JP7052094B2 - Communication support system, communication support method and computer program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a data processing technique, and more particularly to a technique for supporting communication between users.

In recent years, an increasing number of companies have introduced free addresses, which is an office style in which employees do not have individual desks (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In a free-addressed office, employees can basically work anywhere in the office.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-170725

As the range of activities of employees expands as offices become free addresses, it is difficult to determine the location of employees, and there is a concern that communication between employees will be hindered. The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and a main object thereof is to provide a technique for supporting interaction between employees in a free-addressed office.

In order to solve the above problems, the communication support system of a certain aspect of the present invention is based on the information of the acquisition unit that acquires the attribute information about the first user and the information of the access point to which the mobile terminal of the first user is connected. The data on the screen that displays the location of the mobile terminal detected by the detection unit and the location of the mobile terminal detected by the detection unit together with the attribute information about the first user acquired by the acquisition unit is sent to the terminal of the second user. It is provided with a user information providing unit for providing. In the present specification and the like, the “part” does not simply mean a physical configuration, but also includes a case where the function of the configuration is realized by application software or the like.

Another aspect of the present invention is a communication support method. In this method, there are a step of acquiring attribute information about the first user, a step of detecting the location of the mobile terminal based on the information of the access point to which the mobile terminal of the first user is connected, and a step of detecting. The computer executes a step of providing screen data for displaying the location of the mobile terminal along with the attribute information about the first user acquired in the acquisition step to the terminal of the second user.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is a method for confirming the location of a moving body. In this method, the step of acquiring the location information and the schedule information corresponding to the attribute information of a plurality of moving objects and the information acquired in the acquisition step are arranged on a map with a predetermined object to generate a map. Steps to provide a map to the terminal that suppresses the overlap of objects when the placement positions of the objects are the same or close to each other, and information indicating the distribution status of moving objects in each area based on the placement positions of the objects. The computer performs the steps to be displayed on the terminal screen.

It should be noted that any combination of the above components and a conversion of the expression of the present invention between a system, a computer program, a recording medium in which the computer program is stored, and the like are also effective as aspects of the present invention.

According to the present invention, it is possible to support the activation of interaction between employees in a free-addressed office.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the information system in the enterprise where the office is free-addressed. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the communication support server of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation of a communication support server. It is a figure which shows the display example of a list screen. It is a figure which shows the display example of a list screen. It is a figure which shows the display example of a map screen. It is a flowchart which shows the operation of the communication support server 20. It is a figure which shows the display example of the usage situation screen.

Before explaining the embodiment of the present invention, the outline will be described first.
In recent years, an increasing number of companies have introduced free addresses. For example, employees can perform their own work in various places in the office including common areas such as cafeterias and conference areas. On the other hand, as the range of activities of employees expands with the shift to free addresses, it is difficult to determine where other employees are, and there is a concern that communication between employees will be hindered. In recent years, the introduction of video conference software using IP telephone technology has been progressing, but at present, there are many situations where direct face-to-face communication is required.

A company whose office is free-addressed is hereinafter referred to as a "target company". In the target company of the embodiment, each employee carries a mobile device and uses the mobile device to carry out work at any place. In order for employees to actually carry out their work using mobile devices, they need access to the company intranet and the Internet from the mobile devices, and for that purpose it is essential to connect the mobile devices to the wireless LAN. Therefore, the communication support system of the embodiment grasps the location of each employee by grasping the location of the mobile device based on the wireless LAN technology. The communication support system provides a user interface as an employee information portal that supports smooth communication between employees. Specifically, the location information, presence information, schedule information, and telephone book information of each employee are collectively collected by the user. And provide.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the information system of the target company. The information system 10 includes an employee terminal 12a, an employee terminal 12b, an employee terminal 12c, an employee terminal 12x, and a communication support system 18, which are collectively referred to as an employee terminal 12. The employee terminal 12a, the employee terminal 12b, the employee terminal 12c, and the employee terminal 12x are information terminals used by each of the employees A, B, C, and X of the target company for business. The employee terminal 12 is a portable device that can be carried, and may be, for example, a notebook PC, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal.

A plurality of wireless access points (AP14) are installed on each floor of the office, and the employee terminal 12 connects to the AP14 via a wireless LAN and connects to the intranet 16 via the AP14. The intranet 16 may be at least one or a combination of LAN, WAN, and the Internet. The employee terminal 12 accesses the communication support system 18 via the intranet 16. The location of the AP14 is not limited to each floor inside the office building, but may be installed outside the building as long as it is within the premises of the target company. For example, a table in the courtyard or a parking lot gate may be installed. AP14 may be installed in.

Further, a predetermined calling software (for example, Skype (trademark or registered trademark)) is installed in the employee terminal 12. This calling software has functions for text chat, calling, and video calling between terminals on which the calling software is installed. Further, a predetermined personal information management software (for example, Microsoft Outlook (trademark or registered trademark)) is installed in the employee terminal 12. It is possible to send / receive e-mails, register and share schedules, convene meetings, etc. between terminals on which this personal information management software is installed.

The communication support system 18 includes a communication support server 20, a communication management server 22, a location analysis engine 24, a schedule management server 26, an authentication server 28, and an employee master DB 30. These devices exchange data with each other via the intranet 16.

The schedule management server 26 holds the schedule information registered by each employee (employees A, B, C, X, etc.) of the company in association with the ID of each employee. The authentication server 28 authenticates each employee of the company by using a technique such as SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language). The employee master DB 30 is a database server that holds attribute information about each employee. The attribute information held by the employee master DB 30 includes at least information indicating the contact information of the employee, and specifically includes information on the job title, name, extension number, outside line number, e-mail address, affiliation building, and affiliation department name. It may also include an SNS (Social Networking Service) account.

The communication management server 22 provides a server function for the call software installed in the employee terminal 12, and manages text chats and calls made between the call software of the plurality of employee terminals 12. Further, the communication management server 22 manages the connection status with the call software of each of the plurality of employee terminals 12. Then, the presence of each employee is detected according to the connection status, and the ID of each employee and the presence information are associated and held. Presence information includes information indicating the current state / situation of an employee, and includes, for example, information indicating whether or not the employee can be contacted or whether or not the employee can respond to the contact.

The communication management server 22 of the embodiment acquires the schedule information of each employee from the schedule management server 26, and determines the presence of each employee based on both the schedule of each employee and the connection status with the call software of each employee. Identify. Specifically, if an employee is not connected to the call software, the employee's presence is identified as "unknown". Also, if the employee's call software is already connected and the employee's schedule is filled at the current time, the employee's presence is identified as "capturing". At this time, keywords registered in the employee's schedule may be extracted to identify a detailed presence. For example, if a character string including "meeting" is registered in the schedule, the presence of the employee may be identified as "in a meeting". Also, if the employee's call software is already connected and the employee's schedule is free at the current time, the employee's presence is identified as "contactable".

