JP7082249B1 - Programs, methods, information processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent unauthorized representation when a receiver without a decision-making authority is set in an electronic contract.
SOLUTION: The program has a step of accepting a setting of a first user who is an approver when concluding an electronic contract in a first group in a computer processor, and a first group different from the users of the first group. A step of receiving information identifying a user of the first group and contract data for which an electronic contract is concluded with the first group from two users, and a first step of becoming an approver in the first group. When a user is set, the contract data contract is concluded with the first user regardless of whether or not the information of the user specified by the second user includes the first user. Perform the steps that request the operation to approve.
[Selection diagram] FIG. 6

Description

The present disclosure relates to programs, methods and information processing devices.

In business activities, various arrangements and applications are approved both inside and outside the company to advance the business. For example, within a business operator, an approver makes a decision on the content to be approved. In the following Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-178842 (Patent Document 1), a plurality of authorizers are set for the electronic document data indicating the application contents in order to facilitate the approval process in the company. In some cases, it is stated that the skip authority to skip the approval process by the authorizer on the approval route is granted.
In addition, with regard to contracts inside and outside the company, with the development of IT technology in recent years, what was previously concluded by paper is gradually being made by electronic contract.

In an electronic contract, a user of an electronic contract service digitally signs a document or the like to be signed. The electronic contract service is provided by a business operator by various methods such as a so-called party-signed type and a so-called business-signed type (witness type).
When concluding a contract using an electronic contract service, the contracting work may proceed while making it possible for the parties to the contract to view the document data to be contracted by using the information that identifies the parties to the contract. For example, when proceeding with a contract conclusion using an e-mail address as information for identifying a party to the contract, one of the persons who wants to make a contract sends the contract data to the electronic contract service with the other e-mail address specified. Then, the person who received the contract data (or the company that received the contract data) uses the electronic contract service to approve the contract data, etc., and proceeds with the conclusion work by the electronic contract.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-178842

However, when proceeding with the conclusion work by electronic contract while designating the approver involved in the conclusion work between the parties to the contract, the person who does not have the authority to conclude the contract is designated as the approver, so the person who does not have the right to approve. There may be a situation where the contracting work is carried out by an unauthorized agent. If such an unauthorized agent is possible, even if the electronic contract service is used, the reliability of the contract to be concluded may be lowered, and the use of the electronic contract service itself may not be promoted.

Therefore, in the electronic contract service, a technique capable of deterring unauthorized representation by an unauthorized person is required.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a program for operating a computer is provided. A computer is for concluding an electronic contract between a plurality of corporate or individual users, and a program causes a processor of the computer to conclude an electronic contract in a first group composed of a plurality of users. The step of accepting the setting of the first user who becomes the approver, the information for identifying the user of the first group from the second user different from the user of the first group, and the first group. A step for accepting contract data for which an electronic contract is to be concluded, and a contract for a user specified by a second user when the first user to be an approver is not set in the first group. If a step requesting an operation to approve the conclusion of a data contract and a first user to be an approver in the first group are set, the first is the information of the user specified by the second user. By accepting the step of requesting the first user to approve the contract conclusion of the contract data and the operation to approve from the requested user, regardless of whether or not the user is included in the contract. Assuming that an agreement has been reached between the first group and the second user or the second group including the second user for the data, the step of managing the contract data on the computer is executed.

According to the present disclosure, by setting an appropriate approver on the receiver side of the electronic contract service, it is possible to deter unauthorized representation when a receiver without the right of approval is set.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the electronic contract system 1 of an embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the receiver side terminal apparatus 10. It is a block diagram which shows the functional configuration of a server 20. It is a conceptual diagram for explaining an electronic contract. 2021 in FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data structure of the electronic contract management database 2021. 2022 in FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data structure of the transmission approver information 2022. 2023 of FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data structure of the transfer destination approver setting 2023. 2024 of FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the data structure of the approval history 2024. It is a figure which shows the flow of the process related to the conclusion of a contract. It is a figure which shows the flow of the process of determining the domain of an e-mail address in the conclusion of a contract, and the process using the determination result. It is a figure which shows the aspect of confirming the contract data in the terminal of the approver of the first business operator. It is a figure which showed how to set the approver of the contract data in the terminal of the user of the 1st business operator. It is a figure which shows the approver flow of the contract data in the terminal of the approver of the 1st business operator. It is a figure which shows the signature data of the contract data which has completed the agreement conclusion. It is a figure which shows the signature data of a partially anonymized approver in the contract data which has completed the agreement conclusion. It is a figure which recommends the person who should be incorporated as an approver in the approval flow of the contract data from the approval history of the past electronic contract.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are the same. Therefore, the detailed description of them will not be repeated.

