refers to this presence list display screen 242 and selects participants to participate in the current electronic conference. Here, user B is selected. The client 200 designates the selected user B as an invitee to the conference, and transmits a conference request to the Web video conference server 100 (step S5). The web video conference server 100 that has received the request starts instant meeting processing by the user A and the user B.

  The processes of the MMC server 110, the MCU server 120, the client 200, and the MMCU server 300 constituting the Web video conference system will be described in detail along the above procedure.

  First, the processing procedure up to the selection of conference participants will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a processing procedure up to selection of a conference participant when the conference organizer of the present embodiment holds an instant meeting. Hereinafter, it is assumed that PC-A (201) is a client of a meeting organizer and PC-B (202) is a client of an invited participant.

  [Step S1-1] When the conference organizer (user A) operates the PC-A (201) and inputs a conference request instruction, the messenger client 230 of the PC-A (201) issues a conference request, Transmit to the MMCU server 300.

[Step S1-2] Upon receiving the meeting request, the MMCU server 300 accesses the MMC server 110 and transmits the meeting request of the user A.
[Step S2-1] Upon receiving the meeting request of the user A, the MMC server 110 searches the meeting information stored in the meeting information DB & recording file 130 using the user A as a search key, and the past meeting in which the user A participated. The material information used in the above is extracted, a material list is created, and transmitted to the MMCU server 300.

  [Step S2-2] The MMCU server 300 transmits the list of materials related to the user A acquired from the MMC server 110 to the messenger client 230 of the PC-A (201).

  By executing the above processing procedure, the client, PC-A (201) acquires the list information of the materials used in the conference in which user A participated. The PC-A (201) provides the material list to the user A by displaying the material list display screen 241 based on the material list information. User A can check all materials used in the conference in which the user A participates from the material list display screen 241.

  [Step S3-1] When the user A operates the PC-A (201) and inputs the material to be reused in the planned meeting, the messenger client 230 of the PC-A (201) stores information on the selected material. Transmit to the MMCU server 300. Here, it is assumed that the user A selects the material a, and the MMCU server 300 is notified that “the user A has selected the material a”.

[Step S <b> 3-2] When the MMCU server 300 receives the notification “user A selects material a”, the MMCU server 300 transfers this notification to the MMC server 110.
[Step S4-1] Upon receiving the notification “user A selects material a”, the MMC server 110 searches the conference information stored in the conference information DB & recording file 130 using the material a as a search key, and stores the material a. The information on the participants associated with the conference, that is, the participant information of the past conference in which the material a is used is extracted. Then, a participant list is created based on the extracted participant information, and is transmitted to the MMCU server 300.

  [Step S4-2] Upon receiving the participant list of the conference in which the material a is used from the MMC server 110, the MMCU server 300 acquires presence information regarding the participant registered in the participant list, and the participant list. At the same time, it is transmitted to the messenger client 230 of the PC-A (201).

  By executing the above processing procedure, the PC-A (201) acquires the participant list of the conference using the material a designated by the user A and its presence information. The PC-A (201) provides the participant list and the presence information to the user A by displaying the presence list display screen 242 based on the participant list and the presence information. From the presence list display screen 242, the user A can confirm participants who have participated in past meetings using the material a, that is, users who are highly required to participate in the current meeting.

  [Step S5-1] When the user A operates the PC-A (201) to select a participant, the messenger client 230 of the PC-A (201) sends a meeting request with the selected participant to the MMCU server 300. Send to. Here, it is assumed that the user A selects the user B, and the MMCU server 300 is notified of “a meeting holding request by inviting the user B”.

  Next, the procedure from the meeting request until the instant meeting is held will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a processing procedure until the conference is held when the conference organizer of the present embodiment holds an instant meeting.

The MMCU server 300 acquires “a meeting holding request by inviting the user B”, and the process is started.
[Step S6-1] The MMCU server 300 transmits a participation request to the client PC-B (202) of the user B so as to participate in the instant meeting held by the user A.