The position analysis engine 24 functions as a detection unit that detects the location of each of the plurality of employees. Specifically, the position analysis engine 24 detects the position where the employee terminal 12 of each employee exists based on the information of the AP 14 to which the employee terminal 12 of each of the plurality of employees is connected, that is, the location position of each employee. Is detected and retained in association with each employee's ID. The ID of the owner of the terminal (in other words, the employee as an operator) may be identified based on the terminal ID or MAC address provided from the employee terminal 12 at the time of connection to the AP 14. The position analysis engine 24 of the embodiment is an independent server capable of communicating with a plurality of AP14s and the communication support server 20, but may be incorporated in the communication support server 20 as a location detection program, or location detection application software. It may be installed on the employee terminal as.

The position analysis engine 24 holds in advance the installation positions of a plurality of AP14s on each floor of the office building, specifically, the identification information of the building floor and the position within the floor (XY coordinate values in the plane coordinate system of the floor). do. The position analysis engine 24 periodically acquires information on the employee terminal 12 (here, the employee terminal 12a) connected to the own machine and information on the radio wave strength in the connection from each of the plurality of AP14s. In addition, these information may be acquired in real time. The position analysis engine 24 derives the distance from each of the plurality of AP14s to the employee terminal 12a based on the radio wave strength of the connection with the employee terminal 12a detected by the plurality of AP14s, and is based on the distance from each AP14. The position of the employee terminal 12a (XY coordinate value in the plane coordinate system of the floor) is derived by point survey.

The communication support server 20 cooperates with the communication management server 22, the location analysis engine 24, the schedule management server 26, the authentication server 28, and the employee master DB 30, and provides the employee terminal 12 with a web page for supporting communication between employees. .. Specifically, the communication support server 20 causes the employee terminal 12 to display an employee information portal screen including information on the contact information, schedule, and location of the employee.

In FIG. 1, the communication management server 22, the location analysis engine 24, the schedule management server 26, and the authentication server 28 are drawn in the same communication support system 18, but if these devices can communicate with the communication support server 20 , It may be arranged in a system network different from the communication support system 18. Further, the information system 10 of the embodiment is an in-house system, but as a modified example, the communication support system 18 may be shared by employee terminals of a plurality of companies (for example, a plurality of companies in the same group). ..

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the communication support server 20 of FIG. The communication support server 20 includes a control unit 40, a storage unit 42, and a communication unit 44. The control unit 40 executes various data processing. The storage unit 42 is a storage area for storing data referenced or updated by the control unit 40. The communication unit 44 communicates with the external device according to a predetermined communication protocol. The control unit 40 sends / receives data to / from the employee terminal 12, the communication management server 22, the position analysis engine 24, the schedule management server 26, the authentication server 28, and the employee master DB 30 via the communication unit 44.

Each block shown in the block diagram of the present specification can be realized by an element or a mechanical device such as a CPU / memory of a computer in terms of hardware, and can be realized by a computer program or the like in terms of software. Now, I'm drawing a functional block realized by their cooperation. Therefore, it is understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by combining hardware and software.

For example, a computer program in which the functions of each block of the control unit 40 are mounted may be stored in a predetermined recording medium, and the computer program may be installed in the storage of the communication support server 20 via the recording medium. The function of each block of the control unit 40 may be exhibited by the CPU of the communication support server 20 reading the locally installed computer program into the main memory and executing the program. The storage unit 42 may be realized by the main memory or storage of the communication support server 20. Of course, the storage unit 42 may be realized by a database server or the like outside the communication support server 20.

The storage unit 42 includes an employee information holding unit 46, a map holding unit 48, and a usage status storage unit 50. The employee information holding unit 46 holds at least temporarily data indicating the latest state of the employee based on the data acquired from the communication management server 22, the location analysis engine 24, the schedule management server 26, the authentication server 28, and the employee master DB 30. ..

The map holding unit 48 holds data of a map (in other words, a floor plan) of each floor of the office building of the target company. The map data includes an image of the floor plan, identification information for each of the multiple areas included in the floor (such as "near the 17th floor pillar C of the NN building"), and range information for each area (specific area within the floor). Is identifiable information, for example, a value indicating a range of XY coordinates) is included.

The usage status storage unit 50 stores data indicating the usage status of the office building of the target company. For example, the usage status storage unit 50 holds data indicating the usage status of an office building detected on a certain day for a long period of time such as two years from the detection date. It should be noted that the retention period of usage status data may be set for each area in the office building.

The control unit 40 includes a request reception unit 52, an authentication unit 54, an acquisition unit 56, an area determination unit 65, a list generation unit 66, a list provision unit 68, a map generation unit 70, a map provision unit 72, a usage status detection unit 74, and a usage unit. Includes the status provider 76. The communication support server 20 includes the function of the web server, but since the function of the web server is known, the following description will be omitted.

The request receiving unit 52 receives various requests (for example, HTTP requests) transmitted from the employee terminal 12. The request transmitted from the employee terminal 12 of the embodiment includes an authentication request, a list screen provision request, a search request, a map screen provision request, and a usage status screen provision request.

When the request receiving unit 52 receives an authentication request (in other words, a login request), the authentication unit 54 cooperates with the authentication server 28 to authenticate the requesting employee. For example, the requesting employee may be authenticated by known SAML authentication or password authentication.

When the search request is received by the request reception unit 52, the acquisition unit 56 acquires various attribute information about the employee who meets the conditions indicated by the search request. Attribute information about an employee includes at least employee contact information and schedule information. The acquisition unit 56 includes an employee search unit 58, a schedule acquisition unit 60, a presence information acquisition unit 62, and a location information acquisition unit 64.

The employee search unit 58 searches the employee master DB 30 based on the search conditions specified in the search request, and acquires static attribute information of the employees satisfying the search conditions from the employee master DB 30. Specifically, the employee search unit 58 uses the employee ID (employee number, etc.), name, job title, extension number, outside line number, e-mail address, affiliation building, and affiliation department name data as static attribute information of the employee. Is acquired and stored in the employee information holding unit 46. Of these, extension numbers, outside line numbers, and email addresses can be said to be employee contact information.

The schedule acquisition unit 60 acquires the schedule information (typically the schedule information of the day) of the employee from the schedule management server 26 by using the employee ID acquired by the employee search unit 58 as a key, and sends it to the employee information holding unit 46. Store. The presence information acquisition unit 62 acquires the presence information of the employee from the communication management server 22 and stores it in the employee information holding unit 46, using the employee ID acquired by the employee search unit 58 as a key. For each employee ID, it may be possible to set a restriction on acquisition of schedule information and presence information as needed. For example, the disclosure range may be registered in the employee master in advance so that the schedule information and presence information are not disclosed to employees who belong to different departments. Further, although not shown in FIG. 5, a setting unit is provided on the list screen 80 after login so that each employee can arbitrarily set the disclosure range of schedule information and presence information, and the information disclosure range is as needed by each employee. May be specified.