<Outline of the first embodiment>
In the present embodiment, the user operates a PC (personal computer) and concludes a contract by an electronic contract service. In the electronic contract, the contract conclusion is advanced by performing an operation of approving the contract data to be concluded the electronic contract, which is the content agreed between the contracting parties.

Contract data includes, for example, those created based on the terms and conditions agreed between the parties, at least as follows.
-Contract data created by software for creating documents-Data that associates each item of the contract terms with the contents agreed by both parties for each item.

In an electronic contract, there is one or more approvers for approving the contract data. Based on the contract data, the approver decides whether or not to conclude the contract under the conditions shown in the contents of the contract data.

In the electronic contract system 1 described below, the server 20 is for concluding an electronic contract between a plurality of users who are corporations or individuals. The individual includes a sole proprietor.
-Conclusion of electronic contracts between corporations For example, between users of the first group (corporations, etc.) and users of the second group (corporations, etc.), the first group and the second group are contractors. Agree to conclude a contract.
・ Conclusion of electronic contracts between corporations and individuals For example, such as real estate lease contracts, employment contracts, insurance contracts, etc., between users of the first group (corporations such as real estate management companies) and users who are individuals. , Agree to conclude a contract with the first group and the individual user as the contracting entity.
-Conclusion of electronic contracts between individuals In addition, there may be two or more contracting parties (for example, a three-party contract).

<1.1 Configuration diagram of the entire system>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the electronic contract system 1 of the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic contract system 1 includes a receiver-side terminal device 10, a sender-side terminal device 30, and a server 20, and these devices are communicably connected to each other by a network 80. ..

In the example of FIG. 1, the receiver side terminal device 10 used by the user is shown. The receiver-side terminal device 10 is, for example, a PC.

The receiver-side terminal device 10 provides the user with an environment for operating the system according to the program by executing the program. The receiver-side terminal device 10 reads and executes a program to communicate and connect the receiver-side terminal device 10, the sender-side terminal device 30, and the server 20. Then, the receiver-side terminal device 10 displays data related to the electronic contract (for example, contract data, information indicating that each user has approved the contract data, information for allowing the user to view the contract data for which the contract has been concluded, etc.). , Transmission / reception between the receiver side terminal device 10 and the sender side terminal device 30 and the server 20.

The server 20 visualizes the status of the electronic contract in the receiver side terminal device 10 by appropriately transmitting the data necessary for the electronic contract to the receiver side terminal device 10. The server 20 manages various data related to the electronic contract of the user who operates the electronic contract. The server 20 communicates with the receiver-side terminal device 10 and transmits images, files, text data, and the like to the receiver-side terminal device 10 according to the progress of the electronic contract of each user.

For example, the server 20 manages various other data such as user information related to the electronic contract, contract data information used for the electronic contract, and approval date and time information approved by a user in the electronic contract.

The receiver-side terminal device 10 includes a communication IF (Interface) 12, an input device 13, an output device 14, a memory 15, a storage unit 16, and a processor 19.

The communication IF 12 is an interface for inputting / outputting signals because the receiver-side terminal device 10 communicates with an external device.

The input device 13 is a device for receiving an input operation from a user (for example, a touch panel, a touch pad, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, or the like).

The output device 14 is a device (display, speaker, etc.) for presenting information to the user.

The memory 15 is for temporarily storing a program, data processed by the program or the like, and is a volatile memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) or the like.

The storage unit 16 is for storing data, and is, for example, a flash memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

The processor 19 is hardware for executing an instruction set described in a program, and is composed of an arithmetic unit, registers, peripheral circuits, and the like.

The server 20 is a device that manages information of a user who concludes a contract by an electronic contract, contract data used at the time of an electronic contract, and other information.

The server 20 includes a communication IF 22, an input / output IF 23, a memory 25, a storage 26, and a processor 29.

The communication IF 22 is an interface for inputting / outputting signals because the server 20 communicates with an external device.

The input / output IF 23 functions as an interface with an input device for receiving an input operation from the user and an output device for presenting information to the user.

The memory 25 is for temporarily storing a program, data processed by the program or the like, and is a volatile memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) or the like.

The storage 26 is for storing data, and is, for example, a flash memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

The processor 29 is hardware for executing an instruction set described in a program, and is composed of an arithmetic unit, registers, peripheral circuits, and the like.

The sender-side terminal device 30 includes a communication IF (Interface) 32, an input device 33, an output device 34, a memory 35, a storage unit 36, and a processor 39.

The communication IF 32 is an interface for inputting / outputting signals because the sender terminal device 30 communicates with an external device.

The input device 33 is a device for receiving an input operation from a user (for example, a touch panel, a touch pad, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, or the like).

The output device 34 is a device (display, speaker, etc.) for presenting information to the user.

The memory 35 is for temporarily storing a program, data processed by the program or the like, and is a volatile memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) or the like.