  [Step S6-2] The messenger client 230 of the PC-B (202) of the user B notifies the user B of the participation request. When the user B operates the PC-B (202) and accepts the user A's meeting participation request, a notification of “participation acceptance” is transmitted from the messenger client 230 of the PC-B (202) to the MMCU server 300.

[Step S7-1] The MMCU server 300 accesses the MMC server 110 and requests the user A to hold a conference.
[Step S <b> 7-2] When the MMC server 110 acquires the user A's meeting request, the MMC server 110 obtains information necessary for the user A's meeting (such as the address of the MCU server 120, the meeting ID, and the conference prior material information). Reply to 300.

[Step S7-3] The MMCU server 300 transmits the reply (conference information) acquired from the MMC server 110 to the PC-A (201) of the user A.
[Step S8-1] In PC-A (201) of user A, messenger client 230 activates Web video conference client 220. The web video conference client 220 connects to the MCU server 120 and starts conference communication.

[Step S8-2] The MCU server 120 notifies the MMCU server 300 that the conference communication with the PC-A (201) has started as a change in the conference state.
[Step S8-3] The MMCU server 300 detects the conference holding state of the PC-A (201) of the user A based on the notification from the MCU server 120. Then, the client connected to the MMCU server 300 is notified that the conference state of the PC-A (201) has become the conference holding state. In this case, notification is made to each messenger client 230 included in the PC-A (201) and the PC-B (202).

[Step S9-1] Subsequently, the MMCU server 300 accesses the MMC server 110 and requests user B to participate in the user A holding conference.
[Step S <b> 9-2] When the MMC server 110 obtains a request for participation in the user A holding conference of the user B from the MMCU server 300, conference information necessary for the user B to participate in this conference (the address of the MCU server, (Conference ID, conference prior material information, etc.) are returned to the MMCU server 300.

[Step S9-3] The MMCU server 300 transmits the reply (conference information) acquired from the MMC server 110 to the PC-B (202) of the user B.
[Step S9-4] In PC B (202) of user B, messenger client 230 activates Web video conference client 220. The web video conference client 220 connects to the MCU server 120 and starts conference communication.

Thereafter, the processing from step S8-2 to step S8-3 is repeated to notify that user B's PC-B (202) has joined the conference.
Through these processing procedures, participants are selected based on the participant list of participants who participated in past electronic conferences conducted using the materials used this time, and an instant meeting between the selected participants and the conference organizer Will be held. Note that the conference may be held by the user B by requesting the user B to hold the conference instead of the user A who planned the conference.

  As described above, in the Web video conference system according to the present embodiment, the burden on the conference organizer can be reduced by supporting a series of processes from selecting a participant to holding an instant meeting.

In the above description, the case where the participant is selected from the list of participants of the past conferences performed using the selected material has been described. However, the creator of the material can also be included in the participant list.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flow of processing when the conference organizer of the present embodiment holds an instant meeting by including the document creator in the participant list.

  In the example of the figure, the conference data 134, 135, 136 stored in the conference information DB & recorded file 130 is stored in association with the conference identification code, the conference participants, the materials used, and the creators of the materials. To do.

  First, a meeting organizer (user A) who uses the client 200 makes a meeting request to the Web video conference server 100 via the client 200 (step S11). The Web video conference server 100 receives the conference request and the user A ID.

  The web video conference server 100 searches the conference data 134, 135, 136 based on the ID of the user A, extracts materials for the conferences 134 and 136 in which the user A is included in the participants, and lists the materials. Is transmitted to the client 200 (step S12). The client 200 displays the material list display screen 243 on the display device based on the received material list, and provides the user A with the material list. In the example of the figure, material a (meeting 090261), material b (meeting 090261) and material d (meeting 093603) are displayed.

  When the user A refers to the material list display screen 243 and selects the material d, the client 200 notifies the Web video conference server 100 that the material d has been selected (step S13).