The position information acquisition unit 64 acquires data indicating the location of the employee from the position analysis engine 24 using the employee ID acquired by the employee search unit 58 as a key. The data indicating the location of the employee acquired from the position analysis engine 24 is the data indicating the detection position of the employee terminal 12 possessed by the employee, and the identification information of the building and the floor and the XY on the plan view of the floor. Includes coordinate values.

The area determination unit 65 functions as a detection unit that detects the location position of the employee terminal 12 in cooperation with the position analysis engine 24. Specifically, the communication support server 20 is a unit of an area (“near NN building 17th floor pillar C”, “near NN building 17th floor meeting room A”, etc.) where the location of employees is determined on each floor of the office building. Manage with. The area determination unit 65 refers to the XY coordinate value range of each area indicated by the map data held in the map holding unit 48, and the location position of the employee terminal 12 acquired by the position information acquisition unit 64 (by the position analysis engine 24). It is determined in which area the detected XY coordinate value) is included. The area determination unit 65 determines the area where the employee terminal 12 of each employee exists, and stores the area as the determination result in the employee information holding unit 46 as the location position of each employee.

The list generation unit 66 and the list providing unit 68 function as a user information providing unit that provides information of each employee who is a user of the communication support system 18. In the embodiment, a list screen that presents the information of each employee side by side is provided to the employee terminal 12.

The list generation unit 66 generates data (for example, HTML data) of the list screen in the initial state when the request for providing the list is received by the request reception unit 52. Further, the list generation unit 66 is the attribute information of the employee acquired by the acquisition unit 56 and stored in the employee information holding unit 46 when the search request including the search condition is received by the request reception unit 52, that is, the search. Generate update data for the list screen that sets the attribute information of employees who meet the conditions. The address book providing unit 68 transmits the data (initial data or update data) of the address book screen generated by the address book generation unit 66 to the employee terminal 12 in response to the address book provision request or the search request.

When the request reception unit 52 receives the map provision request, the map generation unit 70 displays a plurality of objects (for example, images of predetermined marks or symbols) indicating a plurality of employees at the location of the employee terminal 12 of each employee. Generate a map screen placed in. The object indicating the employee may be the employee icon of each employee registered in the predetermined calling software (for example, Skype (trademark or registered trademark)), and the link for activating the installed calling software is photographed. It may be set as an icon. The map providing unit 72 transmits the map screen data generated by the map generating unit 70 to the employee terminal 12 in response to the map providing request.

The usage status detection unit 74 stores data indicating the usage status (in other words, the usage status) of each area of the office building in the usage status storage unit 50 according to the location position of each employee determined by the area determination unit 65. When the usage status screen provision request is received by the request reception unit 52, the usage status detection unit 74 describes each area in the period specified by the usage status screen provision request according to the data stored in the usage status storage unit 50. Detect the usage status of. The usage status providing unit 76 transmits data on the usage status screen showing the usage status of each area detected by the usage status detection unit 74 to the employee terminal 12.

The operation of the communication support server 20 with the above configuration will be described.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication support server 20. Here, the employee X of the target company activates a web browser on the employee terminal 12x and accesses the communication support server 20 via the web browser. Although not shown in FIG. 3, the employee terminal 12x transmits a request for providing a list screen to the communication support server 20, and the communication support server 20 transmits an initial list screen 80 to the employee terminal 12x, and the list screen thereof. 80 is displayed on the web browser of the employee terminal 12x.

FIG. 4 shows a display example of the address book screen. The list screen 80 includes the search condition area 84 and the list 88, but the information of a specific employee is not displayed on the list screen 80 in the initial state. When the employee X clicks the login button 82 and inputs predetermined information such as a password, the authentication unit 54 of the communication support server 20 authenticates the employee X in cooperation with the authentication server 28. If the authentication of employee X is successful, employee X is allowed to log in to the communication support system 18. Further, the employee X inputs at least one of the company name, the headquarters name, the business division name, and the name in the search condition area 84, and clicks the search button 86. The employee terminal 12x transmits a search request including the input data to the search condition area 84 as a search condition to the communication support server 20.

As for the conditions input by the employee X in the search condition area, the latest history is saved up to a predetermined number of cases, and although not shown in FIG. 4, it may be displayed in the pull-down menu of the search condition area. Further, although not shown in FIG. 4, the business name in charge may be included in the search condition of the search condition area 84, and even if the head office name, business department name, name, etc. to which the employee to be searched belongs is unknown, it is associated with the role. If you enter a keyword (for example, "contract", "accounting", "sales", etc.), you may be able to search for employees associated with the business name in charge. The search by the business name in charge may be displayed only when it matches the business name in charge registered in advance in the employee master DB in association with the employee, or may be displayed if it is a similar keyword. Further, the name of the business in charge may be the name of the business in charge or the name of the main product of the business in charge.

Returning to FIG. 3, when the request reception unit 52 accepts the search request (Y in S10), the employee search unit 58 searches the employee master DB 30 and inputs the attribute information of the employee satisfying the search condition included in the search request. Obtained from the master DB 30 (S11). In this example, it is assumed that 6 employees A to F hit the search. Although not shown in FIG. 3, the schedule acquisition unit 60 acquires the schedule information of the day registered by the employees A to F from the schedule management server 26. Further, the presence information acquisition unit 62 acquires the presence information of the employees A to F from the communication management server 22. Further, the position information acquisition unit 64 acquires the location information of the employees A to F from the position analysis engine 24.

As a modification, the acquisition unit 56 (employee information acquisition unit (not shown) may periodically acquire the attribute information of each employee (all employees) from the employee master DB 30 and store it in the employee information holding unit 46. Similarly, the schedule acquisition unit 60 may periodically acquire the schedule information of each employee from the schedule management server 26 and store it in the employee information holding unit 46. The presence information acquisition unit 62 may periodically acquire the presence information of each employee from the communication management server 22 and store it in the employee information holding unit 46. The position information acquisition unit 64 may periodically acquire the location information of each employee from the position analysis engine 24 and store it in the employee information holding unit 46. These acquisition units may acquire difference data, which is data that has been changed since the previous acquisition process.

As another modification, the communication management server 22, the position analysis engine 24, the schedule management server 26, and the employee master DB 30 actively transmit these data to the communication support system 18 and store them in the employee information holding unit 46. May be good. Even if the employee search unit 58 searches the employee information holding unit 46 and acquires attribute information (here, including schedule information, presence information, location information) of employees satisfying the search conditions from the employee information holding unit 46. good.

The list generation unit 66 generates data on the list screen 80 according to the authentication status of the employee X who requested the search. Specifically, when the employee X has not logged in to the communication support system 18 (in other words, the authentication by the authentication server 28 is unsuccessful) (N in S12), the list generation unit 66 is the information item of the list screen 80. Among them, the data of the list screen 80 in which the location information, the schedule information, and the presence information are not set is generated (S14). On the other hand, when the employee X has already logged in to the communication support system 18 (in other words, when the authentication by the authentication server 28 is successful) (Y in S12), the address book generation unit 66 sets all the information items on the address book screen 80. Generate the data of the screen 80 (S16). The address book providing unit 68 transmits the data of the address book screen 80 generated by the address book generation unit 66 to the employee terminal 12x (S18).

