JP6421805B2 - Management program and conference management method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a management program and a conference management method for managing a remote conference via a network.

  Conventionally, a technology related to a remote conference via a network is known. In the document distribution method in the video conference system disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a video conference is reserved at a terminal station, a list of prospective participants of the conference is registered in the conference participation DB of the reservation server. When the document data is registered in the reservation server by the terminal station, the reservation server acquires the e-mail address of the prospective participant of the conference from the conference participation DB. The mail address list is embedded in the material data. The reservation server sends the material data to the mail addresses included in the mail address list at a predetermined timing.

JP 2004-112617 A

  It is assumed that another remote conference using the material data used in a certain remote conference is held. In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, the order in which characters and the like are written in the material is not specified in the material data registered in the reservation server. Therefore, when the user uses the material based on the registered material data in another remote conference, there is a problem that the material cannot be displayed according to the order in which characters or the like are written on the material.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a management program and a conference management method capable of displaying materials in other remote conferences according to the order in which characters or the like are written in the materials in a remote conference.

A management program according to the first aspect of the present invention is provided from a first terminal device connected to the network to a computer of a conference management server device that manages a remote conference executed between a plurality of terminal devices via a network. A first reception step of receiving a request to participate in the remote conference including first user information which is user information for identifying a user corresponding to the first terminal device, and between the plurality of terminal devices in the remote conference Data indicating one image in the material that can be browsed in the image, the position information indicating the position of the image in the material, and the image specifying data specifying the start point and end point of the image, the image specifying data The user corresponding to each of the plurality of terminal devices includes material data that includes a plurality of images in which the images corresponding to are specified in the material. A first acquisition step of acquiring correspondence material data, which is the material data corresponding to the first user information included in the participation request received in the first reception step, from a storage device that stores a plurality of items in association with information; Transmitting the image specifying data based on the corresponding material data acquired in the first acquiring step to a second terminal device connected to the network and participating in the remote conference and sharing the material data; A second acquisition step of acquiring an order in which the image corresponding to the image specifying data and the image specifying data is provided in the document based on the input of the image specifying data from the first terminal device; The image specifying data acquired in the second acquiring step and the image corresponding to the image specifying data are the assets. Storing the material data based on the order provided in the storage device in association with the first user information, and storing the material data in the storage device in the storage step in association with the first user information. A second reception step of receiving a change instruction that is an instruction to change the position information indicated by any of the image specifying data included in the document data when stored; and the change instruction in the second reception step Is received, the updating step of updating the position information indicated by the image specifying data corresponding to the change instruction to the new position information while maintaining the order of the image specifying data in the material data. Let it run.
The management program according to the second aspect of the present invention includes: position information indicating a position of the image in the material, and image specifying data for specifying a start point and an end point of the image in the image specifying data. The first receiving step from the storage device that stores a plurality of material data that includes a plurality of the corresponding images specified in the order in which the images are provided in association with the user information corresponding to each of the plurality of terminal devices A first acquisition step of acquiring corresponding material data that is the material data corresponding to the first user information included in the participation request received in the step, and based on the corresponding material data acquired in the first acquisition step The image specifying data is transmitted to a second terminal device connected to the network and participating in the remote conference and sharing the document data. A transmission step and a second acquisition step of acquiring an order in which the image specifying data and the image corresponding to the image specifying data are provided in the document based on the input of the image specifying data from the first terminal device And storing the image specifying data acquired in the second acquiring step and the document data based on the order in which the images corresponding to the image specifying data are provided in the document in association with the first user information A storage step stored in a device, and the user information is associated with role information indicating a role of the user in the remote conference corresponding to the user information,
The storing step stores, in association with the image specifying data, first transmission target information that defines the second terminal device to which the image specifying data included in the material data is to be transmitted according to the role information. And the role information associated with the second user information that is the user information corresponding to the second terminal device, and the image specifying data included in the correspondence material data acquired in the first acquisition step. Based on the associated first transmission target information, a first determination step of determining the image specifying data to be transmitted to the second terminal device among the image specifying data included in the corresponding document data is executed. The transmission step transmits the image specifying data corresponding to the determination result in the first determination step to the second terminal device. And wherein the door.
A management program according to the third aspect of the present invention is provided from a first terminal device connected to a network to a computer of a conference management server device that manages a remote conference executed between a plurality of terminal devices via a network. A first reception step of receiving a request to participate in the remote conference including first user information which is user information for identifying a user corresponding to the first terminal device, and between the plurality of terminal devices in the remote conference Data indicating one image in the material that can be browsed in the image, the position information indicating the position of the image in the material, and the image specifying data specifying the start point and end point of the image, the image specifying data The user corresponding to each of the plurality of terminal devices includes material data that includes a plurality of images in which the images corresponding to are specified in the material. A first acquisition step of acquiring correspondence material data, which is the material data corresponding to the first user information included in the participation request received in the first reception step, from a storage device that stores a plurality of items in association with information; Transmitting the image specifying data based on the corresponding material data acquired in the first acquiring step to a second terminal device connected to the network and participating in the remote conference and sharing the material data; A second acquisition step of acquiring an order in which the image corresponding to the image specifying data and the image specifying data is provided in the document based on the input of the image specifying data from the first terminal device; The image specifying data acquired in the second acquiring step and the image corresponding to the image specifying data are the assets. Storing the material data based on the order provided in the storage device in association with the first user information in the storage device, wherein the storage step includes meeting identification information for identifying the remote meeting, With reference to the conference data associated with the conference mode information that determines the execution mode of the remote conference, the second terminal device to which the image specifying data included in the document data is transmitted is set as the conference mode information. Second transmission target information determined accordingly is stored in association with the image specifying data, and is included in the conference mode information of the remote conference being executed and the corresponding material data acquired in the first acquisition step. Based on the second transmission target information associated with the image specifying data, the image specifying data included in the corresponding document data. A second determination step of determining the image specifying data to be transmitted to the second terminal device of the data, and the transmission step outputs the image specifying data according to the determination result in the second determination step to the second It transmits to a terminal device, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

When the management program according to the first aspect , the second aspect, or the third aspect of the present invention is executed, in the first reception step, to the remote conference including the first user information for identifying the user corresponding to the first terminal device A join request is received. Corresponding material data is acquired from a storage device that stores a plurality of material data based on the received first user information. The material data is data indicating material browsed between a plurality of terminal devices in a remote conference. The document data includes a plurality of pieces of image specifying data indicating one image in the document by specifying the order in which the images are provided on the document. The image specifying data specifies the position information of the image in the material and the start point and end point of the image. Therefore, the remote conference can display the materials according to the order in which the images are provided on the materials based on the material data. That is, if the material data of a material used in a certain remote conference is stored in the storage device in association with the first user information, it is included in the participation request by executing the first acquisition step in another remote conference. Corresponding material data corresponding to the first user information is acquired. Since the image specifying data based on the acquired corresponding material data is transmitted to the second terminal device that participates in the remote conference and shares the material data in the transmission step, the material based on the corresponding material data is transmitted to the second terminal device. Can be viewed. Therefore, the management program according to the present invention, depending on the order in which characters and the like is written in the article at some remote conference can view the article in another teleconference.

A conference management method according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is a conference management method for managing a remote conference executed between a plurality of terminal devices via a network, and in the first remote conference, the plurality of terminal devices. The data indicating the image according to the fact that one image is provided by the first terminal device connected to the network in the material that can be browsed between, the position indicating the position of the image in the material A first data acquisition step of sequentially acquiring information and image specifying data specifying the start point and end point of the image by specifying the order in which the image corresponding to the image specifying data is provided in the material; The image specifying data acquired in the first data acquiring step includes a plurality of the images specifying the order in which the images corresponding to the image specifying data are provided in the material. A generating step for generating fee data, and a storage for storing the material data generated in the generating step in association with first user information, which is user information for identifying a user corresponding to the first terminal device, in a storage device And a second remote conference executed between a plurality of terminal devices different from the combination of the plurality of terminal devices in the first remote conference, the first user information from the first terminal device including the first user information A receiving step of receiving a request for participation in two remote conferences, and the first user information based on the first user information participating in the second remote conference included in the participation request received in the receiving step. a second data acquisition step of acquiring the document data stored in the associated first teleconference from said storage device, Transmitting the image specifying data based on the material data acquired in the second data acquiring step to a second terminal device connected to the network and participating in the remote conference and sharing the material data; Prepare.

In the conference management method according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first remote conference, an image corresponding to the image is provided in accordance with the fact that one image is provided by the first terminal device on materials that can be browsed by a plurality of terminal devices. The specific data is acquired by specifying the order in which the images are provided in the material. In the generating step, material data including a plurality of acquired image specifying data by specifying an order in which images corresponding to the image specifying data are provided in the material is generated. The generated document data is stored in the storage device in association with the first user information. In addition, in the second remote conference, the material data associated with the first user information is acquired from the storage device in response to receiving a participation request including the first user information for identifying the first terminal device. . In the transmission step, the image identification data based on the acquired material data is transmitted to the second terminal device that participates in the remote conference and shares the material data, so that the material based on the material data can be viewed on the second terminal device. become. Therefore, the conference management method according to the fourth aspect of the present invention can display materials in the second remote conference according to the order in which characters and the like are written in the materials in the first remote conference.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the remote conference system 1, and the electrical structure of the conference management server apparatus 11 and the terminal device 12. FIG. It is a figure which shows the main window. It is a figure which shows the meeting table. 5 is a diagram illustrating a process in which an image 231 is formed on a whiteboard window 23. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the image specific data and WB data. It is a flowchart of an image specific data reception process. It is a flowchart of a WB data storage process. It is a flowchart of an attribute change process. It is a figure explaining operation performed in whiteboard window 23 in order to change position information on image specific data. It is a figure for demonstrating a mode that the attribute of the image specific data which comprises WB data 70 is changed. It is a flowchart of a WB data transmission process. It is a flowchart of a transmission determination process. It is a flowchart of the transmission determination process classified by role. It is a flowchart of the transmission determination process according to conference mode. It is a figure for demonstrating the images 231A, 231B, and 231C displayed on the whiteboard windows 23A, 23B, and 23C when the transmission determination process is executed.

  The remote conference system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The remote conference system 1 includes a conference management server device 11, an online storage 15, and terminal devices 12A, 12B, and 12C. In addition, when not distinguishing each of terminal device 12A, 12B, 12C, or when naming generically, it is only called "terminal device 12." The terminal devices 12A, 12B, and 12C are operated by users 13A, 13B, and 13C (see FIG. 2), respectively. When the users 13A, 13B, and 13C are not distinguished from each other or are collectively referred to, they are simply referred to as “user 13”. The conference management server device 11, the online storage 15, and the terminal device 12 are communicably connected via a network 14 including the Internet, a LAN, and other dedicated lines. The remote conference system 1 is a system for realizing a remote conference between each user 13 by providing a virtual conference room to each user 13 of the terminal device 12.

  The conference management server device 11 receives image specific data reception processing (see FIG. 6), WB data storage processing (see FIG. 7), and WB data transmission, which will be described later, for a known server or Multi-point Control Unit (MCU). It is configured by installing an application for executing the process (see FIG. 11). The online storage 15 is a known online storage that provides the network 14 with a storage area where various files can be shared, and functions as a storage device in the remote conference system 1. The online storage 15 may be a specific external service or a service operated by a person who provides the remote conference system 1. The terminal device 12 is configured by a known general-purpose personal computer (PC). The conference management server device 11 may be configured by installing an application on a general-purpose server device. The terminal device 12 may be configured by a known general-purpose portable terminal or a known general-purpose tablet terminal. At least one of the terminal devices 12 may be configured by installing a predetermined application on a dedicated terminal for remote conference.

  The electrical configuration of the conference management server apparatus 11 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the conference management server device 11 includes a CPU 111 that controls the conference management server device 11. The CPU 111 is electrically connected to the ROM 112, the RAM 113, the storage unit 114, the communication interface (I / F) 115, and the drive device 116. The ROM 112 stores a boot program, BIOS, and the like. The RAM 113 temporarily stores various data such as calculation results obtained by calculation processing by the CPU 111. The storage unit 114 includes a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium, such as a hard disk. The storage unit 114 stores an application program (hereinafter simply referred to as “program”) for causing the CPU 111 to execute processing, and an OS. The storage unit 114 also stores a conference table 60 (see FIG. 3) described later. Note that the storage unit 114 may be configured by other non-temporary storage media such as a flash memory and / or a ROM. The non-temporary storage medium may be any storage medium that can store information regardless of the period in which the information is stored. The non-transitory storage medium may not include a temporary storage medium (for example, a signal to be transmitted).