  Upon receiving the notification that the material d has been selected, the Web video conference server 100 performs a search using the material d as a search key, extracts participant information and creator information associated with the material d, and lists the participants. Information is created and transmitted to the client 200 (step S14). Presence information is added to the participant list information by the MMCU server 300 and sent to the client 200. In the example of the figure, user A is present and participants B and K (conference 092603) who participated in conference 136 held at document d and user A participated in conference 135 held at document d without attending. Participants D and E (conference 092602) are extracted. Furthermore, the user D who is the material creator is extracted, and a participant list is generated from the extracted participants and the material creator. Presence information is attached to the participant list and transmitted to the client 200. The client 200 displays a presence list display screen 244 on the display device based on the received participant list and presence information.

  User A refers to the presence list display screen 244 and selects a participant of the current electronic conference. Here, the user D is selected. The client 200 transmits a conference request to the selected user D to the Web video conference server 100 (step S15). Upon receiving the request, the Web video conference server 100 starts the instant meeting process by the user A and the user D.

  A processing procedure up to selection of conference participants in the MMC server 110, the MCU server 120, the client 200, and the MMCU server 300 constituting the Web video conference system will be described along the above procedure. The processing after the participant is selected is the same as the processing procedure shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a processing procedure up to selection of a conference participant including a material creator according to the present embodiment.
[Step S11-1] When the meeting organizer (user A) operates the PC-A (201) and inputs a meeting request instruction, the messenger client 230 of the PC-A (201) issues a meeting request, Transmit to the MMCU server 300.

[Step S11-2] Upon receiving the meeting request, the MMCU server 300 accesses the MMC server 110 and transmits the meeting request of the user A.
[Step S12-1] Upon receiving the meeting request of the user A, the MMC server 110 searches the meeting information stored in the meeting information DB & recording file 130 using the user A as a search key, and the past meeting in which the user A participated. The material information used in the above is extracted, a material list is created, and transmitted to the MMCU server 300.

  [Step S12-2] The MMCU server 300 transmits the material list regarding the user A acquired from the MMC server 110 to the messenger client 230 of the PC-A (201).

  By executing the above processing procedure, the client, PC-A (201) acquires the list information of the materials used in the conference in which user A participated. The PC-A (201) provides the material list to the user A by displaying the material list display screen 243 based on the list information of the material. User A can confirm all materials used in the conference in which the user A participates from the material list display screen 243.

  [Step S13-1] When the user A operates the PC-A (201) and inputs the material to be reused in the meeting requested to be held, the messenger client 230 of the PC-A (201) receives information on the selected material. Is transmitted to the MMCU server 300. Here, it is assumed that user A selects material d, and MMCU server 300 is notified that “user A has selected material d”.

[Step S <b> 13-2] When the MMCU server 300 receives a notification “user A selects material d”, the MMCU server 300 transfers this notification to the MMC server 110.
[Step S <b> 14-1] Upon receiving the notification “user A selects material d”, the MMC server 110 searches for conference information stored in the conference information DB & recording file 130 using the material d as a search key, and material d Participant of the conference associated with the information, that is, the participant information of the past conference in which the material d is used and the creator information that created the material d are extracted. Then, a participant list is created from the extracted participants and the material creator, and transmitted to the MMCU server 300.

  [Step S14-2] When the MMCU server 300 receives the participant list from the MMC server 110, the MMCU server 300 acquires the presence information regarding the participants and the material creator registered in the participant list, and together with the participant list, the PC-A ( 201) to the messenger client 230.

  By executing the above processing procedure, the PC-A (201) acquires the participant list of the conference using the material d designated by the user A and its presence information. The PC-A (201) provides the participant list and the presence information to the user A by displaying the presence list display screen 244 based on the participant list and the presence information. From the presence list display screen 244, the user A can confirm participants who have participated in past meetings using the material d and creators of the material d, that is, users who are highly required to participate in the current meeting. .

[Step S15-1] When the user A operates the PC-A (201) to select a participant, the messenger client 230 of the PC-A (201) sends a meeting request with the selected participant to the MMCU server 300. Send to. Here, it is assumed that the user A selects the user D, and the MMCU server 300 is notified of “a meeting request by inviting the user D”.
By executing the above processing procedure, the conference organizer can select participants including the document creator.