The storage unit 36 is for storing data, and is, for example, a flash memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

The processor 39 is hardware for executing an instruction set described in a program, and is composed of an arithmetic unit, registers, peripheral circuits, and the like.

<1.2 Functional configuration of the receiver side terminal device 10>
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the receiver-side terminal device 10. The receiver-side terminal device 10 includes an antenna 111, a first wireless communication unit 121, a processor 19, an operation reception unit 130, a storage unit 16, a memory 15, a display 132, a voice processing unit 140, and a microphone. 141 and a speaker 142 are included.

The antenna 111 radiates a signal emitted by the receiver-side terminal device 10 into space as a radio wave. Further, the antenna 111 receives radio waves from the space and gives a received signal to the first wireless communication unit 121.

Since the receiver-side terminal device 10 communicates with other communication devices, the first wireless communication unit 121 performs modulation / demodulation processing for transmitting / receiving signals via the antenna 111 or the like. The first wireless communication unit 121 is a communication module for wireless communication including a tuner, a high frequency circuit, and the like, performs modulation / demodulation and frequency conversion of the wireless signal transmitted / received by the receiver side terminal device 10, and supplies the received signal to the processor 19. ..

The processor 19 controls the operation of the receiver-side terminal device 10 by reading and executing the program stored in the storage unit 16. The processor 19 is realized by, for example, an application processor.

The operation receiving unit 130 has a mechanism for receiving a user's input operation. For example, the operation receiving unit 130 is realized as a pointing device such as a mouse, a touch pad, and a touch panel, a keyboard, a controller, a photographing means for sensing the movement of the user's body as an input operation, and the like. For example, the operation reception unit 130 receives the movement of a body part such as a hand, the facial expression of the user, and the like as an input operation by sensing the movement of the body part of the user as the movement of the user's body. The operation reception unit 130 determines whether the user's operation is a flick operation, a tap operation, or a drag ( Swipe) Determine the type of operation, such as whether it is an operation.

The storage unit 16 is composed of a flash memory, a RAM (Random Access Memory), or the like, and stores a program used by the receiver-side terminal device 10 and various data received from the server 20 by the receiver-side terminal device 10. ..

The display 132 displays data such as images, moving images, and texts under the control of the processor 19. The display 132 is realized by, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an organic EL (Electroluminescence) or other display device.

The voice processing unit 140 performs modulation / demodulation of the voice signal. The voice processing unit 140 modulates the signal given from the microphone 141 and gives the modulated signal to the processor 19. Further, the voice processing unit 140 gives a voice signal to the speaker 142.

The microphone 141 receives the voice input and gives the voice signal corresponding to the voice input to the voice processing unit 140.

The speaker 142 converts the voice signal given from the voice processing unit 140 into voice and outputs the voice to the outside of the receiver side terminal device 10.

In the storage unit 16, each information of the electronic contract management information 161, the transmission approver information 162, the transfer destination approver setting 163, and the approval history 164 is stored.
The electronic contract management information 161 is information for managing each electronic contract.
The transmission approver information 162 indicates the information of the approver on the receiver side designated by the sender terminal device 30 in the electronic contract to be concluded by the receiver side terminal device 10.
The transfer destination approver setting 163 indicates the information of the user set as the approver in the group of users of the receiver side terminal device 10.
The approval history 164 indicates information on the approval history, including information on the timing of approval by the user who is the approver in each electronic contract.

When the processor 19 operates according to the program, it exhibits functions as an input operation reception unit 191, a transmission / reception unit 192, a data processing unit 193, and a notification control unit 194.

The input operation reception unit 191 performs a process of accepting a user's input operation to an input device such as the operation reception unit 130. In the input operation reception unit 191, when the operation reception unit 130 is, for example, a touch-sensitive device, the user's operation is a flick operation based on the information of the coordinates when the user touches the touch-sensitive device with a finger or the like. It determines the type of operation such as whether it is a tap operation, a drag (swipe) operation, or the like.

The transmission / reception unit 192 performs a process for the receiver-side terminal device 10 to transmit / receive data to / from an external device such as a server 20 according to a communication protocol.

The data processing unit 193 performs a calculation on the data received by the receiver side terminal device 10 according to a program, and performs a process of outputting the calculation result to a memory or the like.

As the process of presenting information to the user, the notification control unit 194 performs a process of displaying a display image on the display 132, a process of outputting sound to the speaker 142, a process of generating vibration in a vibrator or the like, and the like.

<1.3 Functional configuration of server 20>
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the server 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the server 20 functions as a communication unit 201, a storage unit 202, and a control unit 203.

The communication unit 201 performs a process for the server 20 to communicate with an external device.

The storage unit 202 stores various databases such as the electronic contract management database 2021, the transmission approver information 2022, the transfer destination approver setting 2023, and the approval history 2024.