  The communication I / F 115 is an interface element for the conference management server apparatus 11 to connect to the network 14. The communication I / F 115 is connected to an interface element (for example, a LAN card) for connecting the conference management server device 11 to the network 14 or an access point (not shown) connected to the network 14 by the conference management server device 11. An interface element (for example, a Wi-Fi communication modem) for performing wireless communication. The CPU 111 transmits and receives data to and from other devices connected to the network 14 via the communication I / F 115. The drive device 116 can read information stored in the storage medium 116A. The CPU 111 can read out the program stored in the storage medium 116 </ b> A by the drive device 116 and store it in the storage unit 114. The storage medium 116A is a non-transitory storage medium such as an optical medium.

  The electrical configuration of the terminal device 12 will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the terminal device 12 includes a CPU 121 that controls the terminal device 12. The CPU 121 is electrically connected to the ROM 122, RAM 123, storage unit 124, camera 125, display unit 126, communication I / F 127, input unit 128, microphone 129, speaker 130, and drive device 131.

  The ROM 122 stores a boot program, BIOS, and the like. The RAM 123 temporarily stores various data such as calculation results obtained by calculation processing by the CPU 121. The storage unit 124 is configured by a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium, such as a hard disk. The storage unit 124 stores a program for causing the CPU 121 to execute processing and an OS. The storage unit 124 may be configured by another non-transitory storage medium such as a flash memory and / or a ROM. The non-temporary storage medium may be any storage medium that can store information regardless of the period in which the information is stored. The non-transitory storage medium may not include a temporary storage medium (for example, a signal to be transmitted).

  The display unit 126 is a liquid crystal display (LCD). The communication I / F 127 performs wireless communication by connecting to an interface element (for example, a LAN card or the like) for connecting the terminal device 12 to the network 14 or an access point (not shown) connected to the network 14 by the terminal device 12. Interface element (for example, Wi-Fi communication modem). The CPU 121 transmits / receives data to / from other devices connected to the network 14 via the communication I / F 127. The input unit 128 includes, for example, a known handwriting input device such as a button, a keyboard, a mouse, and a pen tablet. The drive device 131 can read information stored in a computer-readable storage medium 131A such as a semiconductor memory. The CPU 121 can read out the program stored in the storage medium 131 </ b> A by the drive device 131 and store it in the storage unit 124.

  Note that general-purpose processors may be used as the CPU 111 of the conference management server apparatus 11 and the CPU 121 of the terminal apparatus 12. A part of the processing executed by the CPUs 111 and 121 may be executed by another electronic component (for example, ASIC). The processing executed by the CPUs 111 and 121 may be distributed by a plurality of electronic devices (that is, a plurality of CPUs). The process executed by the CPU 111 of the conference management server apparatus 11 may be executed by, for example, another server apparatus connected to the network 14 or may be executed by the CPU 121 of the terminal apparatus 12. The program is downloaded from, for example, the online storage 15 or another server device connected to the network 14 (that is, transmitted as a transmission signal), and stored in the storage unit 114 of the conference management server device 11 and the storage of the terminal device 12. It may be stored in the unit 124. In this case, the program is stored in a non-temporary storage medium such as an HDD provided in the online storage 15 or another server.

  A procedure when the user 13 of the terminal device 12 uses a virtual conference room (hereinafter simply referred to as “conference room”) provided by the remote conference system 1 will be described with a specific example. First, the user 13A of the terminal device 12A who is the organizer of the remote conference inputs the user ID and password of the user 13A and logs into the remote conference system 1. Next, the user 13A transmits an e-mail to the e-mail addresses of the terminal devices 12B and 12C used by the users 13B and 13C in order to invite the users 13B and 13C to the conference room. This e-mail includes a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) necessary for the users 13B and 13C to participate in the conference room. The URL includes a conference room ID that is identification information for identifying the conference room and a user ID of the user 13. The remote conference system 1 transmits in advance URLs necessary for the users 13A, 13B, and 13C to participate in the conference room to the e-mail addresses of the terminal devices 12A, 12B, and 12C. The users 13A, 13B, 13C may be notified of the remote conference.

  Next, the user 13A activates the conference application by operating the terminal device 12A. The user 13A performs an input operation for entering a conference room hosted by the user 13A. When detecting the input operation, the CPU 121 of the terminal device 12A transmits a participation request including the conference room ID of the conference room hosted by the user 13A and the user ID of the user 13A to the conference management server device 11. The terminal device 12A communicates with the conference management server device 11 and executes a well-known conference connection process. The CPU 111 of the conference management server apparatus 11 establishes a session of the conference room indicated by the conference room ID with the terminal device 12A by the process of conference connection.

  On the other hand, the CPU 121 of the terminal device 12B receives the electronic mail transmitted from the terminal device 12A and causes the display unit 126 to display the URL. The user 13B performs an input operation for selecting a URL. When detecting an input operation, the CPU 121 of the terminal device 12B activates the conference application. The CPU 121 of the terminal device 12B transmits a participation request including the conference room ID included in the URL and the user ID of the user 13B to the conference management server device 11. The terminal device 12B communicates with the conference management server device 11 and executes conference connection processing. The CPU 111 of the conference management server device 11 establishes a session of the conference room indicated by the conference room ID with the terminal device 12B by the process of conference connection. The same operation is performed with the terminal device 12C.

  As described above, the conference management server device 11 and the terminal device 12 are conference-connected, and the users 13A to 13C participate in the conference room hosted by the user 13A. When the conference application is executed by the CPU 121 of the terminal device 12, the main window (hereinafter referred to as “main window”) 20 of the conference application shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the display unit 126. The main window 20 includes video windows 21A, 21B, 21C, a material window 22, a whiteboard window 23, an exit button 28, and an end button 29. Hereinafter, the video windows 21A, 21B, and 21C are collectively referred to as “video window 21”. FIG. 2 shows that a whiteboard window 23 is displayed in the center in a remote conference proceeding by “layout pattern A” in which a video window 21 is arranged on the left side of the main window 20 and a document window 22 is arranged on the upper right side. An example is shown. Note that an exit button 28 and an end button 29 are arranged on the lower right side of the main window 20.

  The video window 21 displays a video based on “video” which is one of a plurality of functions in the conference room provided by the conference application. “Video” is a function for displaying video captured by the camera 125 of the terminal device 12 on the video window 21. The video windows 21A, 21B, and 21C are arranged in the vertical direction. The videos displayed in the video windows 21A, 21B, and 21C correspond to videos taken by the cameras 125 of the terminal devices 12A, 12B, and 12C that participate in the conference room, respectively. In the case of FIG. 2, the video of the user 13A of the terminal device 12A is displayed on the video window 21A, the video of the user 13B of the terminal device 12B is displayed on the video window 21B, and the video of the user 13C of the terminal device 12C is video. It is displayed in the window 21C.

  The material window 22 displays a material 221 based on “material sharing” which is one of a plurality of functions in a conference room provided by the conference application. “Material sharing” is a function of sharing material data with another terminal device 12 by transmitting the material data shared with the other terminal device 12 to the conference management server device 11. The material 221 displayed in the material window 22 corresponds to the material data transmitted to the conference management server device 11.

  The whiteboard window 23 displays an image showing characters, graphics, and the like based on “whiteboard” which is one of a plurality of functions in the conference room provided by the conference application. The “whiteboard” is a function for sharing a virtual whiteboard with other terminal apparatuses 12. The image 231 displayed on the whiteboard window 23 is a line drawing showing characters, figures and the like input to the terminal device 12 via the input unit 128, and various types of input input to the terminal device 12 for display on the whiteboard window 23. Corresponds to the image. In the case of FIG. 2, an image 231 indicating characters handwritten by the user 13 </ b> A using the input unit 128 such as a mouse or a pen tablet is displayed on the whiteboard window 23.

  The exit button 28 is an image provided for exiting the conference room. The user 13 of the terminal device 12 leaving the conference room inputs an operation of pressing the exit button 28 to the terminal device 12 via the input unit 128. The end button 29 is an image provided to end the remote conference in the conference room. The user 13 of the terminal device 12 ending the remote conference in the conference room inputs an operation of pressing the end button 29 to the terminal device 12 via the input unit 128. The terminal device 12 to which an operation for pressing the exit button 28 or the end button 29 is input transmits an exit request or an end request to the conference management server device 11. Upon receiving the withdrawal request, the conference management server device 11 terminates the conference connection of the terminal device 12 that has transmitted the withdrawal request. The conference management server device 11 that has received the termination request terminates the conference connection of all the terminal devices 12 that are conference-connected to the remote conference. When the conference management server device 11 receives an exit request from all the terminal devices 12 connected to the remote conference, the conference management server device 11 ends the remote conference after a certain time has elapsed after receiving the exit request. To do. In this embodiment, only the user 13 who is given the role of “Owner” to be described later can operate the end button 29. In addition, when the conference management server device 11 receives an exit request from the terminal device 12 corresponding to the user 13 who is assigned the role of “Owner”, the conference management server device 11 sends a request to a user 13 other than “Owner”. You can also continue the remote conference.

  In addition, sound such as voice collected by the microphone 129 of the other terminal device 12 is output from the speaker 130 by “voice” which is one of a plurality of functions in the conference room provided by the conference application. The terminal device 12 is acquired by the terminal device 12 by using sound data generated from the sound acquired by the terminal device 12, video data generated from the video acquired by the terminal device 12, and “whiteboard”. Image specifying data that is data corresponding to the image is transmitted to the conference management server apparatus 11. The conference management server device 11 distributes the sound data, video data, and image specifying data transmitted from the terminal device 12 to other terminal devices 12. For this reason, the user 13 can execute a remote conference with another user 13 while confirming the video, sound, and image of the other user 13 participating in the conference room. In the present embodiment, various data transmitted and received between the conference management server device 11 and the terminal device 12 in a conference room session including the sound data, the video data, and the image specifying data are collectively referred to as “conference”. "Data". The conference data includes, for example, information (for example, a user ID or a terminal device ID) that identifies which terminal device 12 is the terminal device 12 that transmitted the conference data in its header area or payload area.

  One of the roles “Owner”, “Host”, “Presenter”, and “Participant” is given to the user 13 who is the organizer of the conference room and the user 13 who is invited to the conference room by the organizer of the conference room. The A role shows the participation aspect of each user 13 with respect to a conference room. As will be described later, the role defines a function that can be executed in the conference room. The number of functions that can be executed in the conference room differs depending on the role. “Owner” indicates, for example, the organizer of the conference room. “Host” indicates, for example, the chairperson of the conference room. “Presenter” indicates a person who explains to other users 13 participating in the conference room using material data or the like. “Participant” indicates a user other than “Owner”, “Host”, and “Presenter” among the users 13 participating in the conference room. In the present embodiment, a plurality of “Owner”, a plurality of “Host”, a plurality of “Presenter”, and a plurality of “Participant” can be set as the roles of the participants in one conference room.

  The conference application can provide the user 13 with a plurality of functions in the conference room other than the above. The plurality of functions are, for example, “chat”, “file transfer”, “desktop sharing”, “document printing”, and “remote desktop”. “Chat” is a so-called chat function. “File transfer” is a function of performing file transfer with another terminal device 12. “Desktop sharing” is a function of sharing a desktop with another terminal device 12. “Material printing” is a function for printing materials shared by the “material sharing” function. “Remote desktop” is a function for remotely operating the desktop of another terminal device 12.