  The above processing functions can be realized by a server computer of a client server system. In that case, a server program describing the processing contents of the functions that the conference support apparatus should have is provided. The server computer executes the server program in response to a request from the client computer. As a result, the processing function is realized on the server computer, and the processing result is provided to the client computer.

  The server program describing the processing contents can be recorded on a recording medium readable by the server computer. Examples of the recording medium readable by the server computer include a magnetic recording device, an optical disk, a magneto-optical recording medium, and a semiconductor memory. Examples of the magnetic recording device include a hard disk device (HDD), a flexible disk (FD), and a magnetic tape. Optical disks include DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), DVD-RAM, CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), CD-R (Recordable) / RW (ReWritable), and the like. Magneto-optical recording media include MO (Magneto-Optical disk).

When distributing a server program, for example, portable recording media such as a DVD and a CD-ROM on which the server program is recorded are sold.
The server computer that executes the server program stores, for example, the server program recorded on the portable recording medium in its own storage device. Then, the server computer reads the server program from its own storage device and executes processing according to the server program. The server computer can also read the server program directly from the portable recording medium and execute processing according to the server program.

(Supplementary Note 1) In a conference support program for supporting the holding of an electronic conference held between terminal devices connected via a network,
On the computer,
When the electronic conference is held, the conference control means stores the participant information related to the participants of the electronic conference in the conference information storage means in association with the conference related information including the material used in the electronic conference;
When the related material search unit accepts the electronic conference participant setting request from the conference organizer terminal, the conference information storage unit is searched based on the identification information of the conference organizer, and the material associated with the conference organizer Extracting the meeting related information including, and presenting it to the meeting organizer terminal;
When an arbitrary document or information item is selected from the extracted conference related information, the participant search unit searches the conference information storage unit based on the selected document or the information item, and the document or the information Extracting participant information associated with the information item and providing it to the conference organizer terminal;
A conference support program characterized by causing

(Supplementary Note 2) In the step in which the participant search means provides the extracted participant information to the conference organizer terminal,
Obtaining presence information related to the participant corresponding to the extracted participant information, and providing the presence information as a participant list to the conference organizer terminal;
The meeting support program according to appendix 1, wherein the process is executed.

(Supplementary Note 3) In the step in which the participant search means acquires the presence information,
Based on the presence management program, the presence status of the user of the terminal device is monitored according to the operating status of the terminal device connected via the network, and the computer that generates the presence information is connected via the network, Obtaining the presence information corresponding to the participant list from a computer executing the presence management program;
The meeting support program according to appendix 2, wherein the process is executed.

(Supplementary Note 4) The conference control unit stores in the conference information storage unit the creator information related to the creator of the material in association with the material,
In the step of providing the participant information extracted by the participant search means to the conference organizer terminal, if the search key used for the search is a document, the creator information is further determined based on the search key. The search also extracts the creator information, and provides the extracted creator information together with the extracted participant information.
The meeting support program according to appendix 1, wherein the process is executed.

(Supplementary Note 5) In the step of the participant search means providing the extracted participant information to the conference organizer terminal,
Providing the extracted participant information separately for the participant information of the electronic conference in which the conference organizer was present and the participant information of the electronic conference in which the conference organizer was not present;
The meeting support program according to appendix 1, wherein the process is executed.

(Appendix 6)
When the selected participant information and the conference holding instruction regarding the selected participant selected by the conference organizer are input based on the extracted participant information, the conference holding processing means inputs the selection based on the selected participant information. Starting an electronic conference between a participant's terminal and the conference organizer terminal;
The conference support program according to appendix 1, wherein the program is executed.

(Supplementary note 7) In a meeting support method for supporting the holding of an electronic conference held between terminal devices connected via a network,
When the electronic conference is held, the conference control means stores the electronic conference participant information in the conference information storage means in association with the conference related information including the material used in the electronic conference,
When the related material search unit accepts the electronic conference participant setting request from the conference organizer terminal, the conference information storage unit is searched based on the identification information of the conference organizer, and the material associated with the conference organizer And extract the conference related information including
When an arbitrary search key is selected from the extracted conference related information, the participant search means searches the conference information storage means based on the search key and extracts participant information associated with the search key Provided to the conference organizer terminal,
A conference support method comprising a procedure.