The electronic contract management database 2021 is a database for managing information on each contract concluded in the electronic contract system 1. Details will be described later.

The transmission approver information 2022 is a database for managing the information of the user set as the approver for each contract concluded in the electronic contract system 1. Details will be described later.

The transfer destination approver setting 2023 is a database for managing information of a user who is previously set as an approver in association with the group in a group to which a plurality of users such as a business operator belong. Details will be described later.

The approval history 2024 is a database of approval history including information on timing of approval by a user who is an approver in each electronic contract. Details will be described later.

The control unit 203 is realized by the processor 29 reading the program stored in the storage unit 202 and executing the instruction included in the program. By operating according to the program, the control unit 203 exerts the functions shown as the reception control module 2031, the transmission control module 2032, the electronic contract information acquisition module 2033, the approver user information acquisition module 2034, and the approval date / time information acquisition module 2035.

The reception control module 2031 controls a process in which the server 20 receives a signal from an external device according to a communication protocol.

The transmission control module 2032 controls a process in which the server 20 transmits a signal to an external device according to a communication protocol.

The electronic contract information acquisition module 2033 performs a series of processes for managing the information of the electronic contract.

The approver user information acquisition module 2034 is to approve as an approver on the receiver side regardless of whether or not it is designated as a user on the receiver side in the sender side terminal device 30 in the conclusion of the electronic contract. It performs a series of processes for managing the information of the set user.

The approval date / time information acquisition module 2035 performs a series of processes for managing information on the date and time when the approver approves.

<1.4 Conceptual diagram for explaining electronic contracts>
FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an electronic contract. In the present embodiment, the "electronic contract" is an electronic contract service provided by a business operator or the like that operates the server 20, and a signature key is used for the contract data agreed by the contracting parties as follows. Electronic signature is included.
・ The contracting party electronically signs the contract data using the signing key prepared by the contracting party. Digitally sign at will (for example, in response to an operation by the contracting party to approve the contract data)

For example, by operating each terminal device, the contracting parties exchange contract document data between the terminal devices via the server 20 on the Internet, and the contracting parties perform an operation to input an agreement intention. , The contracting party attaches an electronic signature to the electronic data of the contract document.

First, the contract sender uploads the contract data to, for example, the server 20 on the cloud by operating the sender terminal device 30. The server 20 assigns the electronic signature of the contract sender to the contract data agreed by the contract sender.

The contract sender performs an operation for requesting the contract recipient to conclude an agreement. Specifically, the sender-side terminal device 30 receives an operation for designating a contract receiver from the user and transmits the operation to the server 20. In the present embodiment, the sender terminal device 30 receives information identifying one or more contract recipients from the user, and requests the user of the contract receiver to conclude an agreement via the server 20. .. The information for identifying the user received from the contract sender may be as follows.
-Email address of each contract recipient-Account of the service used by the contract recipient (for example, if a user account is issued in the electronic contract service provided by the server 20, user ID, etc. Information that identifies the user account. Information that identifies the user account in a service other than the electronic contract service provided by the server 20)

The server 20 of the electronic contract system 1 is described as information for accessing contract data (for example, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator)) to the recipient's e-mail address specified by the user of the contract sender. Link) will be emailed to the contract recipient.

Here, the server 20 may accept the designation of the viewing order of a plurality of contract recipients from the contract sender. For example, when the server 20 receives the designation of a plurality of contract recipient email addresses from the contract sender, the server 20 sequentially obtains information for accessing the contract data in the order of the designated email addresses. It may be sent to each contract recipient.

For example, it is assumed that the contract sender has specified a first e-mail address, a second e-mail address, and a third e-mail address as contract recipients. First, the server 20 sends a link for viewing the contract data to the first contract recipient of the first e-mail address, and accepts the operation of approving the contract data. In response to receiving an operation to approve the contract data from the first contract recipient, the server 20 records the approval by the first contract recipient and the timing of the approval. (For example, in response to the operation to approve the contract, the electronic signature of the first contract recipient is given), in order to make the second contract recipient of the second email address view the contract data. Send the link. After that, the server 20 similarly records the approval by the second contract recipient and the timing of the approval (for example, in response to the operation of making the approval, the second contract recipient of the second contract recipient. (Give an electronic signature), send a link to the third contract recipient to view the contract data in response to the approval of the second contract recipient, and receive the third contract. Accepts operations to approve from a person.

The contract recipient can click the link described in the e-mail received by the receiver-side terminal device 10 to check the contents of the contract data on the server 20 online and conclude an agreement. The receiver-side terminal device 10 presents a screen for accepting an operation indicating that the contract is agreed to the user of the receiver-side terminal device 10, and accepts the operation for agreeing from the user.
If there is a defect in the contract contents at this point, the server 20 may accept an operation from the contract recipient to the effect that the contract is not agreed.