  Among the functions that can be executed in these meeting rooms, the number of functions that can be used by the user 13 in the meeting room is “Owner”, and the functions that can be used in the order of “Host”, “Presenter”, and “Participant”. The number of For example, in this embodiment, “Owner” can use all the functions set in the conference room among the above functions. “Host” can use functions other than the “print material” function among the above functions. “Presenter” can use functions other than the above-mentioned functions except “file transfer” and “print material”. “Participant” can use functions other than “chat”, “file transfer”, “desktop sharing”, and “document printing” among the above functions. “Owner” has the authority to write an image to the whiteboard window 23 using the “whiteboard” function, while “Host”, “Presenter”, and “Participant” have the authority to write an image to the whiteboard window 23. Does not have. The remote conference system 1 grants such highest specific authority to “Owner” among the users 13 participating in the conference room in order to smoothly host the conference room session. The functions that can be executed in the conference room and the functions that can be used by the users 13 of the respective roles are not limited to the above example.

  In addition, the remote conference system 1 provides a plurality of conference modes according to the size of the remote conference, the mode of the remote conference, and the like. The conference mode is a set of setting values related to the functions of the plurality of remote conferences. For example, in the conference mode, with respect to the video window 21, a plurality of patterns of setting values for whether to enable display in the video window 21, the video resolution of the video window 21, the aspect ratio of the video window 21, and the like are provided. In the conference mode, a plurality of layout patterns of a plurality of images including a video window 21, a material window 22, and a whiteboard window 23 in the main window 20 are provided. In addition, the user 13 can set the various remote conference functions such as “document sharing”, “voice”, etc., and whether or not to send a remind mail to the conference participants before the conference start time. A setting value related to the setting of the procedure for inviting the user is determined for each conference mode. That is, the conference mode defines the remote conference execution mode.

  Specifically, the teleconferencing system 1 has a video resolution or the like so that the display of the video window 21 has a general image quality, when the conference room has a relatively small number of participants (about several people). Is set, and “mode A” which is a conference mode in which the remote conference proceeds in “layout pattern A” shown in FIG. 2 is provided. In addition, the remote conference system 1 displays the document window 22 on the left side of the main window 20 and the video window 21 on the right side in the case of proceeding with the remote conference centering on browsing the document 221 displayed on the document window 22. “Mode B” which is a conference mode in which “layout pattern B” to be arranged is set is provided. In addition, when there are a relatively large number of participants in the conference room (for example, several tens or more), video and audio related to a limited number of people according to the role of the conference, etc. are effective, and others It may be preferable to disable video display and audio. For such a case, the remote conference system 1 displays only the video of the person limited to the video window 21 in the “layout pattern A”, and only the voice of the person displayed in the video window 21 is valid. “Mode C” which is a conference mode is provided. In a remote conference for a relatively large number of participants such as a lecture, it may be preferable to display the video of a speaker with high image quality. For such a case, a “mode D” which is a conference mode in which a “layout pattern C” in which a high-quality video window 21 is displayed in the center of the main window 20 is set is provided.

  The conference table 60 will be described with reference to FIG. The conference table 60 is a data table that is stored in the storage unit 114 of the conference management server device 11 and registers information about the conference mode of the remote conference, the participants of the remote conference, and the like so as to be identifiable for each conference room. In the conference table 60, items “conference mode information”, “terminal device ID”, “user ID”, and “role information” are associated with “conference room ID”. “Conference room ID” is the identification information for identifying the conference room. “Conference mode ID” is identification information for identifying which conference mode is set among “mode A”, “mode B”, “mode C”, and “mode D” in the conference room identified by the conference room ID. It is. The “terminal device ID” is identification information for identifying the terminal device 12 that is conference-connected to the conference room identified by the conference room ID. “User ID” is identification information for identifying the user 13 corresponding to the terminal device 12 identified by the terminal device ID. In the present embodiment, the user ID is account information for the user 13 participating in the conference room to log in to the remote conference system 1. The user ID may be information indicating the e-mail address of the user 13 who participates in the conference room. The user ID may include both the account information of the user 13 and the e-mail address. The “role information” is identification information for identifying which role of “Owner”, “Host”, “Presenter”, and “Participant” is assigned to each of the users 13 identified by the user ID.

  The CPU 111 of the conference management server device 11 authenticates the user ID of the user 13 who requests participation in the conference room identified by the conference room ID with the user ID registered in the conference table 60. And CPU111 communicates with the terminal device 12 corresponding to the user ID of the user 13 who succeeded in authentication, and performs the process of a conference connection. The CPU 111 establishes a session of the conference room indicated by the conference room ID with the terminal device 12 by the process of conference connection. In addition, the conference table 60 may include a password item or the like for determining participation authentication in the conference room.

With reference to FIG. 4, a process of forming an image on the whiteboard window 23 by the function of “whiteboard” will be described. The user 13 of the terminal device 12 inputs an operation for providing an image on the whiteboard window 23 to the terminal device 12 via the input unit 128 such as a mouse or a pen tablet. This operation is performed by the user 13 writing characters, figures, and the like on the whiteboard window 23 using the input unit 128. The image 231 displayed in the whiteboard window 23 of FIG. 2 is first formed as shown in (1) of FIG. 4 in the first line of English (“This is a pen.”) Constituting the image 231. It starts with the first stroke of the first character “T”. Next, as shown in (2) of FIG. 4, a second stroke of “T” that is the first character in the first line is provided. Next, as shown in (3) of FIG. 4, it is assumed that the second character “h” in the first line is provided with a single stroke. In this way, the formation of the image 231 progresses with time, and as shown in FIG. 4 (4), “t” is provided one character before the period of the third line (“He finally ratified the agreement.”). Thereafter, as shown in (5) of FIG. 4 , a trailing period is provided, and the formation of the image 231 is completed.

  The CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 includes image data indicating the image element input to the terminal device 12 via the input unit 128 as a digital image, and a position indicating the position of the image element input to the terminal device 12 in the whiteboard window 23. Information is generated for each stroke. Examples of digital images include vector images and raster images. When the image input to the terminal device 12 is a line drawing based on the trajectory of the input unit 128, the CPU 121 specifies the start point and the end point of the line drawing, and the start point position information and the end point position information. Are generated respectively. The start point of a line drawing is the point at which writing of a line drawing of one stroke is started, and the end point of the line drawing is the end of writing of a line drawing of one stroke. The position information is such that the coordinate at the top left of the whiteboard window 23 is the origin (X, Y) = (0, 0), and the larger the X coordinate value or the lower the position is from the origin to the right or downward, It is indicated by the Y coordinate value. The CPU 121 generates image data and position information related to an image element each time an image element for forming the image 231 is provided in the whiteboard window 23. If the image element provided in the whiteboard window 23 is not a line drawing drawn with a single stroke but is provided by inserting other image data, the start point and end point of the image are specified. For example, position information indicating the coordinates of the uppermost left part of the image is specified.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the letter “T” initially provided in the image 231 (see FIG. 2) is the two of image elements T1 and “T” which are line drawings showing the first stroke of “T”. It is constituted by a plurality of image elements of an image element T2 which is a line drawing showing a stroke. When the image element T1 is provided in the whiteboard window 23, the CPU 121 generates “T1.bmp” as image data indicating the image element T1. “.Bmp” in “T1.bmp” indicates that the image data is in BMP format. Any format such as JPEG, GIF, or PNG may be used as the format of the image data. Further, the CPU 121 generates position information indicating the X coordinate value and the Y coordinate value of the start point t11 and the end point t12 of the image data of the image element T1 shown in FIG. Data including the start point, end point, and position information of image data corresponding to each image element generated by the CPU 121 in this way is referred to as image specifying data. Next, when the image element T2 is provided in the whiteboard window 23, the CPU 121 includes image data “T2.bmp” indicating the image element T2 and an image including position information corresponding to the start point t21 and the end point t22 of the image element T2. Generate specific data. In this manner, each piece of image specifying data generated over time each time an image element is provided in the whiteboard window 23 is attached with order information that can specify the order in which the image elements are provided in the whiteboard window 23. The In the present embodiment, the CPU 121 adds “M”, which is a number indicating the order in which image elements are provided in the whiteboard window 23, to image data and position information corresponding to the image elements, and assigns each image specifying data. Generate. The CPU 121 transmits the generated image specifying data to the conference management server device 11 every time the image specifying data is generated.

  The CPU 111 of the conference management server apparatus 11 that has received the image specifying data specifies the user ID corresponding to the terminal device 12 that is the transmission source of the image specifying data, based on the image specifying data. Further, the CPU 111 specifies a conference room ID corresponding to the conference room to which the image specifying data is transmitted based on the specified user ID. As shown in FIG. 5B, the CPU 111 associates the specified user ID and conference room ID with the image specifying data and stores them in the RAM 113 according to the order information based on the number indicated by “M”. In this way, the image specifying data constituting the image 231 displayed on the whiteboard window 23 is stored as data corresponding to the order in which the image elements corresponding to the image specifying data are provided. , "WB data").

  At this time, the CPU 111 stores the role-specific disclosure range information and the conference mode-specific range information in the RAM 113 in association with the image specifying data. The role-specific disclosure range information is information for determining the disclosure range of each image element when an image based on the WB data 70 is viewed in a conference room according to the role of each user 13 participating in the conference room. is there. The range information by conference mode is information for determining the disclosure range of individual image elements according to the conference mode when an image based on the WB data 70 is viewed in the conference room. As shown in FIG. 5B, in this embodiment, at the time when the image specifying data is first stored in the RAM 113, the default value “All” is included in the role-specific disclosure range information and the conference mode-specific range information. Is set. “All” is information indicating that a disclosure range corresponding to each of the role-specific disclosure range information and the conference mode-specific range information is not set. In this way, the WB data 70 created by storing a plurality of pieces of image specifying data according to the order in which image elements corresponding to the respective image specifying data are provided is subjected to attribute change processing described later. Is stored in the online storage 15. The WB data 70 created in various remote conferences is stored in the online storage 15 in association with the user ID of the user 13 who is the creator of each WB data 70.

  Here, there is a case where an image displayed on the whiteboard window 23 in a certain conference room is displayed on the whiteboard window 23 in another conference room so that participants in other conference rooms can view it. For example, the user 13A who held the teleconference to provide a class in the language classroom displays an image showing English text, etc., created in the whiteboard window 23 in the previous class, in the next class as well. There is something I want to display.

  The remote conference system 1 acquires the WB data 70 created in a certain conference room and stored in the online storage 15 based on the user ID, so that the user 13 who participates in the remote conference in another conference room. WB data 70 can be shared. Accordingly, the remote conference system 1 can display an image based on the WB data 70 created in a certain conference room on the whiteboard window 23 in another conference room. In the WB data 70, a plurality of pieces of image specifying data are provided according to the order in which image elements corresponding to the respective image specifying data are provided. Therefore, the remote conference system 1 uses the WB data 70 to display image elements in the whiteboard window 23 of another conference room according to the order in which the image elements are provided in the whiteboard window 23 in a certain conference room. can do. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4 in a certain conference room, images 231 that are provided over time in the whiteboard window 23 are displayed on the whiteboard window 23 in other conference rooms as shown in FIG. Can be reproduced every time.

  Processing executed by the CPU 111 of the conference management server apparatus 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. When an operation to turn on the conference management server device 11 is performed, the CPU 111 reads out and executes a program stored in the storage unit 114, thereby performing image specific data reception processing (see FIG. 6) and WB data storage. Processing (see FIG. 7) and WB data transmission processing (see FIG. 11) are started. The image specifying data receiving process is a process executed in response to receiving image specifying data indicating an image element provided in the whiteboard window 23 from a terminal device 12 in a certain conference room. The WB data storage process is a process of storing the WB data 70 based on the image specifying data received in the image specifying data receiving process in the online storage 15. The WB data transmission process is a process of acquiring the WB data 70 stored in the online storage 15 based on the user ID, and transmitting the acquired WB data 70 to the terminal device 12. Among these processes, the image specific data reception process and the WB data storage process are processes executed in the conference room of the first remote conference (hereinafter referred to as “first remote conference”). The WB data transmission process is executed in a conference room of a second remote conference (hereinafter referred to as “second remote conference”) held after the WB data 70 is created and stored in the online storage 15. It is processing. In the following, the user 13A to whom the role “Owner” is assigned in the conference room corresponds to the terminal device 12A, and the users 13B and 13C to which a role other than “Owner” is assigned are the terminal devices 12B, It corresponds to 12C respectively.