The list screen 80 of FIG. 4 shows a display mode of the search result when the employee X has not logged in to the communication support system 18 (without authentication by the authentication server 28). If employee X is not logged in, the job title, name, extension number, outside line number, email address, affiliation building, and department name of employees A to F that satisfy the search conditions are displayed, but presence information, location information, and schedule information are displayed. A hidden roster 88 is provided to employee X. That is, the presence information, location information, and schedule information of other employees are kept private to employees whose legitimacy is not recognized.

FIG. 5 also shows a display example of the list screen. The list screen 80 of FIG. 5 shows a display mode of the search result when the employee X has already logged in to the communication support system 18 (authenticated by the authentication server 28). If employee X is already logged in, a list 88 that displays the presence information, location information, and schedule information of each employee in addition to the job titles, names, extension numbers, email addresses, and buildings of employees A to F that satisfy the search conditions. Is provided to employee X.

The communication support server 20 of this embodiment provides the user with a list screen 80 that displays the location of each employee together with the attribute information (for example, schedule and contact information) of each employee. This can support the easy realization of communication between employees (especially face-to-face communication) in a free-addressed office. Further, the communication support server 20 limits the disclosure range of employee information and enhances information security by presenting presence information, location information, and schedule information of each employee only to users who have succeeded in authentication.

The list generation unit 66 of the communication support server 20 sets the presence information in the presence column of the list 88. Specifically, it is set to one of the following states: (1) blank, (2) the shaded presence indicator 89 is arranged, and (3) the unshaded presence indicator 89 is arranged. Blanks indicate presence "unknown". The shaded presence indicator 89 indicates the presence "capturing". In addition, the presence indicator 89 without shading indicates the presence "contact is possible". The display mode of the presence indicator 89 may be a display by combining different colors or different colors and patterns. For example, green indicates presence "contactable" and red indicates presence "capturing". You may. In addition, keywords may be extracted from the schedule registered in the employee's schedule to indicate the presence in specific words. For example, when a word including "meeting" is registered in the registered schedule, the presence of the employee may be indicated as "in meeting".

As described above, these presences are detected by the communication management server 22 based on the connection state of each employee terminal 12 to the intranet 16 and the filling condition of each employee's schedule. The communication support server 20 presents the presence of each employee detected by the communication management server 22 to the user in the display mode of the presence indicator 89. This allows the user to intuitively understand whether or not the person with whom he / she wants to communicate is currently in contact, and the user can use appropriate contact methods (face-to-face, telephone, e-mail, text chat, etc.). Can help determine.

The list generation unit 66 of the communication support server 20 may set a link for activating the call software installed in the employee terminal 12 to the presence indicator 89 arranged in the list 88. This link is configured to instruct the calling software to display an instant message screen that allows text chat, call screen activation, and video call screen activation to be addressed to the target employee at the presence indicator 89 setting. You may. For example, it may be configured to call a predetermined API of the calling software. Employee X can launch an instant message screen by clicking the presence indicator 89 of the desired target employee and start communication with the desired target employee via the screen.

When the employee X clicks the map display button 90 on the list screen 80 of FIG. 5, the employee terminal 12x transmits a map screen provision request to the communication support server 20. This map screen provision request includes the IDs of one or more employees (hereinafter referred to as "target employees") displayed on the list screen 80. In the list screen 80 of FIG. 4, the map display button 90 is hidden (in other words, not set). As a result, the consistency with not disclosing the location of the target employee to the unlogged-in employee X is maintained. As a modification, in the list screen 80 of FIG. 4, the map display button 90 may be displayed in an inactive manner, and even if the map display button 90 is clicked, the employee terminal 12x suppresses the transmission of the map screen provision request. You may.

Returning to FIG. 3, when the request reception unit 52 of the communication support server 20 receives the map screen provision request (Y in S20), the map generation unit 70 identifies the ID of the target employee included in the request and retains the employee information. The location of each target employee is identified with reference to the section 46. The map generation unit 70 selects map data of floors in which the number of target employees is located at a predetermined order or higher from the maps of a plurality of floors stored in the map holding unit 48, and acquires the map data from the map holding unit 48 (S22). .. The location of the target employee can be said to be the number of locations of the employee terminals 12 held by the target employee, and can also be said to be the number of employee terminals 12 detected by the position analysis engine 24. In the embodiment, one floor map is displayed on one map screen, and the floor map with the highest number of target employees is displayed on the first map screen.

The map generation unit 70 uses map screen data in which a predetermined object indicating a target employee (for example, an image of a mark or symbol having a predetermined shape, hereinafter referred to as a “target employee object”) is arranged on the acquired map image. Generate. Specifically, the map generation unit 70 arranges the target employee object in the area on the map corresponding to the location of the target employee. Further, when the locations of the plurality of target employees are the same or close to each other (typically, when they are detected as the same location by the position analysis engine 24), the map generation unit 70 is on the map (Y in S24). Place multiple target employee objects in the same area (referred to here as "specific area"). At this time, the map generation unit 70 arranges a plurality of target employee objects in such a manner that they do not overlap as much as possible (S26).

For example, in S26, the map generation unit 70 may arrange a plurality of target employee objects side by side (in other words, shift their positions) in a specific area on the map so as not to overlap each other. Also, if the total of the default width (or height) of multiple target employee objects exceeds the width (or height) of a specific area, the width (or height) of the target employee object is made smaller than the default value. That is, a plurality of target employee objects having a size smaller than the initial size may be arranged side by side so as not to overlap.

In this way, the communication support server 20 can suppress the deterioration of the readability of the map screen by suppressing the overlap of the plurality of target employee objects on the display. For example, even when many employees are located in the same or near each other, it is possible to provide the user with a map screen that makes it easy to identify each employee. In addition, a lower limit of the size may be set when reducing multiple target employee objects, and when multiple target employee objects are reduced to the lower limit, the overlap that still occurs is allowed, and multiple target employee objects can be created. They may be arranged side by side. In addition, multiple target employee objects may be stacked in a predetermined order, and the number of overlaps may be displayed together with the target employee object displayed at the top of the overlap that occurs. Tap the target employee object to display a map. A screen different from the screen may be generated, and a plurality of overlapping target employee objects may be displayed in a list.

If the location of each target employee detected by the position analysis engine 24 is different (N in S24), S26 is skipped. The map providing unit 72 provides the map screen data generated by the map generation unit 70 to the employee terminal 12x, and displays the map screen on the web browser of the employee terminal 12x (S28). If the map screen provision request has not been received (N in S20), the processing after S22 is skipped, and if the search request has not been received (N in S10), the processing after S11 is skipped.