The server 20 gives the contract data an electronic signature of the contract recipient by accepting an operation of agreeing on the contract data from the contract receiver. The contract data is stored in the server 20. By giving the electronic signatures of both parties to the contract, falsification of the contract is prevented.

This embodiment realizes such a cloud-type electronic contract service. In the following embodiment, regarding the authority to conclude a contract, a technique for preventing a person belonging to an organization from concluding an electronic contract without authority will be described.

Therefore, the approver user information acquisition module 2034 (see FIG. 3) of the server 20 manages the information of the person who can conclude the contract in the organization, and prevents the operation of concluding the agreement by the person who does not have the same authority. I do.

The electronic contract information acquisition module 2033 is responsible for all electronic contract processing other than the above-mentioned authority management. That is, the electronic contract information acquisition module 2033 records the contract data in the server 20 based on the operation of the contract sender as described above, the process of generating the link for accessing the contract data, and the contract receiver. It performs the process of sending an e-mail for concluding a contract, the process of accepting access based on the link from the contract recipient and accepting the operation for concluding a contract, and other processes.

<2 data structure>
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data structure of a database stored in the server 20. Note that FIG. 5 is an example and does not exclude data not described.

Each record of the electronic contract management database 2021 of FIG. 5 has an item "contract ID", an item "sender side document transmission date and time", an item "contract status", an item "contract completion date and time", and an item "transmission". "Person's email address", item "Recipient's email address 1", item "Recipient's email address 2", item "Recipient's email address 3", and item "Document ID used for electronic contract" And include. The illustrated example shows an example in which three users can be designated as a plurality of receiver-side users from a sender-side user in an electronic contract, but the number is not limited to three.

The item "contract ID" indicates identification information issued by, for example, the server 20 for each contract concluded by an electronic contract.

Specifically, the item "contract ID" is an ID unique to an electronic contract, which is required when managing each contract concluded by an electronic contract between users.

The item "sender-side document transmission date and time" indicates the timing at which the sender-side user transmits the contract data to the server 20 in order to conclude the contract by the electronic contract. For example, the server 20 performs a process of accepting upload of contract data from a user on the sender side, so that the timing of performing the process is held in the item "date and time of document transmission on the sender side".

The item "contract status" indicates the status of the conclusion of an electronic contract that is being concluded between the sender side and the receiver side. Specifically, the status of the conclusion of an electronic contract between the parties may include the following.
-"Uncontracted": A state in which the work of concluding an electronic contract between users has not started. For example, the state of accepting the designation of the user involved in the work of concluding an electronic contract.
-"Contracting": Each user is specified in the conclusion of the electronic contract, but at least one of the specified users does not accept the operation to approve the contents of the contract.
-"Contract completed": A state in which the server 20 accepts an operation approved by each user specified in the conclusion of the electronic contract, and the conclusion of the contract by the electronic contract is completed.

The item "sender-side e-mail address" indicates information that identifies the sender-side user, and specifically indicates the e-mail address of the sender-side user.

The item "recipient-side email address 1" indicates information that identifies the user on the receiver-side, and specifically indicates the email address (first) of the user on the receiver-side.

The item "recipient-side email address 2" indicates information that identifies the user on the receiver-side, and specifically indicates the recipient-side email address (second), as described above.

The item "recipient-side email address 3" indicates information that identifies the user on the receiver-side, and specifically indicates the recipient-side email address (third), as described above.

The item "Document ID used for the electronic contract" indicates the identification information (ID) of the data of the document subject to the electronic contract. For example, as the document identification information, unique information issued in association with the document data by the server 20 accepting the upload of the document data as the object of the electronic contract (identification information issued to the document, each of the documents). Includes link information for access by the terminal device, etc.).

Each record of the transmission approver information 2022 in FIG. 5 has an item "contract ID", an item "approver 1 user ID", an item "approver 2 user ID", and an item "approver 3 user ID". ,including. The illustrated example shows an example in which three users can be designated as a plurality of receiver-side users from a sender-side user in an electronic contract, but the number is not limited to three.

The item "contract ID" indicates identification information issued by, for example, the server 20 for each contract concluded by an electronic contract.

Specifically, the item "contract ID" is an ID unique to an electronic contract, which is required when managing each contract concluded by an electronic contract between users.

The item "Approver 1 User ID" indicates the ID of the user of the approver (first) on the receiver side, which is designated by the user on the sender side of the electronic contract.

The item "Approver 2 User ID" also indicates the ID of the user of the approver (second person) on the receiver side.

The item "Approver 3 User ID" also indicates the ID of the user of the approver (third person) on the receiver side.

The forwarding approver setting 2023 in FIG. 5 includes the item "approver user ID", the item "user's email address", the item "user's name", the item "user's company name", and the item "user's". Includes "department name" and the item "user's estimated job title".