  First, processing executed in the conference room of the first remote conference will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, when the image specific data reception process is started, the CPU 111 determines whether a participation request is received from the terminal device 12 (S11). The CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 in which the input operation for entering the conference room is performed or the CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 in which the input operation for selecting the URL for participating in the conference room is performed includes the conference room ID and the user ID. A participation request is transmitted to the conference management server apparatus 11. For example, the conference room ID and the user ID may be included in the above-described URL, and the conference room ID and the user ID included in the URL may be transmitted to the conference management server device 11. The CPU 111 of the conference management server apparatus 11 receives the participation request via the communication I / F 115.

  When the CPU 111 has not received a participation request from the terminal device 12 (S11: NO), the CPU 111 repeatedly executes the determination of S11. When the CPU 111 receives a participation request from the terminal device 12 (S11: YES), the CPU 111 stores the received participation request in the RAM 113, and whether a conference room session has been established with the terminal device 12 that has transmitted the participation request. Is determined (S12). In this process, the CPU 111 refers to the conference table 60 and determines whether the user ID included in the participation request is registered in the conference table 60 in association with the conference room ID included in the participation request. In the conference table 60, when the user ID included in the participation request is registered in association with the conference room ID included in the participation request, the CPU 111 holds the conference room with the terminal device 12 that is the transmission source of the participation request. Execute the conference connection process to establish the session. In the conference table 60, when the user ID included in the participation request is not registered in association with the conference room ID included in the participation request, the conference table 60 is connected to the terminal device 12 that is the transmission source of the participation request. Session is not established. When the conference room session is not established with the terminal device 12 that has transmitted the participation request (S12: NO), the CPU 111 returns the process to the determination of S11 and repeats the determinations of S11 and S12.

  When a conference room session is established with the terminal device 12 that has transmitted the participation request (S12: YES), the CPU 111 determines whether image specifying data has been received from the terminal device 12 (S13). When the CPU 111 has not received the image specifying data from the terminal device 12 (S13: NO), the CPU 111 repeatedly executes the determination of S13. When receiving the image specifying data from the terminal device 12 (S13: YES), the CPU 111 acquires the terminal device ID of the terminal device 12 that is the image specifying data transmission source from the image specifying data (S15). The CPU 111 refers to the conference table 60 and is associated with the terminal device ID acquired in the process of S15 among the terminal device IDs registered in association with the conference room ID indicating the conference room of the first remote conference. A user ID is specified (S16).

  The CPU 111 refers to the conference table 60 and determines whether the role information associated with the user ID specified in the process of S16 is “Owner” (S18). When the role information associated with the identified user ID is not “Owner” (S18: NO), the CPU 111 returns the process to the determination in S13. When the role information associated with the specified user ID is “Owner” (S18: YES), the CPU 111 acquires the image specifying data received in the process of S13 (S19). At this time, the CPU 111 also acquires order information attached to the image specifying data (S19). The CPU 111 stores the acquired image specifying data in the RAM 113 in association with the user ID specified in the process of S16 (S21). At this time, the CPU 111 stores the image specifying data according to the order information included in the image specifying data. Each time the CPU 111 receives the image specifying data, the CPU 111 repeatedly stores the received image specifying data in the RAM 113 according to the order information of the image specifying data, thereby sequentially creating the WB data 70.

  The CPU 111 refers to the conference table 60, and the terminal device ID associated with the user device ID associated with the role information other than “Owner” is associated with the terminal device ID associated with the conference room ID corresponding to the first remote conference. It is determined whether or not terminal device IDs corresponding to the terminal devices 12B and 12C are included (S22). When the terminal device ID corresponding to the terminal devices 12B and 12C is included in the terminal device ID associated with the conference room ID corresponding to the first remote conference (S22: YES), the CPU 111 stores the processing in S21. The image specifying data is transmitted to the terminal devices 12B and 12C (S23). The CPUs 121 of the terminal devices 12B and 12C that have received the image specifying data cause the whiteboard window 23 to display an image based on the image specifying data. Thereby, the users 13B and 13C corresponding to the terminal devices 12B and 12C can visually recognize the image 231 created in the whiteboard window 23 by the user 13B in real time. Thereafter, the CPU 111 returns the process to the determination of S13, and repeatedly executes the processes of S13 to S23.

  For example, the user 13A holds the first remote conference by one person, and creates the image 231 in the whiteboard window 23 using the input unit 128, so that the WB data 70 is prepared by one person in preparation for the second remote conference. A usage mode of the first remote conference as prepared is assumed. In this case, there are no other users 13B and 13C participating in the first remote conference. Therefore, in the determination of S22, it is determined that the terminal device ID corresponding to the terminal devices 12B and 12C is not included in the terminal device ID associated with the conference room ID corresponding to the first remote conference (S22: NO). ). Therefore, the CPU 111 returns the process to the determination of S13 without executing the process of S23.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the WB data storage process is started, the CPU 111 determines whether an end request is received from the terminal device 12 (S31). The CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 </ b> A that has been operated to press the end button 29 using the conference application transmits an end request for ending the remote conference to the conference management server device 11. The termination request includes a user ID or terminal device ID and a conference room ID indicating the remote conference to be terminated. The CPU 111 of the conference management server apparatus 11 receives the termination request via the communication I / F 115. If the CPU 111 has not received an end request from the terminal device 12 (S31: NO), the CPU 111 repeatedly executes the determination of S31. When the CPU 111 receives an end request from the terminal device 12 (S31: YES), the CPU 111 stores the received end request in the RAM 113 and executes attribute change processing (S35).

  The attribute change process (S35, see FIG. 7) will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The attribute changing process is a process for changing each attribute of the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 created in the image specifying data receiving process (see FIG. 6). In the present embodiment, the attributes of the image specifying data include position information included in the image specifying data, role-specific disclosure range information, and conference mode-specific disclosure range information.

  For example, the user 13A who has formed the image 231 in the whiteboard window 23 changes the image 231 so as to change the position of some or all of the image elements included in the image 231 in the image 231 after the image 231 is completed. It is assumed that you want to do it. The remote conference system 1 can provide the user 13 </ b> A with an opportunity to apply such correction to the image 231 by providing an attribute change process.

  Further, when the image 231 based on the WB data 70 is displayed on the whiteboard window 23, the user 13A may select one of the image elements depending on the role of the user 13 of the second remote conference and the conference mode of the second remote conference. It is assumed that the user does not want to display the part on the whiteboard window 23. For example, when the user 13A holds a remote conference for providing a lesson in the language classroom, the user 13A displays a part of the English sentence included in the image 231 by the user 13 corresponding to the language proficiency level. It is assumed that they want to advance classes by selectively performing according to their roles. In addition, when the user 13A holds a conference in the corporate activity using the remote conference system 1, the user 13A displays a part of the image elements included in the image 231 on the scale of the conference room participants. It is assumed that the user wants to perform selectively according to the conference mode set corresponding to the above. The remote conference system 1 provides the attribute change process, so that the image element included in the image 231 is displayed in accordance with the role information associated with the user ID in the conference table 60 and the conference mode associated with the conference room ID. The range disclosed in the second remote conference can be set.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the attribute change process is started, the CPU 111 determines whether a position information change request is received from the terminal device 12 (S51). The position information change request instructs the conference management server apparatus 11 to change the position information associated with the image specifying data relating to some or all of the image elements included in the image 231 to new position information. It is information for. The position information change request includes change target specifying information and new position information. The change target specifying information is information for specifying which of the image elements included in the image 231 the image specifying data whose attribute (position information here) is to be changed corresponds to the image specifying data. is there. The new position information is information indicating new position information of the image specifying data specified by the change target specifying information.

  The CPU 121 of the terminal device 12A that has been operated as shown in FIG. 9 using the conference application acquires the change target specifying information and the new position information. As shown in (11) of FIG. 9, the user 13A uses the input unit 128 of the terminal device 12A to select an image element whose attribute (here, position information) is to be changed from among the image elements included in the image 231. A selection operation is performed in the whiteboard window 23. In (11) of FIG. 9, the image element constituting the second line (“I'm a high school student.”) Constituting the image 231 is surrounded by a broken line, so that the user 13A can obtain the position information. The image element that you want to change is selected. This selection is performed by the user 13A performing an operation of surrounding the image element constituting the second line of the English text displayed in the whiteboard window 23 on the whiteboard window 23 using the input unit 128. Done. The CPU 121 of the terminal device 12A acquires the order information associated with the image specifying data corresponding to the selected image element as the change target specifying information.

  Further, the user 13A performs an operation such as dragging the image element selected for changing the position information in the whiteboard window 23 using the input unit 128, and the whiteboard shown in (12) of FIG. The window 23 is moved to a new position. The CPU 121 determines the new position information of the change target image specifying data, which is the image specifying data specified by the change target specifying information, according to the position where the image element corresponding to the change target image specifying data is moved in the whiteboard window 23. Get. The CPU 121 generates a position information change request including change target specifying information and new position information, and transmits the generated position information change request to the conference management server device 11. The CPU 111 of the conference management server apparatus 11 receives the position information change request via the communication I / F 115.

  Returning to the description of FIG. If the CPU 111 has not received the position information change request from the terminal device 12A (S51: NO), the CPU 111 proceeds to the determination of S56. CPU111 acquires change object specific information from the received positional information change request, when a positional information change request is received from 12 A of terminal devices (S51: YES). Based on the acquired change target specifying information, the CPU 111 specifies change target image specifying data from among the image specifying data included in the WB data 70 stored in the RAM 113 (S52). Further, the CPU 111 acquires new position information from the received position information change request (S53). The CPU 111 updates the position information of the change target image specifying data specified in the process of S52 to the new position information acquired in the process of S53 (S55). The CPU 111 moves the process to the determination of S56.

  The processing from S52 to S55 is performed as in the example shown in FIG. In the upper part of FIG. 10, it is assumed that the WB data 70 stored in the RAM 113 is shown before the attribute including position information is updated. When the change target specifying information based on the position information change request is acquired in the process of S52, the change target image specifying data is specified based on the acquired change target specifying information. Here, it is assumed that among the image specifying data included in the WB data 70, the image specifying data in which the order information “M” indicates “0021” and “0022” is specified as the change target image specifying data. Position information associated with the change target image specifying data is indicated by a box 701 in the upper part of FIG.

  In the process of S53, new position information about the change target image specifying data is acquired. In the process of S55, the position information associated with the change target image specifying data is changed to new position information. A state where the position information corresponding to the start points t211, t221 and end points t212, t222 of the change target image specifying data is changed to new position information is indicated by a box 711 in the lower part of FIG. When the position information associated with the change target image specifying data is updated to the new position information in this way, the order information of the change target image specifying data is not changed as shown in the upper and lower stages of FIG. That is, the CPU 111 updates the attribute (position information here) of the change target image specifying data while maintaining the order information of the change target image specifying data. For this reason, when the image 231 based on the WB data 70 after the position information is updated is displayed on the whiteboard window 23, the display order of the image elements is not changed, and the image element corresponding to the change target image specifying data is displayed. Is displayed at a position corresponding to the new position information. That is, even if the attribute of the image specific data is updated for the WB data 70 created in the first remote conference, the updated WB data 70 is displayed on the whiteboard window 23 of the second remote conference. The image elements 231 are displayed in the same order as the image 231 before update. In this way, even when the CPU 111 updates the attribute of the image specific data with respect to the WB data 70, the CPU 231 generates an image 231 that does not feel uncomfortable for the user 13 based on the updated WB data 70. It can be displayed on the whiteboard window 23.

  Returning to the description of FIG. The CPU 111 determines whether a role-specific disclosure range information change request has been received from the terminal device 12 (S56). The role-specific disclosure range information change request changes the role-specific disclosure range information associated with the image specifying data related to the image element included in the image 231 to new role-specific disclosure range information. 11 is an information for instructing 11. The role-specific disclosure range information change request includes change target specifying information and new role-specific disclosure range information. The new role-specific disclosure range information is information indicating new role-specific disclosure range information of the change target image specifying data.