FIG. 6 shows a display example of a map screen. The map screen 92 of FIG. 6 is a web page provided by the communication support server 20 in S28 above when the map display button 90 is clicked on the list screen 80 of FIG. Regarding the employees A to F presented on the list screen 80 in FIG. 5, the number one location is "NN Building 17th floor" (3 people are applicable), so the communication support server 20 is the floor map of the NN Building 17th floor. A map screen 92 showing 93 is provided. As described above, the communication support server 20 of the embodiment displays the floor map 93 having the higher number of target employees on the map screen 92 while the screen size is limited. This makes it easier for the user of the list screen 80 to present the floor map 93, which has a high priority, and can improve the convenience of the user.

In the map screen 92 of FIG. 6, the target employee objects 94 of each of employee B, employee C, and employee D are arranged on the floor map 93. The target employee object 94 includes a location object 96 (a circle shaded with diagonal lines) indicating the location of the employee and a name object 98 (speech balloon) indicating the name of the employee. The location object 96 of the employee B and the employee C is arranged in the area 100 indicating the range of the conference room A. Further, the location object 96 of the employee D is arranged in the area 102 indicating the range near the pillar B. As described above, in the area 100, the location object 96 of the employee B and the location object 96 of the employee C are arranged so as not to overlap each other.

As a modification, the name object 98 may display an employee's ID (employee number, etc.) together with the employee's name or instead of the name. Further, the face photograph (thumbnail image) of the employee may be displayed as the location object 96. These data may be acquired from the employee master DB 30 by the employee search unit 58 of the communication support server 20 and stored in the employee information holding unit 46 at the time of searching on the list screen 80.

When the next screen button 104 is clicked on the map screen 92, the employee terminal 12x requests the next map screen 92 from the communication support server 20. The communication support server 20 generates a map screen 92 in which the target employee object 94 indicating employee F is arranged on the floor map of the 16th floor of the NN building, which is the floor with the second largest number of target employees in the list screen 80 of FIG. And provide it to the employee terminal 12x.

In FIG. 6, one floor map 93 is set on one map screen 92, but the communication support server 20 may set a plurality of floor maps 93 on one map screen 92. Then, the target employee object 94 of the target employee existing on each floor may be arranged on each of the plurality of floor maps 93. For example, when two floor maps 93 are included in one map screen 92, the map generation unit 70 sets the floor map 93 in which the number of target employees is first and second on the map screen 92 provided for the first time. You may. Further, the map generation unit 70 may set a floor map 93 in which the number of target employees is 3rd and 4th on the map screen 92 provided for the second time.

FIG. 7 is also a flowchart showing the operation of the communication support server 20. When a predetermined period (for example, 1 hour) has elapsed from the previous information acquisition (Y in S30), the position information acquisition unit 64 acquires the latest location information of each of the plurality of employees from the position analysis engine 24. (S32). The position information acquisition unit 64 may actively acquire the location information from the position analysis engine 24 periodically (once an hour), and passively acquires the location information periodically transmitted from the position analysis engine 24. It may be acquired as a target.

The area determination unit 65 identifies an area in which each employee exists based on the position information of each employee acquired by the position information acquisition unit 64. The usage status detection unit 74 detects the usage status of each area in the office building based on the area where each employee identified by the area determination unit 65 exists (S34). Specifically, the usage status detection unit 74 counts the number of users in the area (that is, the number of existing employee terminals 12) for each area in the office building, and the counting result is the usage status (in other words) of each area. For example, the data indicates the degree of congestion in each area). The usage status detection unit 74 stores data indicating the number of users in each area in the usage status storage unit 50 (S36). The frequency of counting the number of users for each area in the examples is once an hour. If a predetermined period (for example, 1 hour) has not elapsed since the previous information acquisition (N in S30), S32 to S36 are skipped.

When the facility manager of an office building (not shown in FIG. 1) wants to check the usage status inside the office building over a specific period (several months to several years, etc.), the above specific period is specified and the usage status screen is displayed. To request. The terminal of the equipment manager (hereinafter referred to as “administrator terminal”) transmits a usage status screen provision request for a specific period to the communication support server 20. The equipment manager specifies a target period (for example, start date and time and end date and time) and a measurement unit (for example, one of month, week, day, and hour) in the usage status screen provision request.

When the request reception unit 52 receives a usage status screen provision request for which a specific period (target period and measurement unit in the embodiment) is specified (Y in S38), the usage status detection unit 74 stores the usage status detection unit 74 in the usage status storage unit 50. Among the usage status data at a plurality of time points, one or more usage status data corresponding to a specific period is acquired, and the usage status of each area in the office building in the specific period is detected (S40).

As mentioned above, the number of users for each area is counted once an hour. In S40, the usage status detection unit 74 aggregates the number of users in each area for each measurement unit in the target period, and derives the average value of the number of users for each measurement unit as the degree of congestion in each area. For example, when 8 hours of a day is specified as the target period and "hour" is specified as the measurement unit, the usage status detection unit 74 uses the number of users (hour unit) in each area during the 8 hours of the target period. ) Is obtained from the usage status storage unit 50, and the average number of users per hour in each area is derived as the degree of congestion in each area. When a certain week is specified as the target period and "day" is specified as the measurement unit, the usage status detection unit 74 uses the number of users (hour unit) in each area in one week of the target period. Obtained from the situation storage unit 50, the number of users in each area is totaled on a daily basis, and the average of the aggregated values (daily) is derived as the degree of congestion in each area.

The usage status providing unit 76 generates data on a usage status screen showing the usage status of each area detected by the usage status detection unit 74. The usage status providing unit 76 transmits the generated usage status screen data to the administrator terminal, and displays the usage status screen on the web browser of the administrator terminal (S42). If the usage status screen provision request has not been received (N in S38), S40 and subsequent steps are skipped.

Specifically, the usage status detection unit 74 determines the correspondence between the degree of congestion in the area (number of users) and the display mode of the degree of congestion on the usage status screen (display mode of the indicator) for each measurement unit. Hold. For example, when the measurement unit is "day", the number of users is 20 or less for the first utilization indicator, the number of users is 21 or more and 40 or less for the second utilization indicator, and 41 for the third utilization indicator. 60 or more people may be associated with the fourth utilization indicator, and 80 or more users may be associated with the fourth utilization indicator. The usage status detection unit 74 aggregates the number of users in each area in the office building on a daily basis, and determines a usage indicator to be set in each area.

The usage status providing unit 76 acquires map data of each floor in the office building from the map holding unit 48, and has a usage status detection unit among the above four types of usage indicators in the range indicating each area on the floor map. Data on the usage status screen is generated by setting the usage indicator determined by 74. Actually, different patterns and colors may be set for each number of users (congestion degree) for the range of each area predetermined in the floor map.

FIG. 8 shows a display example of the usage status screen. The figure shows the usage screen on the 17th floor of the NN building. A floor map 93 on the 17th floor of the NN building is arranged on the usage status screen 110, and a first utilization indicator 112, a second utilization indicator 114, and a second utilization indicator 114 are arranged in each of a plurality of predetermined areas on the 17th floor of the NN building. Either the 3 utilization indicator 116 or the 4th utilization indicator 118 is superimposed and arranged. As described above, it is shown that the degree of congestion is higher in the order of the first utilization indicator 112 <second utilization indicator 114 <third utilization indicator 116 <fourth utilization indicator 118.