(Supplementary note 8) In a conference support device for supporting the holding of an electronic conference held between terminal devices connected via a network,
Concerning the held electronic conference, conference information storage means for storing participant information of the electronic conference and conference related information including materials used in the electronic conference,
When accepting the electronic conference participant setting request from the conference organizer terminal, the conference information storage unit is searched based on the identification information of the conference organizer, and the conference related information including the material associated with the conference organizer is obtained. Related material retrieval means for extracting and presenting to the conference organizer terminal;
When an arbitrary search key is selected from the extracted conference related information, the conference information storage unit is searched based on the search key, participant information associated with the search key is extracted, and the conference organizer Participant search means provided to the terminal,
A conference support apparatus comprising:

It is a conceptual diagram of the invention applied to embodiment. It is a block diagram of the conference system of embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structural example of the MMCU server of this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the software structural example of the web video conference system of this Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the flow of the process in case the meeting organizer of this Embodiment hold | maintains an instant meeting. It is the figure which showed the process sequence until meeting participant selection in case the meeting organizer of this Embodiment holds an instant meeting. It is the figure which showed the process sequence until meeting holding when the meeting organizer of this Embodiment holds an instant meeting. It is the figure which showed the flow of a process in case the meeting organizer of this Embodiment hold | maintains a material creator in a participant list and holds an instant meeting. It is the figure which showed the process sequence until meeting participant selection including the material creator of this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 Conference Support Device 11 Conference Information Database (DB)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Related material search means 13 Participant search means 14 Meeting holding process means 15 Meeting control means 16 Presence information acquisition means 20a, 20b, 20c User terminal 21 Meeting request means 22 Material selection means 23 Meeting holding request means

Claims (5)

In a conference support program for supporting the holding of an electronic conference held between terminal devices connected via a network,
On the computer,
Is related article search means, when receiving the participants setting request of the electronic conference from the conference organizer terminal, the participant information identifying the participants in the electronic conference, which was held in the past, said the materials used in the electronic conference Participants corresponding to the conference organizer 's identification information by searching for conference information storage means associated with the conference related information including the identification information attached to the document and stored in advance based on the conference organizer 's identification information a step of user extracts the front Machinery discussions related information associated with the information, and presents the extracted said identification information attached to the article contained in the conference-related information to the meeting organizer terminal,
When the participant search means accepts that the conference organizer has selected the presented identification information as a search key , the participant search means searches the conference information storage means based on the search key , and the participant associated with the search key Extracting information, based on the identification information of the conference organizer, the participant information of the electronic conference in which the conference organizer was present with the extracted participant information, and the conference organizer was not present Providing to the conference organizer terminal separately from the participant information of the electronic conference ;
A conference support program characterized by causing In the step of providing the participant information extracted by the participant search means to the conference organizer terminal,
Obtaining presence information indicating the presence or absence of the participant corresponding to the extracted participant information, and providing the presence information as a participant list to the conference organizer terminal;
The meeting support program according to claim 1, wherein the process is executed. In the step of the participant search means obtaining the presence information,
Based on the presence management program, the presence status of the user of the terminal device is monitored according to the operating status of the terminal device connected via the network, and the computer that generates the presence information is connected via the network, Obtaining the presence information corresponding to the participant list from a computer executing the presence management program;
The conference support program according to claim 2, wherein the process is executed. In the meeting information storage means, creator information related to the creator of the material is stored in association with the identification information attached to the material,
The participants search means, in the step of providing extracted the participant information to the meeting organizer terminal, also extracts the author information by searching the creator information based on prior Symbol search key is extracted Providing the creator information together with the extracted participant information;
The meeting support program according to claim 1, wherein the process is executed. On the computer,
When the selected participant information and the conference holding instruction regarding the selected participant selected by the conference organizer are input based on the extracted participant information, the conference holding processing means inputs the selection based on the selected participant information. Starting an electronic conference between a participant's terminal and the conference organizer terminal;
The conference support program according to claim 1, wherein:

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