  The CPU 121 of the terminal device 12A acquires the change target information in response to an operation similar to the operation in the conference application illustrated in (11) of FIG. Here, it is assumed that a role selection button image (not shown) is provided in the main window 20. The user 13 of the terminal device 12 selects the change target image specifying data as shown in (11) of FIG. 9, and then operates the role selection button image to specify which role the change target image is specified. Decide whether to make the disclosure range of the image element corresponding to the data. The CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 acquires the disclosure range information by new role of the change target image specifying data in response to the operation of the role selection button image. The CPU 121 generates a role-specific disclosure range information change request including the change target identification information and the new role-specific disclosure range information, and transmits the generated role-specific disclosure range information change request to the conference management server device 11. The CPU 111 of the conference management server apparatus 11 receives the role-specific disclosure range information change request via the communication I / F 115. The CPU 111 stores the role-specific disclosure range information change request acquired by reception in the RAM 113.

  CPU111 transfers a process to judgment of S63, when the disclosure range information change request classified by role is not received from the terminal device 12A (S56: NO). When the CPU 111 receives a role-specific disclosure range information change request from the terminal device 12A (S56: YES), the CPU 111 acquires change target specifying information from the received role-specific disclosure range information change request. Based on the acquired change target specifying information, the CPU 111 specifies change target image specifying data from the image specifying data included in the WB data 70 stored in the RAM 113 (S58). Further, the CPU 111 acquires new role-specific disclosure range information from the received role-specific disclosure range information change request (S59). The CPU 111 changes the role-specific disclosure range information of the change target image specifying data specified in the process of S58 to the new role-specific disclosure range information acquired in the process of S59 (S60). The CPU 111 shifts the process to the determination of S63.

  The processing from S52 to S55 is performed as in the example shown in FIG. When the change target specifying information based on the role-specific disclosure range information request is acquired in the process of S58, the change target image specifying data is specified based on the acquired change target specifying information. Here, it is assumed that among the image specifying data included in the WB data 70, the image specifying data in which the order information “M” indicates “0089” and “0090” is specified as the change target image specifying data. The role-specific disclosure range information associated with the change target image specifying data is indicated by a box 702 in the upper part of FIG.

  In the process of S59, a new role-specific disclosure range for the change target image specifying data is acquired. In the process of S60, the role-specific disclosure range information associated with the change target image specifying data is changed to the new role-specific disclosure range information. The lower level of FIG. 10 shows a state where the role-specific disclosure range information associated with the change target image specifying data is changed from “All” to “Owner, Host, Presenter” based on the new role-specific disclosure range information. Shown in box 712. That the disclosure range information by role is “Owner, Host, Presenter” indicates that the whiteboard window 23 of the terminal device 12 corresponding to the user 13 to whom the roles “Owner”, “Host”, and “Presenter” are assigned is displayed. This means that an image element corresponding to the change target image specifying data is displayed. In this case, the image element corresponding to the change target image specifying data is not displayed on the whiteboard window 23 of the terminal device 12 corresponding to the user 13 to whom the role of “Participant” is assigned.

  Even in the update of the role-specific disclosure range information associated with the change target image specifying data, the order information of the change target image specifying data is not changed, as in the update of the position information associated with the change target image specifying data. That is, the CPU 111 updates the attribute of the change target image specifying data (here, the role-specific disclosure range information) while maintaining the order information of the change target image specifying data.

  Returning to the description of FIG. CPU111 judges whether the disclosure range information change request classified by meeting mode was received from terminal unit 12 (S63). The conference mode specific disclosure range information change request is to change the conference mode specific disclosure range information associated with the image specifying data related to the image element included in the image 231 to new conference mode specific disclosure range information. This is information for instructing the management server device 11. The conference mode specific disclosure range information change request includes change target specifying information and new conference mode specific disclosure range information. The new conference mode-specific disclosure range information is information indicating new conference mode-specific disclosure range information of the change target image specifying data.

  The CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 acquires the change target information in response to an operation similar to the operation in the conference application illustrated in (11) of FIG. Here, it is assumed that a conference mode selection button image (not shown) is provided on the main window 20. After the user 13 of the terminal device 12 selects the change target image specifying data as shown in (11) of FIG. 9, the user 13 operates the conference mode selection button image to change any conference mode. Whether to make the disclosure range of the image element corresponding to the specific data is determined. The CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 acquires the disclosure range information for each new conference mode of the change target image specifying data in response to the operation of the conference mode selection button image. The CPU 121 generates a conference mode specific disclosure range information change request including the change target specifying information and the new conference mode specific disclosure range information, and transmits the generated conference mode specific disclosure range information change request to the conference management server device 11. The CPU 111 of the conference management server apparatus 11 receives the conference mode-specific disclosure range information change request via the communication I / F 115. The CPU 111 stores the disclosure mode information change request for each conference mode acquired by reception in the RAM 113.

  CPU111 returns a process to a WB data storage process (refer FIG. 7), when not receiving the disclosure range information classified by conference mode from the terminal device 12A (S63: NO). CPU111 acquires change object specific information from the received disclosure mode information change request | requirement classified by meeting mode received when the disclosure range information change request classified by conference mode is received from 12A of terminal devices (S63: YES). Based on the acquired change target specifying information, the CPU 111 specifies change target image specifying data from among the image specifying data included in the WB data 70 stored in the RAM 113 (S65). Further, the CPU 111 acquires the disclosure range information by new conference mode from the received request for changing disclosure range information by conference mode (S66). The CPU 111 changes the disclosure range information by role of the change target image specifying data specified in the process of S65 to the disclosure range information by new conference mode acquired in the process of S66 (S68). The CPU 111 returns the process to the WB data storage process.

  The processing from S65 to S68 is performed as in the example shown in FIG. When the change target specifying information based on the conference mode-specific disclosure range information request is acquired in the process of S65, the change target image specifying data is specified based on the acquired change target specifying information. Here, it is assumed that among the image specifying data included in the WB data 70, the image specifying data in which “M” as the order information indicates “0001” and “0002” is specified as the change target image specifying data. Disclosure range information by conference mode associated with the change target image specifying data is indicated by a box 703 in the upper part of FIG.

  In the process of S66, the disclosure range by new conference mode for the change target image specifying data is acquired. In the process of S68, the disclosure range information for each conference mode associated with the change target image specifying data is changed to the disclosure range information for each new conference mode. The state in which the disclosure range information classified by conference mode associated with the change target image specifying data is changed from “All” to “mode A, B” based on the disclosure range information classified by new conference mode is shown in the lower part of FIG. In box 713. When the disclosure range information by conference mode is “mode A, B”, the whiteboard of the terminal device 12 corresponding to the user 13 who participates in the conference room that progresses in each conference mode of “mode A” “mode B”. This means that an image element corresponding to the change target image specifying data is displayed in the window 23. In this case, an image element corresponding to the change target image specifying data is displayed on the whiteboard window 23 of the terminal device 12 corresponding to the user 13 in the conference room that is operating in the conference mode of “mode C” and “mode D”. Not.

  In the update of the disclosure range information for each conference mode associated with the change target image specifying data, the order information of the change target image specifying data is not changed as in the update of the position information associated with the change target image specifying data. . That is, the CPU 111 updates the attribute of the change target image specifying data (here, the disclosure range information for each conference mode) while maintaining the order information of the change target image specifying data.

  Returning to the description of FIG. After the attribute change process (S35) is completed, the CPU 111 acquires the conference room ID and user ID included in the termination request stored in the RAM 113 (S36). When the user ID is not included in the end request, the CPU 111 refers to the conference table 60, and acquires the user ID associated with the conference room ID and the terminal device ID included in the end request in the conference table 60. (S36). The CPU 111 associates the conference room ID and the user ID acquired in the process of S36 with the WB data 70 stored in the RAM 113 and stores them in the online storage 15 (S38). In this process, the CPU 111 transmits a storage request for storing the WB data 70 in which the conference room ID and the user ID are associated to the online storage 15 via the communication I / F 115. The storage request includes WB data 70 in which the conference room ID and the user ID are associated. The online storage 15 that has received the storage request stores the WB data 70 associated with the conference room ID and the user ID. In this embodiment, in this process, the CPU 111 transmits a storage request to the online storage 15 in a state where the WB-ID is also associated with the WB data 70. The WB-ID is identification information for identifying each WB data 70 created in each conference room. The CPU 111 stores the WB data 70 created by the user 13 corresponding to various user IDs in various remote conferences in the online storage 15.

  Thereafter, the CPU 111 refers to the conference table 60 and establishes a conference connection between the terminal device 12 corresponding to the terminal device ID associated with the conference room ID included in the termination request and the conference management server device 11. The process ends (S41). The CPU 111 ends the session of the conference room indicated by the conference room ID (S42). The CPU 111 returns the process to the determination in S31.

  Next, processing executed in the conference room for the second remote conference will be described. As shown in FIG. 11, when the WB data transmission process is started, the CPU 111 determines whether a participation request is received from the terminal device 12 (S71). The participation request for the conference room of the second remote conference includes the conference room ID and the user ID of the user 13 corresponding to the terminal device 12 that is the transmission source of the participation request, in the same manner as the participation request for the conference room of the first remote conference. . When the CPU 111 has not received a participation request from the terminal device 12 (S71: NO), the CPU 111 repeatedly executes the determination of S71. When the CPU 111 receives a participation request from the terminal device 12 (S71: YES), the CPU 111 stores the received participation request in the RAM 113, and whether a conference room session has been established with the terminal device 12 that has transmitted the participation request. Is determined (S72). When the conference room session is not established with the terminal device 12 that has transmitted the participation request (S72: NO), the CPU 111 returns the process to the determination of S71, and repeats the determinations of S71 and S72.

  When a conference room session is established with the terminal device 12 that has transmitted the participation request (S72: YES), the CPU 111 acquires the user ID included in the participation request stored in the RAM 113 (S73). . The CPU 111 determines whether the role information associated with the acquired user ID is “Owner” (S76). In this process, the CPU 111 refers to the conference table 60 and is associated with the user ID acquired in the process of S76 among the user IDs registered in association with the conference room ID indicating the conference room of the second remote conference. Identify role information. Then, the CPU 111 determines whether the specified role information indicates “Owner”. When the role information associated with the acquired user ID is not “Owner” (S76: NO), the CPU 111 ends the WB data transmission process.

  When the role information associated with the acquired user ID is “Owner” (S76: YES), the CPU 111 determines whether a transmission request has been received (S81). The transmission request indicates that the WB data 70 created in the conference room of the first remote conference is transmitted to the terminal device 12 corresponding to the user 13 participating in the conference room of the ongoing second remote conference. This is information for instructing the server device 11. In this process, the CPU 111 determines whether a transmission request has been received from the terminal device 12A of the user 13A corresponding to the user ID determined to be associated with the role information indicating “Owner” in the determination of S76. (S81).

  When determining in S81, the CPU 121 of the terminal device 12A of the user 13A corresponding to the user ID determined to be associated with the role information indicating “Owner” causes the main window 20 to display a confirmation image (not shown). The confirmation image confirms with the user 13A whether the WB data 70 stored in association with the user ID corresponding to the user 13A is shared with other users 13B and 13C in the conference room of the second remote conference. It is an image to do. When the user 13A wants to share the WB data 70 stored in association with the user ID corresponding to the user 13A in the conference room of the second remote conference, the user 13A transmits a transmission request to the conference management server apparatus 11. Input operation is performed via the conference application. When detecting the input operation, the CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 transmits a transmission request to the conference management server device 11. The CPU 111 of the conference management server apparatus 11 receives the transmission request via the communication I / F 115.

  When the CPU 111 has not received a transmission request from the terminal device 12 (S81: NO), the CPU 111 repeatedly executes the determination of S81. When the CPU 111 receives a transmission request from the terminal device 12 (S81: YES), the CPU 111 stores the received transmission request in the RAM 113, and stores the WB data 70 associated with the user ID acquired in the processing of S73 as an online storage. 15 (S82). In this process, the CPU 111 transmits a download request for downloading the WB data 70 associated with the user ID acquired in the process of S73 to the online storage 15 via the communication I / F 115. At this time, a plurality of WB data 70 associated with the user ID acquired in the process of S73 may be stored in the online storage 15. For this reason, the transmission request includes the conference room ID indicating the conference room of the first remote conference in which the WB data 70 is created, or the WB-ID for identifying the WB data 70 created in the conference room of the first remote conference. May be. In this case, the CPU 111 includes the conference room ID or WB-ID based on the transmission request in the download request, so that the user 13 who has confirmed the confirmation image wants to share the WB data 70 in the conference room of the second remote conference. Can be accurately acquired from the online storage 15.