In this way, the communication support server 20 provides the equipment manager with a screen showing the usage status of each area in the office building. This makes it possible to visualize areas that are frequently used and areas that are rarely used, which leads to more efficient office layout. In other words, it can help equipment managers intuitively understand the usage status of each area of the office. For example, since the fourth utilization indicator 118 is set in the area 100 (near the conference room A) of FIG. 8 and the first utilization indicator 112 is set in the area 102 (near the pillar B), the area 100 is set. Equipment managers can see at a glance that they are more commonly used. The equipment manager can efficiently carry out floor renovation, examination of equipment enhancement, etc. by referring to the usage status screen.

Next, the current office availability check will be described. When the employee X wants to check the availability of the current office, the employee X specifies the current state and requests the display of the usage status side, and the employee terminal 12x transmits the usage status screen provision request to the communication support server 20. When the request reception unit 52 receives the usage status screen provision request for which the current designation is specified, the usage status detection unit 74 uses the latest usage status among the usage status data at a plurality of time points stored in the usage status storage unit 50. Get data (latest number of users in each area). The usage status detection unit 74 determines a usage indicator to be set in each area according to the latest number of users in each area.

Hereinafter, the usage status providing unit 76 sets one of the above four types of utilization indicators in each area on the floor map in a mode determined by the usage status detecting unit 74. Then, the usage status providing unit 76 provides the usage status screen 110 showing the current degree of congestion to the employee terminal 12x and displays it. In this way, by presenting the current congestion level of each office area to employees, it is possible to support the selection of a work place. For example, the employee X can easily find an area where a plurality of people can work together by referring to the usage status screen.

As a modification, the utilization rate of each area of the office may be presented to the equipment manager or the employee. In S34, the usage status detection unit 74 may derive the ratio of the number of users of the area to the capacity of the area as the utilization rate as a value indicating the usage status of each area. The number of people that can be accommodated in an area is the number of people who can carry out work in the area, and may be predetermined in a positive correlation with the number of facilities such as desks, for example. In addition, the number of users in the area may be applied to the number of employees currently located in the area. The usage status detection unit 74 stores data indicating the utilization rate of each area in the usage status storage unit 50. The frequency of deriving the utilization rate for each area may be once an hour.

In S40, the usage status detection unit 74 acquires the utilization rate of each area derived at a plurality of time points in the target period, and sets the average value of the utilization rate of each area in the target period as the degree of congestion of each area in the target period. It may be derived. The usage status detection unit 74 may maintain a correspondence relationship between the degree of congestion in the area (utilization rate) and the display mode of the degree of congestion on the usage status screen (display mode of the indicator). For example, the utilization rate of the first utilization indicator is less than 25%, the utilization rate of the second utilization indicator is 25% or more and less than 50%, the utilization rate of the third utilization indicator is 50% or more and less than 75%, and the fourth utilization. A utilization rate of 75% or more may be associated with the degree indicator. The usage status detection unit 74 may determine a usage indicator to be set in each area in the office building.

Hereinafter, the usage status providing unit 76 sets one of the above four types of utilization indicators in each area on the floor map in a mode determined by the usage status detecting unit 74. Then, the usage status providing unit 76 provides and displays the usage status screen 110 showing the usage rate of each area over a specific period to the administrator terminal, or displays the usage status screen 110 showing the current area usage rate to the employee. It is provided to the terminal 12 and displayed. Also in this modified example, it is possible to support the confirmation of the floor usage status by the equipment manager, and it is possible to support the confirmation of the current office availability by the employees.

The present invention has been described above based on the examples. This embodiment is an example, and it is understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible for each component and combination of each processing process, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention.

The first modification will be described. Although not mentioned in the above embodiment, one employee (here, employee X) holds a plurality of employee terminals 12 (here, a notebook PC and a smartphone), and both terminals are simultaneously connected to the intranet 16. You may connect. In this case, the employee X prioritizes between the notebook PC and the smartphone, and the communication support server 20 places the position of the device having the relatively high priority among the notebook PC and the smartphone of the employee X. It may be detected as the location of X.

Specifically, the position analysis engine 24 detects the positions of the notebook PC and the smartphone when both the notebook PC and the smartphone of the employee X are connected to the intranet 16. Whether the connected device is a notebook PC or a smartphone may be identified by the device ID or MAC address detected at the time of connection. The location information acquisition unit 64 of the communication support server 20 acquires the positions of the notebook PC and the smartphone, and the area determination unit 65 identifies the location areas of the notebook PC and the smartphone. The employee information holding unit 46 of the communication support server 20 holds the priority order between the notebook PC and the smartphone registered in advance by the employee X. Here, it is assumed that the notebook PC is given a higher priority.

The list generation unit 66 uses the location area of the notebook PC, which has a relatively high priority among the location area of the notebook PC specified by the area determination unit 65 and the location area of the smartphone, as the location area of the employee X, and the list screen 80. Reflect in. That is, the location area of the notebook PC is set in the location column of the employee X, and the location area of the smartphone is not set. Similarly, the map generation unit 70 reflects the location area of the notebook PC, which has a relatively high priority, on the map screen 92 as the location area of the employee X. That is, in the floor map, the object indicating the employee X is arranged in the location area of the notebook PC, and the object indicating the employee X is not arranged in the location area of the smartphone. However, when the connection of the notebook PC is not detected and only the connection of the smartphone is detected (that is, when only the location information of the smartphone is detected), the list generation unit 66 and the map generation unit 70 determine the location area of the smartphone. It is reflected on the list screen 80 and the map screen 92 as the location area of employee X.

In the above modification, the employees themselves have registered the priorities in advance, but the target company and the equipment manager uniformly determine which employee terminal 12 is preferentially handled among the plurality of employee terminals 12 held by one person. You may decide. Further, it is not always necessary to set the priority, and depending on the type of the employee terminal 12, the presence / absence of authentication, etc., the employee terminal 12 that does not meet the predetermined conditions may be excluded from the detection target of the location information, or , May be excluded from the display targets of the list screen 80 and the map screen 92.

The second modification will be described. Although not mentioned in the above embodiment, the user may be able to set at least one disclosure range among the plurality of information items displayed on the list screen 80. The communication support server 20 may further include a disclosure range setting unit, and the disclosure range setting unit may provide a setting screen for setting the disclosure range of information items to the employee terminal 12. On the setting screen, for each of the location information (location of employee terminal 12), schedule information, and presence information, (1) if the referrer is an officer, and (2) if the referrer is a member belonging to the same department. (3) If the referrer is a member of a different department but belongs to the same headquarters, (4) Whether or not to allow display on the list screen 80 for each case where the referrer is a member of the same company but in a different department and headquarters It may be possible to enter a public policy that defines the above. Further, in the case of (2) above, the default setting "display permission" may be set so as not to be changed.