In the following example, in the transfer destination approver setting 2023, an example of managing a user set as an approver in each group (business company or the like) is described.

Here, the server 20 manages a list of users belonging to the group (for example, a list of employees of a business company) for each group (for example, a list of employees managed by a personnel department or the like in a business company). The database may be importable to the server 20), and the list of users in the group may be associated with a specific user to manage being set as an approver. That is, in the list of users in the group, there may be a mixture of users who are set as approvers and users who are not set as approvers.

The item "Approver User ID" is identification information given to a user who is set as an approver when he / she becomes a receiver when concluding an electronic contract.

Specifically, regardless of the information (email address) that identifies the user on the receiver side specified by the sender of the electronic contract (that is, the email address on the receiver side is not specified by the sender side). (Even if it is a user), it is the information of the user who becomes the approver on the receiver side.

For example, the server 20 receives the designation of the user who should be the approver of the electronic contract in advance from the group (for example, the business company) to which the user who becomes the approver belongs, and registers it in the transfer destination approver setting 2023. Keep it. When the server 20 accepts the designation of any user in the group on the receiver side from the user on the sender side of the electronic contract, the server 20 receives the user even if the user to be the approver is not specified. Notify the user who is set as the approver in the group of the person to approve as the approver. For example, a notification that there is a request to conclude an electronic contract and a link to contract data subject to the electronic contract are sent to the email address of the user set as the approver.

Specifically, the item "approver user ID" is an ID unique to the approver, which is required when managing the program.

The item "user's e-mail address" indicates information that identifies the user set as the approver when the recipient of the electronic contract is on the side, specifically, the e-mail address of the user.

The item "user name" indicates the name of the user set as the approver.

The item "user's company name" indicates the name of the organization to which the user set as the approver belongs (business company name, etc.).

The item "user's department name" indicates the department name to which the user set as the approver belongs.

The item "estimated job title of the user" indicates the job title estimated for the user set as the approver. The method of estimating the job title of the user will be described later. Here, it may be possible to register the job title of the user in the server 20 in advance.

The approval history 2024 of FIG. 5 includes an item "contract ID", an item "approver 1 user ID", an item "approval date and time of approver 1", an item "approver 2 user ID", and an item "approver". 2 approval date and time ”, item“ approver 3 user ID ”, and item“ approval date and time of approver 3 ”. The illustrated example shows an example in which three users can be designated as a plurality of receiver-side users from a sender-side user in an electronic contract, but the number is not limited to three.

The item "contract ID" indicates identification information issued by, for example, the server 20 for each contract concluded by an electronic contract.

Specifically, the item "contract ID" is an ID unique to an electronic contract, which is required when managing each contract concluded by an electronic contract between users.

The item "Approver 1 User ID" indicates the ID of the approver (first) user.

The item "Approval date and time of approver 1" indicates the date and time when the approver (first person) approves.

The item "Approver 2 User ID" indicates the ID of the approver (second) user.

The item "Approval date and time of approver 2" indicates the date and time when the approver (second person) approves.

The item "Approver 3 User ID" indicates the ID of the approver (third person) user.

The item "Approval date and time of approver 3" indicates the date and time when the approver (third person) approves.

<Operation of the first embodiment>
Next, the operation of each device constituting the electronic contract system 1 will be described.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow of processing for concluding a contract between the parties via the server 20. In the following example, it is assumed that both the transmitting side and the receiving side are operators. Specifically, when concluding a contract by an electronic contract, the user of the second business operator (sending side) identifies the user of the first business operator (receiving side) and then concludes the contract via the server 20. I will explain an example of how to proceed.

In step S601, the sender-side terminal device 30 of the second business operator receives from the user an operation of designating the data of the documents used in the electronic contract between the second business operator and the first business operator. The sender terminal device 30 transmits the received document data as contract data to the server 20.

In transmitting the contract data, the sender side terminal device 30 accepts the input of the e-mail address of one or more users of the first business operator as the destination of the document from the user of the second business operator. The sender terminal device 30 transmits the received e-mail address information to the server 20.

In step S631, the server 20 receives the contract data used in the electronic contract from the sender side terminal device 30 of the second business operator. The server 20 updates the electronic contract management database 2021 based on the information (contract data, information designating the user of the first business operator, etc.) received from the sender side terminal device 30.

In step S632, the server 20 determines whether or not a user to be an approver is set in the first business operator by referring to the transfer destination approver setting 2023.

(I) When the user to be the approver is not set in the first business operator, the server 20 refers to the user specified by the user of the second business operator (the user of the first business operator). Request an operation to approve the contract conclusion of the contract data. Specifically, the server 20 confirms the contents of the documents subject to the electronic contract to the e-mail address of the user on the receiving side specified by the user of the second business operator when concluding the electronic contract. A message containing information to prompt the user and to accept the operation to approve the contract contents is sent.