  Next, the CPU 111 executes a transmission determination process (S83). The transmission determination process is a process for determining which image specific data among the image specific data constituting the WB data 70 is transmitted to the terminal device 12 in the conference room of the second remote conference. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the CPU 111 executes a role-specific transmission determination process (S91) and a conference mode-specific transmission determination process (S92) as the transmission determination process. The role-specific transmission determination process determines which image specific data among the image specific data constituting the WB data 70 is to be transmitted to the terminal device 12 according to the role-specific disclosure range information associated with the image specific data. It is a process to do. In the transmission determination process for each conference mode, which image specific data among the image specific data constituting the WB data 70 is to be transmitted to the terminal device 12 according to the disclosure range information for each conference mode associated with the image specific data. It is a process for determining. When executing the role-specific transmission determination process and the conference mode-specific transmission determination process, the CPU 111 returns the process to the WB data transmission process (see FIG. 11).

  The role-specific transmission determination process (S91, see FIG. 12) will be described in detail with reference to FIG. When the role-specific transmission determination process is started, the CPU 111 refers to the participation request stored in the RAM 113 and acquires the conference room ID included in the participation request (S101). The CPU 111 refers to the conference table 60 and acquires a conference participant list (S102). The conference participant list is a list of user IDs associated with the conference room ID acquired in the process of S101 in the conference table 60 and role information associated with the user IDs. The CPU 111 stores the acquired conference participant list in the RAM 113.

  The CPU 111 sets the value of the counter N for counting the number of user IDs included in the conference participant list (corresponding to the number of users 13 participating in the conference room of the second remote conference) to “1”. (S103). The counter N is stored in the RAM 113. The CPU 111 refers to the conference participant list, and acquires role information associated with the Nth (here, the first) user ID in the conference participant list (S105).

  The CPU 111 sets the value of the counter M for counting the number of image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 acquired in the process of S82 (see FIG. 11) to “1” (S106). The counter M is stored in the RAM 113. The CPU 111 refers to the WB data 70 and refers to the role-specific disclosure range information associated with the M-th (here, the first) image-specific data among the image-specific data constituting the WB data 70 (S108). Note that the value of the counter M corresponds to the value of “M”, which is order information associated with the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70.

  The CPU 111 determines whether the role information acquired in the process of S105 is included in the disclosure range indicated by the role-specific disclosure range information referred to in the process of S108 (S111). When the role information acquired in the process of S105 is not included in the disclosure range indicated by the role-specific disclosure range information referred to in the process of S108 (S111: NO), the CPU 111 proceeds to the determination of S113. When the role information acquired in the process of S105 is included in the disclosure range indicated by the role-specific disclosure range information referred to in the process of S108 (S111: YES), the CPU 111 determines the Mth image (here, the first). The fact that specific data is to be transmitted to the terminal device 12 of the terminal device ID corresponding to the Nth (here, the first) user ID is registered in the role-specific transmission list (S112). The role-specific transmission list is a list that determines which image specific data is transmitted to the terminal device 12 of the terminal device ID corresponding to the user ID according to the order information of the image specific data. The role-specific transmission list is created for each user ID included in the conference participant list. The created role-specific transmission list is stored in the RAM 113. The CPU 111 proceeds to the determination of S113.

  The CPU 111 determines whether the value of the counter M is equal to “Mmax” that is the total number of image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 (S113). When the value of the counter M is different from Mmax (S113: NO), the CPU 111 adds “1” to the value of the counter M (S115), and transmits the other image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 according to the role. The process returns to S108 in order to determine whether or not to register. Thereafter, the CPU 111 repeatedly executes the processing from S108 to S115 until the value of the counter M becomes equal to Mmax.

  When the value of the counter M is equal to Mmax (S113: YES), the CPU 111 determines whether the value of the counter N is equal to “Nmax” that is the total number of user IDs included in the conference participant list. (S116). When the value of the counter N is different from Nmax (S116: NO), the CPU 111 adds “1” to the value of the counter N (S118), and transmits by role for other user IDs included in the conference participant list. In order to create a list, the process returns to S105. Thereafter, the CPU 111 completes the role-specific transmission list corresponding to all user IDs in the conference participant list by repeatedly executing the processing from S105 to S118 until the value of the counter N becomes equal to Nmax. When the value of the counter N is equal to Nmax (S116: YES), the CPU 111 returns the process to the transmission determination process (see FIG. 12).

  Referring to FIG. 14, the transmission determination process for each conference mode (S92, see FIG. 12) will be described in detail. When the transmission determination process for each conference mode is started, the CPU 111 refers to the participation request stored in the RAM 113 and acquires the conference room ID included in the participation request (S121). The CPU 111 refers to the conference table 60 and acquires a conference participant list corresponding to the conference room ID acquired in the process of S121 (S122). Further, the CPU 111 refers to the conference table 60 and acquires the ongoing conference mode (S123). The ongoing conference mode ID is the conference mode ID associated with the conference room ID acquired in the process of S121 in the conference table 60, and the conference mode corresponding to the conference room of the second remote conference currently being held. ID.

  The CPU 111 sets the value of the counter M to “1” (S124). The CPU 111 refers to the WB data 70 and refers to the conference mode-specific disclosure range information associated with the Mth (here, the first) image specifying data among the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 (S125). .

  The CPU 111 determines whether the ongoing conference mode ID acquired in the process of S122 is included in the disclosure range indicated by the disclosure range information classified by conference mode referred to in the process of S125 (S126). If the ongoing conference mode ID is not included in the disclosure range indicated by the disclosure range information classified by conference mode referred to in the process of S125 (S126: NO), the CPU 111 proceeds to the determination of S128. When the ongoing conference mode ID is included in the disclosure range indicated by the conference mode-specific disclosure range information referred to in the processing of S125 (S126: YES), the CPU 111 determines the Mth (here, the first) image specifying data. The fact that transmission to the terminal device 12 of the terminal device ID corresponding to the user ID included in the conference participant list is registered in the conference mode-specific transmission list (S127). In the transmission list for each conference mode, the transmission of the image specification data that is the disclosure range according to the ongoing conference mode ID among the image specification data constituting the WB data 70 is used as the order information of the image specification data. It is a list to be determined accordingly. The created conference mode-specific transmission list is stored in the RAM 113. The CPU 111 proceeds to the determination of S128.

  The CPU 111 determines whether the value of the counter M is equal to Mmax (S128). When the value of the counter M is different from Mmax (S128: NO), the CPU 111 adds “1” to the value of the counter M (S129), and transmits other image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 by conference mode. In order to determine whether to register in the list, the process returns to S125. Thereafter, the CPU 111 repeatedly executes the processing from S125 to S129 until the value of the counter M becomes equal to Mmax. As a result, the CPU 111 completes a conference mode-specific transmission list in which all of the image specific data that is within the disclosure range is registered according to the ongoing conference mode ID among the image specific data constituting the WB data 70. . When the value of the counter M is equal to Mmax (S128: YES), the CPU 111 returns the process to the transmission determination process (see FIG. 12). Thereafter, the CPU 111 returns the process to the WB data transmission process.

  Returning to the description of FIG. The CPU 111 transmits the image specifying data based on the WB data 70 to the terminal device 12 associated with the user ID corresponding to the transmission determination result by the transmission determination process (S85). Here, the image specifying data based on the WB data 70 transmitted to the terminal device 12 is the image specifying data corresponding to the transmission determination result among the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70. Thereafter, the CPU 111 ends the WB data transmission process. The transmission determination result by the transmission determination process is a transmission list classified by role created in the transmission determination process classified by role and a transmission list classified by conference mode created in the transmission determination process classified by conference mode. The CPU 111 transmits the image specifying data corresponding to the contents of the role-specific transmission list and the conference mode-specific transmission list among the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 acquired from the online storage 15 in the process of S82 to the communication I / F 115. Is transmitted to the terminal device 12 via. In the WB data transmission process, there may be a mode in which the transmission determination process is not executed. When the transmission determination process is not executed, the image specifying data based on the WB data 70 transmitted to the terminal device 12 in the process of S85 is all the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70. The CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 that has received the image specifying data based on the WB data 70 transmitted according to the transmission determination result via the communication I / F 127 displays the whiteboard window 23 based on the received image specifying data. An image 231 is displayed.

  In the process of S85, every time a transmission instruction is received from the terminal device 12A that is the transmission request source, the CPU 111 extracts one of the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 in the order corresponding to the order information. In this embodiment, every time the input unit 128 is operated once by the user 13A of the terminal device 12A that is the transmission request transmission source (for example, every time the mouse is clicked), the CPU 121 of the terminal device 12A A single transmission instruction is generated. The CPU 111 compares the extracted image specifying data with the role-specific transmission list, and the extracted image specifying data is extracted to the terminal device 12 having the terminal device ID corresponding to the user ID to be transmitted. Send the specified image data. That is, each time the user 13A of the terminal device 12A that has transmitted the transmission request operates the input unit 128 once, one of the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 is in the order corresponding to the order information. It transmits to the terminal device 12 according to a transmission determination result. The terminal device 12 that has received the image specifying data via the communication I / F 127 displays the image element indicated by the received image specifying data on the whiteboard window 23. That is, the image elements are displayed on the whiteboard window 23 in the second remote conference according to the order in which the image elements are provided on the whiteboard window 23 in the first remote conference.

  The transmission mode of the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 by the CPU 111 is not limited to this. For example, in response to receiving a transmission instruction once from the terminal device 12A that is the transmission source of the transmission request, the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 that corresponds to the transmission determination result is the order corresponding to the order information. Thus, it may be automatically transmitted to the terminal device 12 at a predetermined pace. The CPU 111 executes the processing of S85 for all of the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70, or receives an instruction to end transmission of the image specifying data from the terminal device 12 that is the transmission request source. Accordingly, the WB data transmission process is terminated.

  In the present embodiment, both the role-specific transmission determination process and the conference mode-specific transmission determination process are executed in the transmission determination process, but either the role-specific transmission determination process or the conference mode-specific transmission determination process. Only the transmission determination process may be executed.

  (21) and (22) in FIG. 15 show images 231 displayed on the whiteboard window 23 of the terminal device 12 when the role-specific transmission determination process is executed on the WB data 70 shown in the lower part of FIG. An example is shown. In this example, it is assumed that the conference mode of the conference room of the second remote conference in which the image 231 is displayed on the whiteboard window 23 is “mode A” or “mode B”. Note that the whiteboard window 23 shown in (12) of FIG. 9 corresponds to a state in which image elements corresponding to all the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 shown in the lower part of FIG. 10 are displayed. Here, the terminal device 12A has a role of “Owner”, the terminal device 12B has a role of “Host” or “Presenter”, and the terminal device 12C has a role of “Participant”. It is assumed that each user 13C is supported. In the lower part of FIG. 10, the image specifying data including the image specifying data in which “M” as the order information indicates “0089” and “0090” is displayed on the third line (“He” in the whiteboard window 23 shown in FIG. Suppose that it is compatible with the image elements that make up the English sentence of "finally ratified the agreement.").

  In this case, all the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 is transmitted to the terminal devices 12A and 12B. Therefore, as shown in (21) of FIG. 15, the whiteboard windows 23A and 23B of the terminal devices 12A and 12B include images 231A and 231B including image elements corresponding to all the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70. Are displayed respectively. On the other hand, the image specifying data corresponding to the image elements forming the English text in the third line among the image specifying data forming the WB data 70 is not transmitted to the terminal device 12C. Therefore, as shown in (22) of FIG. 15, the first line (“This is a pen.”) And the second line (“I'm a high school student.”) Are displayed in the whiteboard window 23C of the terminal device 12C. ) Is displayed, and an image 231C that does not include the image element that configures the English text in the third row is displayed. As described above, the CPU 111 associates the role specific disclosure range information with the image specifying data, and executes the role-specific transmission determination process, so as to correspond to the role of the user 13 of the second remote conference based on the WB data 70. The images 231A, 231B, and 231C can be displayed on the whiteboard windows 23A, 23B, and 23C.