The disclosure range setting unit may acquire the disclosure policy input on the setting screen from the employee terminal 12 and store it in the employee information holding unit 46 in association with the employee ID. The list generation unit 66 determines which of the above (1) to (4) the relationship between the requesting employee on the list screen 80 and the employee who hit the search corresponds to, and is determined for the corresponding relationship. In accordance with the public policy, display / non-display of each information item on the list screen 80 may be set. That is, the list generation unit 66 may set the information of the item for which display is permitted in the list 88, while suppressing the setting of the information of the item for which display is prohibited in the list 88, and may leave it blank.

A third modification will be described. Although not mentioned in the above embodiment, a known FMC (Fixed Mobile Convergence) service may be used to enable an extension call from an employee terminal 12 (here, a smartphone or a tablet terminal with a telephone function). In this case, a link for making a telephone call may be set in the extension field on the list screen 80. For example, "<A ref =" TEL: 0103 "> 0103 </ A>" is set in the extension column of employee C in FIG. 5, and "<A ref =" TEL: 0104 "" is set in the extension column of employee D. > 0104 </ A> "may be set. When an employee taps the link in the extension column, the employee terminal 12 accesses another terminal (landline phone, PHS, smartphone, etc.) specified by the extension number by accessing a predetermined PBX (Private Branch eXchange). You may make a call to a feature phone, tablet terminal, etc.).

Further, although not shown in FIG. 5, a link for transmitting a short message (SMS) (hereinafter referred to as “SMS link”) may be set in the extension column on the list screen 80. When the SMS link is tapped by an employee, the employee terminal 12 transitions to the SMS application screen or the like, and the SMS can be transmitted to another terminal specified by the extension number. Further, although not shown in FIG. 5, a link for sending an e-mail may be set in the e-mail address field on the list screen 80. When an employee taps the link in the email address field, a predetermined personal information management software with an email sending function is activated, and the screen transitions to a screen where an email can be sent to the destination specified by the email address. Further, although not shown in FIG. 5, a link for transitioning to the schedule of each employee may be set in the schedule column on the list screen 80. When the link in the schedule column is tapped by the employee, the predetermined personal information management software having the schedule management function is activated, and the screen transitions to the schedule management screen specified by the employee ID.

A fourth modification will be described. Although not mentioned in the above embodiment, the communication support server 20 has an employee position storage unit that stores the location of employees over a long period of several months to several years, and an action history output unit that outputs the behavior history of employees. May be further provided. As described in S32 of FIG. 7, the position information acquisition unit 64 periodically acquires the latest location information of each of the plurality of employees from the position analysis engine 24. Based on the acquired data, the area determination unit 65 periodically identifies the latest location area of each employee and stores it in the employee position storage unit in association with the employee ID and the current date and time.

The boss of employee X and the labor manager (here, employee B) request the display of the action history related to employee X, and the employee terminal 12b requests the provision of the action history screen specifying employee X to the communication support server 20. Send to. The action history output unit of the communication support server 20 acquires the location information of the employee X at a plurality of time points accumulated in the employee position storage unit, and generates an action history screen in which the location information of the plurality of time points is arranged in chronological order. .. Then, the action history output unit transmits the data of the action history screen to the employee terminal 12b. As a result, it is possible to provide the boss of the employee X and the labor manager with objective data showing the behavior history of the employee X (in other words, the transition of the location) and the attendance status. The boss of employee X and the labor manager can carry out health management of employee X by analyzing the behavior history of employee X. For example, by analyzing "in what time zone" and "how long" the employee X stayed outside the work area such as a lunch space, it is possible to analyze whether or not an appropriate break time is taken.

A fifth modification will be described. Although not mentioned in the above embodiment, the communication support server 20 may further include a guide unit (in other words, a navigation unit) for supporting the employee (in other words, the navigation unit) regarding the location of the employee (here, the employee X). good. Upon receiving the guidance request from the employee terminal 12x, the information unit may acquire information indicating the current location of the employee terminal 12x from the position analysis engine 24 or the employee information holding unit 46 and provide the information to the employee terminal 12x. .. Specifically, text information indicating the current location may be provided (for example, "near NN building 17F pillar C"), and the target employee object 94 of employee X may be displayed on the floor map where employee X exists. The arranged map screen 92 may be provided.

Further, when the information unit receives a guidance request including the designation of the destination (for example, another area in the same office building) from the employee terminal 12, the route from the current location (area) of the employee terminal 12x to the destination. Navigation information indicating the above may be generated and provided to the employee terminal 12x. The guide unit may determine the route from the current location of the employee terminal 12x to the destination by using a known route search technique. When the information unit detects that the location of the employee terminal 12x has changed on the way to the destination, the information unit determines the route from the changed location to the destination again and shows the updated route. Navigation information may be provided to the employee terminal 12x and displayed.

The sixth modification will be described. In the above embodiment, the location of the employee terminal 12 is detected based on the information of the AP 14 connected to the employee terminal 12 by the wireless LAN. As a modification, the area determination unit 65 of the communication support server 20 associates a combination of a switch and a port of the switch with an area (in other words, a position) for a plurality of switches (for example, a layer 2 switch) installed in an office. You may hold it. The area determination unit 65 acquires information on the switch and port to which the employee terminal 12 is connected by wire from the employee terminal 12 or the switch, and detects the area associated with the switch and the port as the location position of the employee terminal 12. You may. The connection method for detecting the location of the employee terminal 12 is not limited to wireless connection and wired connection, and may be, for example, a wireless charging pad associated with area information or a reading terminal having a payment function. , By acquiring the information of the contacted employee terminal 12 and associating it with the area information, it may be detected as the location of the employee terminal 12.

As another aspect, when the subnet is divided into a plurality of areas in the network of the target company, the area determination unit 65 may hold the subnet and the area in association with each other. Based on the address information (IP address and subnet information) of the employee terminal 12 logged in to the communication support system 18, the area determination unit 65 assigns the area associated with the subnet specified by the address information to the employee terminal 12. It may be detected as a location position.

A seventh modification will be described. In the above embodiment, the area determination unit 65 of the communication support server 20 converts the XY coordinate value indicating the position of the employee terminal 12 detected by the position analysis engine 24 into any area in the floor, and the area is converted into an employee. Identified as the location of. As a modification, the XY coordinate value indicating the position of the employee terminal 12 detected by the position analysis engine 24 may be treated as it is as the location of the employee. In this case, the XY coordinate values may be displayed as the location of the employee on the list screen 80, and the target employee object 94 (location position) may be displayed on the floor map specified by the XY coordinate values on the map screen 92. Objects 96) may be placed.

The eighth modification will be described. In the above embodiment, a system that supports activation of interaction between employees in a free-addressed office has been described as an example. However, the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to human beings, and can be embodied as a system for grasping the whereabouts of various moving objects such as robots. The moving body of this modification is typically a robot, but may include a user's information terminal as in the embodiment. The robot here is a device / device that moves autonomously away from human control. For example, the work content may be input in advance and the work may be performed by autonomously moving in the floor, the work may be provided with a predetermined communication function, or the robot vacuum cleaner for business use may be provided with a detection function. ..