(Ii) When a user who becomes an approver is set in the first business operator, the server 20 becomes the approver when the first business operator concludes an electronic contract at the destination of the electronic contract. Regardless of whether or not the e-mail address of the user (forwarding destination approver setting 2023) is included, the operation of approving the contract conclusion of the document is requested from the first user who becomes the approver. For example, the server 20 sends a message to the e-mail address of the first user to prompt confirmation of the contents of the documents subject to the electronic contract, a message including information to accept an operation for approving the contract contents, and a message. , Sends a message containing at least one of the information transferred by the first user being set as the approver.

The server 20 requests the first user, who is the destination of the electronic contract and is the approver, to approve the contract conclusion of the contract data. For example, the server 20 sends a message to the e-mail address of the first user, including information to prompt confirmation of the contents of the contract data subject to the electronic contract and to accept an operation for approving the contract contents. It also sends a message containing at least one of the information to the effect that the first user has been set as the approver and has been forwarded.

For example, the server 20 may specify a user involved in contract conclusion in the first business operator and update the electronic contract management database 2021 based on the information of the specified user as follows. The server 20 may transmit information for making the request to the user who requests the approval of the contract data by referring to the updated electronic contract management database 2021.
-At least a part of the users designated as the second business operator and the first user set as the approver in the transfer destination approver setting 2023 are designated as the approver involved in the conclusion of the electronic contract. The electronic contract management database 2021 is updated based on the information (email address) that identifies the user who becomes the approver. For example, in the electronic contract management database 2021, information that identifies the first user is stored in the recipient's e-mail address in association with the contract ID.

As described above, the server 20 requests each approver to view the document and approve it based on the information of the approver information 2022 at the time of transmission and the transfer destination approver setting 2023.

Here, in the server 20, when the first user who becomes the approver is set in the transfer destination approver setting 2023, all the users (first) designated as the destination to the user of the second business operator. It will be described as requesting the operation of approving the contract data from the user of the business operator) and the first user. In addition, the user designated as the destination to the user of the second business operator may include the first user who is the approver.

In step S651, the receiver-side terminal device 10 of the user of the first business operator (the user designated by the user of the second business operator and the first user set as the approver) is the server. The contract data used in the electronic contract is received from the user of the second business operator via the 20th.

In step S652, the receiver-side terminal device 10 presents the contract data to the user by displaying the information on the display 132, notifying by voice, or the like. The receiver-side terminal device 10 confirms the contents of the contract data from the user who is the approver, and accepts an input operation (input operation for approving) for concluding the contract. The receiver-side terminal device 10 responds to an input operation for concluding a contract and transmits information indicating that the contract is concluded to the server 20.

At this time, the server 20 requests approval in the order specified as the destination. For example, if there is an approver of the transfer destination (sending to the transfer destination first), the transfer may be performed to the approver of the transfer destination after accepting all the approvals of each user specified as the destination. Further, it may be sent to the transfer destination at the end, or approval may be received from the approver of the transfer destination rather than the user specified as the destination. Further, in the order of approval of the user specified as the destination, the order in which the server transfers to the approver of the transfer destination may be determined.

In step S633, the server 20 receives information indicating that the contract is concluded for the contract data from the user of the first business operator, and updates various information such as the approval history 2024 and the electronic contract management database 2021.

The server 20 receives information indicating that a contract is concluded from each user who is an approver in the first business, so that the user of the second business and the user of the first business ( For example, when concluding an electronic contract, information indicating that the contract has been concluded is transmitted to the e-mail address of the user who is involved as the sender or the receiver). For example, the server 20 sends a notification to the e-mail address of the user of the first business operator that the work of concluding the contract has been completed on the side of the user of the second business operator, and documents subject to the contract conclusion. Send a message containing link information for viewing.

In step S602, the sender-side terminal device 30 presents the result of the completion of the electronic contract conclusion to the user of the second business operator by displaying the information on the display or the like.
As described above, the server 20 manages the contract data based on various databases, assuming that an agreement has been reached between the first business operator and the second business operator.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of processing for determining the domain of an e-mail address in concluding a contract and processing using the determination result.

The server 20 determines the domain of the e-mail address by comparing the e-mail addresses of the users who are the parties to the contract.
Determining the domain of an e-mail address means determining whether each domain is different by comparing the domain part of the e-mail address of the user of the second business operator with the e-mail address of the user of the first business operator. Means that. The details of the parts to be determined by comparing the domain portions of the e-mail addresses will be described later in the description of step S732.

In addition, the purpose of determining the domain of the e-mail address will be described. When the contract is concluded, the server 20 automatically determines the sender side and the receiver side from the e-mail address, so that the number of senders and receivers can be determined. At that time, it is also possible for the receiver side to match the number of approvers on the receiver side according to the number of senders.