  Next, an example where the conference mode of the conference room for the second remote conference is “mode C” under this situation will be described. In the lower part of FIG. 10, the image specifying data including the image specifying data in which “M”, which is the order information “0001” and “0002”, constitutes the first sentence in the whiteboard window 23 shown in (12) of FIG. Suppose that it corresponds to the image element to be. In this case, the image data corresponding to the image elements constituting the English text in the first line is not transmitted to each of the terminal devices 12A, 12B, and 12C connected to the conference room in “Mode C”. Therefore, as shown in (31) of FIG. 15, 231A and 231B including image elements constituting the second and third lines of English are displayed on the whiteboard windows 23A and 23B of the terminal devices 12A and 12B. The The whiteboard window 23C of the terminal device 12C displays 231A and 231B including image elements constituting the English text in the second line. As described above, the CPU 111 associates the disclosure range information for each conference mode with the image specifying data, and executes the transmission determination processing for each conference mode, so that it corresponds to the conference room mode of the second remote conference based on the WB data 70. The images 231A, 231B, and 231C can be displayed on the whiteboard windows 23A, 23B, and 23C.

  As described above, the CPU 111 receives a request for participation in the conference room of the second remote conference (S71). The participation request includes the user ID of the user 13 corresponding to the terminal device 12 that has transmitted the participation request. CPU111 acquires user ID contained in a participation request (S73). The CPU 111 determines whether the role information associated with the acquired user ID is “Owner” (S76). When the role information associated with the acquired user ID is “Owner” (S76: YES), the CPU 111 stores the WB data 70 associated with the user ID acquired in the process of S73 as the online storage 15 (S82). Thereafter, the CPU 111 transmits the image specifying data based on the WB data 70 to the terminal device 12 that is connected to the conference room (S85). The WB data 70 includes image specifying data corresponding to the image elements constituting the image 231 displayed on the whiteboard window 23 in the conference room of the first remote conference, according to the order in which the image elements are provided on the whiteboard window 23. Is remembered. Therefore, based on the received WB data 70, the CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 displays an image in the whiteboard window 23 in the second remote conference according to the order in which the image elements are provided in the whiteboard window 23 in the first remote conference. The element can be displayed.

  In the first remote conference, when a session of the conference room is established with the terminal device 12 that is the transmission source of the participation request (S12: YES), the CPU 111 determines whether image specifying data has been received from the terminal device 12. (S13). When the CPU 111 receives the image specifying data from the terminal device 12 (S13: YES), the CPU 111 determines whether the role information associated with the user ID corresponding to the terminal device 12 that is the transmission source of the image specifying data is “Owner”. Judgment is made (S18). When the role information associated with the user ID corresponding to the terminal device 12 that is the transmission source of the image specifying data is “Owner” (S18: YES), the image specifying data is acquired together with the order information (S19). Each time the CPU 111 receives the image specifying data, the CPU 111 repeatedly stores the received image specifying data in the RAM 113 according to the order information of the image specifying data, thereby sequentially creating the WB data 70. The CPU 111 associates the created WB data 70 with the user ID associated with the role information of “Owner”, who is the creator of the WB data 70, and stores it in the online storage 15 (S38). Therefore, the CPU 111 can store the WB data 70 created in the conference room of the first remote conference in the online storage 15 in such a manner that it can be identified to which user 13 is related.

  For example, the user 13 </ b> A may want to make corrections on the image 231 so as to change the positions of some or all of the image elements included in the image 231 in the image 231. The CPU 111 determines whether a position information change request has been received from the terminal device 12 (S51). The position information change request includes change target specifying information and new position information. When the CPU 111 receives the position information change request from the terminal device 12A (S51: YES), the CPU 111 specifies the change target image specifying data from the image specifying data included in the WB data 70 (S52). Further, the CPU 111 acquires new position information from the received position information change request (S53). The CPU 111 updates the position information of the change target image specifying data specified in the process of S52 to the new position information acquired in the process of S53 (S55). At this time, the CPU 111 updates the position information of the change target image specifying data while maintaining the order information of the change target image specifying data. Therefore, even when the position information of the image specifying data to be changed is updated, the remote conference system 1 performs the second remote conference according to the order in which the image elements are provided in the whiteboard window 23 in the first remote conference. Image elements can be displayed on the whiteboard window 23.

  For example, the user 13A uses the WB data 70 created in the first remote conference, and in the second remote conference, the role of the user 13 who participates in a conference room with some of the image elements constituting the image 231. There is a case where it is desired to selectively display the whiteboard window 23 according to the situation. The conference table 60 associates a user ID for identifying the user 13 participating in the conference room for each conference room ID for identifying the conference room. Further, the CPU 111 associates the image specific data with the disclosure range information for each role (S60), and stores the WB data 70 in the online storage 15 (S38). The role-specific disclosure range information is information for determining the disclosure range of each image element when an image based on the WB data 70 is viewed in a conference room according to the role of each user 13 participating in the conference room. is there. In the CPU 111, the role information associated with the user ID of the user 13 who is a participant in the conference room of the second remote conference is included in the disclosure range indicated by the role-specific disclosure range information associated with the image specifying data. Is determined (S111). The CPU 111 transmits the image specifying data corresponding to the determination result to the terminal device 12 connected to the conference room (S85). Therefore, the remote conference system 1 displays the images 231A, 231B, and 231C corresponding to the role of the user 13 of the second remote conference based on the WB data created in the first remote conference, and the whiteboard windows 23A, 23B, 23C.

  For example, the user 13A can selectively display a part of the image elements included in the image 231 according to the conference mode in the second remote conference using the WB data 70 created in the first remote conference. There is something I want to do. The conference table 60 associates, for each conference room ID that identifies a conference room, a conference mode ID that identifies in which conference mode the conference room identified by the conference room ID is operated. Further, the CPU 111 associates the disclosure range information for each conference mode with the image specifying data (S68), and stores the WB data 70 in the online storage 15 (S38). The range information by conference mode is information for determining the disclosure range of individual image elements according to the conference mode when an image based on the WB data 70 is viewed in the conference room. The CPU 111 determines whether or not the ongoing conference mode ID indicating the conference mode of the conference room of the second remote conference is included in the disclosure range indicated by the disclosure range information by conference mode associated with the image specifying data (S126). . The CPU 111 transmits the image specifying data corresponding to the determination result to the terminal device 12 connected to the conference room (S85). Therefore, the remote conference system 1 displays the images 231A, 231B, 231C corresponding to the conference mode of the conference room of the second remote conference based on the WB data created in the first remote conference, and the whiteboard windows 23A, 23B, 23C.

  In the first remote conference, when the user 13 of the terminal device 12 performs an operation of providing an image element on the whiteboard window 23 using the input unit 128, the CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 specifies the image corresponding to the image element. Generate data. The image specifying data includes image data and position information regarding image elements. Each time the CPU 121 generates the image specifying data, the generated image specifying data is attached with order information that can specify the order in which the image elements corresponding to the image specifying data are provided in the whiteboard window 23. It transmits to the management server device 11. The CPU 111 of the conference management server device 11 acquires the image specifying data by receiving it (S19), associates the acquired image specifying data with the user ID of the user 13 corresponding to the terminal device 12 of the transmission source, The data is stored in the RAM 113 according to the order information (S21). Thereby, the WB data 70 in which the image specifying data corresponding to the image elements displayed on the whiteboard window 23 is stored in accordance with the order in which the image elements corresponding to the image specifying data are provided is generated. The CPU 111 stores the generated WB data 70 in the online storage 15 in association with the user ID (S38). In response to receiving the participation request in the second remote conference (S71: YES), the CPU 111 acquires the user ID included in the participation request (S73). The CPU 111 acquires the WB data 70 associated with the acquired user ID from the online storage 15 (S82). Thereafter, the CPU 111 transmits the image specifying data based on the WB data 70 to the terminal device 12 that is connected to the conference room (S85). To do. Therefore, the remote conference system 1 images the image specifying data based on the WB data 70 on the whiteboard window 23 in the second remote conference according to the order in which the image elements are provided in the whiteboard window 23 in the first remote conference. The element can be displayed.

When the CPU 111 receives a termination request from the terminal device 12 (S31: YES), the online storage 15 associates the conference room ID and the user ID acquired in the process of S36 with the WB data 70 stored in the RAM 113. (S38).
The WB data 70 stored in the RAM 113 and the WB data 70 that has been subjected to the attribute change process (S35) are stored in the online storage 15 in association with the user ID (S38). For this reason, the CPU 111 can store in the online storage 15 the WB data 70 in which all the image elements provided in the whiteboard window 23 are reflected without omission in the first remote conference. Therefore, the remote conference system 1 displays the image elements in the whiteboard window 23 in the second remote conference based on the WB data 70 in which the image elements provided in the whiteboard window 23 are reflected without omission in the first remote conference. it can.

  In the above embodiment, the network 14 is an example of the “network” in the present invention. The conference management server device 11 is an example of the “conference management server device” in the present invention. The terminal device 12A is an example of the “first terminal device” in the present invention. The terminal devices 12B and 12C are examples of the “second terminal device” of the present invention. The user ID is an example of “user information” in the present invention. The process of S71 is an example of the “first reception step” and “reception step” in the present invention. The WB data 70 is an example of “material data” in the present invention. The terminal device ID is an example of “terminal device identification information” in the present invention. The online storage 15 is an example of the “storage device” in the present invention. The WB data 70 acquired from the online storage 15 based on the user ID in the process of S82 is an example of “corresponding material data” of the present invention. The process of S82 is an example of the “first acquisition step” and the “second data acquisition step” in the present invention. The process of S85 is an example of the “transmission step” in the present invention.

  The process of S19 is an example of the “second acquisition step” and the “first data acquisition step” in the present invention. The process of S21 is an example of the “generation step” in the present invention. The process of S38 is an example of the “storage step” in the present invention. The position information change request is an example of the “change instruction” in the present invention. The process of S51 is an example of the “second reception step” in the present invention. The process of S55 is an example of the “update step” in the present invention. Role information corresponding to each role of “Owner”, “Host”, “Presenter”, and “Participant” is an example of “role information” in the present invention. The role-specific disclosure range information is an example of the “first transmission target information” in the present invention. The process of S111 is an example of the “first determination step” in the present invention. The conference mode ID corresponding to each conference mode of “mode A” “mode B” “mode C” “mode D” is an example of “conference mode information” of the present invention. The conference table 60 is an example of “conference data” of the present invention. Disclosure range information by conference mode is an example of “second transmission target information” in the present invention. The process of S126 is an example of the “second determination step” in the present invention. The process of S31 is an example of the “end determination step” in the present invention. The disclosure range information by role and the disclosure range information by conference mode are examples of the “transmission target information” of the present invention.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to said embodiment, A various change is possible. In the above embodiment, a part of the processing executed by the CPU 111 of the conference management server device 11 may be distributed by the CPU 121 of the terminal device 12. For example, the transmission determination process (S83) included in the WB data transmission process (see FIG. 11) may be executed by the CPU 121 of the terminal device 12. For example, the CPU 111 of the conference management server apparatus 11 does not execute the transmission determination process in the WB data transmission process, and confers all the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 in the process of S85 to the conference room. You may transmit to the apparatus 12. The CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 that has received the WB data 70 via the communication I / F 127 performs a role-specific transmission determination process (S91) and a conference mode-specific transmission determination process (S91) for the image specifying data constituting the received WB data 70 Various determination processes including S92) may be executed. In order for the CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 to execute the transmission determination process, the conference table 60 only needs to be stored in a storage device accessible by the terminal device 12.

  In this case, the determination as to which of the image elements corresponding to the image specifying data constituting the WB data 70 is to be displayed on the whiteboard window 23 is executed in each terminal device 12 to which the WB data 70 has been transmitted. Therefore, the processing load of the conference management server device 11 is reduced compared to the above embodiment.