In this modification, the employee master DB 30 may hold attribute information (including ID) of a plurality of moving objects. The position analysis engine 24 may detect the current location of each moving object and notify the communication support server 20 of the ID of each moving object and the current location. The schedule management server 26 may manage the schedule information of each moving object (work contents and the like in this modification) and provide the ID and schedule information of each moving object to the communication support server 20.

The communication support server 20 may grasp the location positions of a plurality of moving objects according to the functional configuration of the embodiment. For example, the acquisition unit 56 may acquire the location information and the schedule information corresponding to the attribute information (ID and the like) of the plurality of moving objects. The map generation unit 70 may generate a map by arranging the information acquired by the acquisition unit 56 on the map with a predetermined object. For example, the map generation unit 70 may arrange an object indicating each moving object at the location position of a plurality of moving objects on the map, and set the mode of each object to the mode corresponding to the schedule information of each moving body. .. For example, objects having different modes may be arranged on the map while moving, serving customers, and waiting. Further, a character string indicating the schedule of each moving object may be arranged in the vicinity of the object indicating each moving object.

Further, when the arrangement positions of the plurality of objects indicating the plurality of moving objects are the same or close to each other, the map generation unit 70 may generate a map in which the overlap of the objects is suppressed. The map providing unit 72 may provide an image of the map generated by the map generating unit 70 to a terminal of a predetermined administrator. The administrator's terminal may display the map image provided by the communication support server 20 on the screen. That is, the terminal of the administrator may display map information indicating the distribution status of moving objects in each area in the office building based on the arrangement position of the object on the screen.

According to this modification, by displaying the position information and work contents (such as the schedule registered in the schedule management server 26) of a moving body such as a robot on the floor map in real time, the administrator can "in which area, You can easily grasp how many robots are located for what purpose. In addition, when the number of moving objects becomes large, it is more efficient to display the location information etc. on the map as in this modification, rather than the administrator receiving the report from each moving object each time. Can be grasped. For example, it is possible to easily find an area where robots are unnecessarily concentrated or a shortage.

In the above embodiment, the communication support server 20 provides screen data to the employee terminal 12 as a mobile device and displays it. However, the destination of screen data, in other words, the client of the communication support server 20 is not limited to a mobile device, but may be a stationary device (PC or the like).

Any combination of the examples and modifications described above is also useful as an embodiment of the invention. The new embodiments resulting from the combination have the effects of each of the combined examples and variants.

It is also understood by those skilled in the art that the functions to be fulfilled by each of the constituent elements described in the claims are realized by a single component or a cooperation thereof shown in the examples and modifications. For example, the detection unit described in the claims may be realized by the position analysis engine 24 and the area determination unit 65 described in the embodiment alone or in cooperation with each other.

18 Communication support system, 20 Communication support server, 24 Location analysis engine, 54 Authentication department, 56 Acquisition department, 65 Area judgment department, 66 Address book generation department, 68 Address book provision department, 70 Map generation department, 72 Map provision department, 74 Use Situation detection unit, 76 Usage status provision department.

Claims (7)

An acquisition unit that acquires attribute information about the first user,
A detection unit that detects the location of the mobile terminal based on the information of the access point to which the mobile terminal of the first user is connected, and
A user information providing unit that provides screen data for displaying the location position of the mobile terminal detected by the detecting unit together with the attribute information about the first user acquired by the acquiring unit to the terminal of the second user.
A map provider that provides data on the map inside the building,
Equipped with
The detection unit detects the locations of the mobile terminals of a plurality of users as the first user, and detects the locations of the mobile terminals of a plurality of users.
The user information providing unit displays screen data for displaying the locations of mobile terminals of the plurality of users detected by the detecting unit together with attribute information regarding the plurality of users acquired by the acquiring unit. Provide it to the user's terminal
The data relating to the map includes at least identification information regarding each of the plurality of areas contained in the floor in the building.
The map providing unit obtains data on a map of floors having a predetermined rank or higher when a plurality of floors in the building are arranged in descending order of the number of mobile terminals of a plurality of users displayed on the screen. A communication support system characterized by providing to the terminal of a second user. The map providing unit is a stack of objects indicating each user when the locations of the mobile terminals of the plurality of users are the same or close to each other as data related to the map of a certain floor. The communication support system according to claim 1, wherein the map is provided to the terminal of the second user. The communication support system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a usage status storage unit that stores data indicating the usage status of each area in the building. Further equipped with a usage status provision department
The detection unit detects the locations of the mobile terminals of a plurality of users as the first user, and detects the locations of the mobile terminals of a plurality of users.
The usage status providing unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the usage status providing unit provides information indicating the usage status of each area in the building based on the locations of the mobile terminals of the plurality of users to the external device. The described communication support system. The detection unit detects the location position of each of the plurality of mobile terminals that the first user can possess as the mobile terminal of the first user.
The user information providing unit is characterized in that it provides screen data for displaying the location position of any one of the plurality of mobile terminal locations according to a predetermined rule. The communication support system described in any of 1 to 4. Steps to get attribute information about the first user,
A step of detecting the location of the mobile terminal based on the information of the access point to which the mobile terminal of the first user is connected, and
A user information providing step of providing screen data for displaying the location position of the mobile terminal detected in the detection step together with the attribute information regarding the first user acquired in the acquisition step to the terminal of the second user. When,
A map providing step that provides data about the map inside the building,
The computer runs,
In the detection step, the locations of the mobile terminals of a plurality of users as the first user are detected.
In the user information providing step, the screen data for displaying the location positions of the mobile terminals of the plurality of users detected in the detection step together with the attribute information regarding the plurality of users acquired in the acquisition step is displayed. Provided to the terminal of the second user,
The data relating to the map includes at least identification information regarding each of the plurality of areas contained in the floor in the building.
In the map providing step, data on a map of floors having a predetermined rank or higher when a plurality of floors in the building are arranged in descending order of the number of mobile terminals of a plurality of users displayed on the screen is described. A communication support method characterized by providing to a second user's terminal. A function to acquire attribute information about the first user and
A function of detecting the location of the mobile terminal based on the information of the access point to which the mobile terminal of the first user is connected, and
A user information providing function that provides screen data for displaying the location position of the mobile terminal detected by the detecting function together with the attribute information about the first user acquired by the acquiring function to the terminal of the second user. When,
A map providing function that provides data on the map inside the building, and
To the computer,
The detection function detects the locations of mobile terminals of a plurality of users as the first user, and detects the locations of the mobile terminals of a plurality of users.
The user information providing function displays screen data for displaying the locations of mobile terminals of the plurality of users detected by the detecting function together with attribute information about the plurality of users acquired by the acquiring function. Provided to the terminal of the second user,
The data relating to the map includes at least identification information regarding each of the plurality of areas contained in the floor in the building.
The map providing function obtains data on a map of floors having a predetermined rank or higher when a plurality of floors in the building are arranged in descending order of the number of mobile terminals of a plurality of users displayed on the screen. A computer program characterized by being provided to a second user's terminal.

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