  In the remote conference system 1, a plurality of users 13 having different user IDs may be associated with one terminal device 12. Even in this case, the remote conference system 1 performs authentication based on the user ID of the user 13 who requests participation in the conference room of the remote conference, and thereby performs a plurality of associations with one terminal device 12. Each user 13 can be distinguished and allowed to participate in the conference room.

  In the above embodiment, the right to write an image in the whiteboard window 23 in the first remote conference is limited to “Owner”. However, for example, the user 13 having another role such as “Host” or “Presenter” may also be used. The authority to write an image in the whiteboard window 23 may be given. In such a case, or when a plurality of users 13 having the role of “Owner” are provided in the conference room, the images 231 on the whiteboard window 23 are displayed by the plurality of users 13 participating in the conference room. May be written. In this case, the CPU 111 selects one of the information specifying whether to store the WB data 70 in the online storage 15 in association with the user ID of any of the plurality of users 13 who have written the image 231. You may receive from the terminal device 12. For example, a user 13 who has written in the image 231 in the conference room specifies that the user ID of another user 13 who has written in the image 231 is stored in the online storage 15 in association with the WB data 70. Information may be transmitted to the terminal device 12. The designation of the user ID associated with the WB data 70 and the change of the designation may be performed when writing to the image 231 is started in the meeting room, or while writing to the image 231 is being performed.

  In the remote conference system 1, a plurality of online storages 15 that are communicably connected to the network 14 may be provided. Further, for example, the storage unit 114 of the conference management server device 11 may function as a storage device in which the WB data 70 associated with the user ID is stored. As described above, when a plurality of storage devices capable of storing the WB data 70 are provided on the network 14, the CPU 111 provides information specifying the storage device that stores the WB data 70 when executing the process of S 38. 12 may be received. In this case, the CPU 111 may store the WB data 70 in a storage device according to the designation by the received information. Similarly, the conference table 60 is not limited to the configuration stored in the storage unit 114 of the conference management server device 11, but may be stored in any storage device on the network 14. For example, the conference table 60 may be stored in a storage device such as a database management device provided separately from the conference management server device 11.

  In the above embodiment, the process of S38 in which the WB data 70 associated with the user ID is stored in the online storage 15 is executed in response to receiving an end request from the terminal device 12 (S31: YES). The execution timing of the process of S38 is not limited to this. For example, the CPU 111 may execute the process of S38 when receiving an exit request based on an operation of pressing the exit button 28 from the terminal device 12 corresponding to the user 13 having the role of “Owner”. Further, the CPU 111 may execute the process of S38 when receiving an exit request from all the terminal devices 12 that are conference-connected to the remote conference. In addition, the CPU 111 receives the predetermined information indicating that the writing of the image to the whiteboard window 23 is terminated from any of the terminal devices 12 that are conference-connected to the remote conference. It is good also as performing.

  The CPU 111 transmits the image specifying data based on the WB data 70 to the terminal device 12 in the process of S85. The information transmitted to the terminal device 12 in this process is the WB data stored in the online storage 15. Information specifying 70 may be used. The CPU 121 of the terminal device 12 that has received this information accesses the online storage 15 and refers to the WB data 70 corresponding to the received information, so that the image specifying data based on the WB data 70 corresponding to the transmission determination process is obtained. You may receive it. That is, the transmission of the image specifying data based on the WB data 70 is not limited to a mode in which the transmission of the WB data 70 itself is executed by the CPU 111.

  The remote conference system 1 is customized according to the execution mode of the remote conference in addition to the conference modes of “mode A”, “mode B”, “mode C”, and “mode D” provided in the remote conference system 1 in advance. The conference mode can be set according to the desire of the user 13. In such a case, disclosure range information by conference mode corresponding to a customized conference mode may be provided. In this case, when the customized conference mode is set in the conference room of the second remote conference, the remote conference system 1 executes the transmission determination process for each conference mode (S92), thereby changing to the customized conference mode. Even if it responds, the disclosure range of an image element can be defined. Further, among the users 13 participating in the remote conference, for example, the user 13 having the role of “Owner” may be given authority to change the conference mode set for the remote conference to another conference mode.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Remote conference system 11 Conference management server apparatus 12A, 12B, 12C Terminal apparatus 14 Network 15 Online storage 60 Conference table 70 WB data 111 CPU
114 storage unit

Claims (8)

In a computer of a conference management server device that manages a remote conference executed between a plurality of terminal devices via a network,
A first receiving step of receiving from the first terminal device connected to the network a request to participate in the remote conference including first user information that is user information for identifying a user corresponding to the first terminal device;
Data indicating one image in the document that can be browsed between the plurality of terminal devices in the remote conference, the position information indicating the position of the image in the document, and the start point and end point of the image Material data including a plurality of image specifying data for specifying the order in which the images corresponding to the image specifying data are provided in the material is associated with the user information corresponding to each of the plurality of terminal devices. A first acquisition step of acquiring correspondence material data that is the material data corresponding to the first user information included in the participation request received in the first reception step from a plurality of storage devices;
Transmitting the image specifying data based on the corresponding document data acquired in the first acquisition step to a second terminal device connected to the network and participating in the remote conference and sharing the document data ;
A second acquisition step of acquiring the order in which the image corresponding to the image specifying data and the image specifying data is provided in the document based on the input of the image specifying data from the first terminal device;
In the storage device, the image specifying data acquired in the second acquiring step and the document data based on the order in which the image corresponding to the image specifying data is provided in the document are associated with the first user information. A storage step for storing;
An instruction to change the position information indicated by any of the image specifying data included in the material data when the material data is stored in the storage device in association with the first user information in the storing step. A second receiving step for receiving a change instruction;
When the change instruction is received in the second receiving step, the position information indicated by the image specifying data corresponding to the change instruction is changed to a new one while maintaining the order of the image specifying data in the document data. An update step for updating to the position information;
A management program characterized by causing In a computer of a conference management server device that manages a remote conference executed between a plurality of terminal devices via a network,
A first receiving step of receiving from the first terminal device connected to the network a request to participate in the remote conference including first user information that is user information for identifying a user corresponding to the first terminal device;
Data indicating one image in the document that can be browsed between the plurality of terminal devices in the remote conference, the position information indicating the position of the image in the document, and the start point and end point of the image Material data including a plurality of image specifying data for specifying the order in which the images corresponding to the image specifying data are provided in the material is associated with the user information corresponding to each of the plurality of terminal devices. A first acquisition step of acquiring correspondence material data that is the material data corresponding to the first user information included in the participation request received in the first reception step from a plurality of storage devices;
Transmitting the image specifying data based on the corresponding document data acquired in the first acquisition step to a second terminal device connected to the network and participating in the remote conference and sharing the document data;
A second acquisition step of acquiring the order in which the image corresponding to the image specifying data and the image specifying data is provided in the document based on the input of the image specifying data from the first terminal device;
In the storage device, the image specifying data acquired in the second acquiring step and the document data based on the order in which the image corresponding to the image specifying data is provided in the document are associated with the first user information. Storing a storing step ;
Role information indicating a role of the user in the remote conference corresponding to the user information is associated with the user information,
The storing step stores, in association with the image specifying data, first transmission target information that defines the second terminal device to which the image specifying data included in the material data is to be transmitted according to the role information. And
The role information associated with the second user information, which is the user information corresponding to the second terminal device, and the image specifying data included in the correspondence material data acquired in the first acquisition step. A first determination step of determining the image specifying data to be transmitted to the second terminal device among the image specifying data included in the corresponding document data based on the first transmission target information.
The transmission program transmits the image specifying data according to the determination result in the first determination step to the second terminal device.   In a computer of a conference management server device that manages a remote conference executed between a plurality of terminal devices via a network,
  A first receiving step of receiving from the first terminal device connected to the network a request to participate in the remote conference including first user information that is user information for identifying a user corresponding to the first terminal device;
  Data indicating one image in the document that can be browsed between the plurality of terminal devices in the remote conference, the position information indicating the position of the image in the document, and the start point and end point of the image Material data including a plurality of image specifying data for specifying the order in which the images corresponding to the image specifying data are provided in the material is associated with the user information corresponding to each of the plurality of terminal devices. A first acquisition step of acquiring correspondence material data that is the material data corresponding to the first user information included in the participation request received in the first reception step from a plurality of storage devices;
  Transmitting the image specifying data based on the corresponding document data acquired in the first acquisition step to a second terminal device connected to the network and participating in the remote conference and sharing the document data;
  A second acquisition step of acquiring the order in which the image corresponding to the image specifying data and the image specifying data is provided in the document based on the input of the image specifying data from the first terminal device;
  In the storage device, the image specifying data acquired in the second acquiring step and the document data based on the order in which the image corresponding to the image specifying data is provided in the document are associated with the first user information. Storing a storing step;
  The storing step refers to conference data in which conference identification information for identifying the remote conference and conference mode information for determining an execution mode of the remote conference are referred to, and the image specifying data included in the document data is Storing the second transmission target information that defines the second terminal device to be transmitted according to the conference mode information in association with the image specifying data;
  Based on the conference mode information of the remote conference being executed, and the second transmission target information associated with the image specifying data included in the corresponding material data acquired in the first acquisition step, A second determination step of determining the image specifying data to be transmitted to the second terminal device among the image specifying data included in the corresponding document data;
  The transmission program transmits the image specifying data corresponding to the determination result in the second determination step to the second terminal device. Role information indicating a role of the user in the remote conference corresponding to the user information is associated with the user information,
The storing step stores, in association with the image specifying data, first transmission target information that defines the second terminal device to which the image specifying data included in the material data is to be transmitted according to the role information. And
The role information associated with the second user information, which is the user information corresponding to the second terminal device, and the image specifying data included in the correspondence material data acquired in the first acquisition step. A first determination step of determining the image specifying data to be transmitted to the second terminal device among the image specifying data included in the corresponding document data based on the first transmission target information.
The management program according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the transmission step transmits the image specifying data corresponding to the determination result in the first determination step to the second terminal device. The storing step refers to conference data in which conference identification information for identifying the remote conference and conference mode information for determining an execution mode of the remote conference are referred to, and the image specifying data included in the document data is Storing the second transmission target information that defines the second terminal device to be transmitted according to the conference mode information in association with the image specifying data;
Based on the conference mode information of the remote conference being executed, and the second transmission target information associated with the image specifying data included in the corresponding material data acquired in the first acquisition step, A second determination step of determining the image specifying data to be transmitted to the second terminal device among the image specifying data included in the corresponding document data;
The transmission step, the management program according to claim 1, characterized in that transmitting the image specifying data according to the determination result of the second determination step to said second terminal device. A conference management method for managing a remote conference executed between a plurality of terminal devices via a network,
In the first remote conference, data indicating the image in response to the fact that one image is provided by the first terminal device connected to the network in the material that can be browsed between the plurality of terminal devices, , Position information indicating the position of the image in the material, image specifying data for specifying the start point and end point of the image, and the order in which the image corresponding to the image specifying data is provided in the material A first data acquisition step of sequentially acquiring
A generation step of generating document data including a plurality of the image identification data acquired in the first data acquisition step by specifying a sequence in which the image corresponding to the image identification data is provided in the document;
A storage step of storing the document data generated in the generation step in a storage device in association with first user information which is user information for identifying a user corresponding to the first terminal device;
In a second remote conference executed between a plurality of terminal devices different from the combination of the plurality of terminal devices in the first remote conference, the second remote conference including the first user information from the first terminal device A receiving step for receiving a request to join
Based on the first user information participating in the second remote conference included in the participation request received in the receiving step, the stored in the first remote conference associated with the first user information A second data acquisition step of acquiring material data from the storage device;
Transmitting the image specifying data based on the material data acquired in the second data acquiring step to a second terminal device connected to the network and participating in the remote conference and sharing the material data; A conference management method characterized by comprising: An end determination step of determining whether to end the first remote conference,
The storage step stores the material data in the storage device in association with the first user information when it is determined that the first remote conference is ended in the end determination step. 6. The meeting management method according to 6. The storing step stores the image specifying data included in the document data in association with transmission target information that defines the second terminal device to which the image specifying data is transmitted,
The second terminal device that has received the material data transmitted in the transmission step determines, based on the transmission target information, to display an image based on the image specifying data included in the material data on the material. The conference management method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein:

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