As a premise, the fact that the number of people on the sender side is large is likely to be contract data that is checked by a large number of people on the sender side, and is likely to be an important document. In this case, the receiver side can carefully judge important documents by a plurality of people by matching the number of approvers on the receiver side with the number of people on the sender side. This case will be described later in the modified example (1).

In this way, by performing the e-mail address domain determination, it is possible to process the above-mentioned cases.

Also, by comparing the domain part of the sender's e-mail address and the domain part of the recipient's e-mail address, whether the user on the sender side and the user on the receiver side are different businesses or the same. It is possible to determine whether it is a business operator of the same family or a business operator of the same series such as a parent-child relationship. For example, by associating the domain of the e-mail address of the business operator in the same series in advance and holding it in the storage unit, whether the sender and the receiver are business operators of the same series (for example, the parent company and the small company). Whether it is a contract between them) can be determined.

For example, if the sender and the receiver are the same business operator, the contract data may be approved by an electronic contract after approval of approval within the business operator in advance. In this case, assuming that there is little concern about unauthorized representation, the following may be done.

When the server 20 determines that the user on the sender side and the user on the receiver side are users of the same business operator (the domain part of the e-mail address is the same for the sender and the receiver), the transfer destination approver setting 2023 Even if the user who becomes the approver is set in, it is not transferred to the user who becomes the approver, and it is managed as if the contract data is agreed by the user specified by the sender side approving. good.
Further, in the above case, in the transfer destination approver setting 2023, at least a part of the approver users set in the transfer destination approver setting 2023 by the business operator, such as transferring to a user having a specific job title. May be transferred to.

In step S732, the server 20 compares the e-mail address of the user on the receiving side with the e-mail address of the user on the sender side, and determines whether the domain portion is different. When the domain part is different, the server 20 distinguishes between the receiver side and the sender side as users belonging to different affiliations, and presents the distinguished result to each user on the sender side and the receiver side.

For example, suppose that the e-mail address of the user of the second business is xxx@abcde.co.jp and the e-mail address of the user of the first business is xxx@efghi.co.jp. At this time, when the server 20 looks at both domain parts and compares them, the domain part of the user's e-mail address of the second business operator is @ abcde.jp, and the e-mail address of the user of the first business operator is @. You can see that it is different on efghi.jp. If the domain part of the email address is different, it is highly likely that you are not from the same company. This is because a corporation (company) often has its own domain, and there is a high possibility that employees are using an email address that uses the corporation's own domain.

Therefore, if it is determined that the domain parts are different, if one is the sender side and the other is the receiver side, it is assumed that the sender side and the receiver side are different businesses. It is possible to distinguish. In this case, the server 20 can distinguish the e-mail address of the user of the second business operator from the sender side and the e-mail address of the user of the first business operator from the receiver side.

As described above, the server 20 presents the result of distinguishing that the affiliations of the contracting parties that conclude the electronic contract are different to at least one of the users of the first business operator and the second business operator.

As described above, the server 20 requests each approver to view the contract data and approve the contract data based on the information of the approver information 2022 at the time of transmission and the transfer destination approver setting 2023.

<Screen example>
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a phase in which the user confirms the contract data at the terminal of the approver of the first business operator.

In the screen example of FIG. 8, the operation for accepting the operation for accepting the operation indicating that the receiver side terminal device 10 agrees on the contract data is presented to the user of the receiver side terminal device 10 and the operation for agreeing. Is a screen that accepts from the user. Corresponds to the processing of steps S651, S652 and the like shown in FIG. Details will be described in the next section.

The contract approver clicks the link described in the e-mail received on the receiver side terminal device 10, confirms the contents of the contract data on the server 20 online via a browser or the like, and concludes an agreement. be able to. The receiver-side terminal device 10 presents a screen for accepting an operation indicating that the contract is agreed to the user of the receiver-side terminal device 10, and accepts the operation for agreeing from the user.

Further, the server 20 receives the operation of agreeing on the contract data from the contract recipient, and thereby assigns the electronic signature of the contract recipient to the contract data. The contract data is stored in the server 20. By giving the electronic signatures of both parties to the contract, falsification of the contract is prevented.

For example, in the receiver side terminal device 10 of the receiver "B Co., Ltd.", an input operation for requesting the conclusion of an agreement between the sender "A Co., Ltd." and the receiver "B Co., Ltd." is accepted. Will be explained. The sender "A Co., Ltd." is the sender side, and the receiver "B Co., Ltd." is the receiver side.

In addition, the sender of the sender "A Co., Ltd." contracts "M Shimo M Akira" by performing an operation of specifying the e-mail address of the user "M Shimo M Akira" of the receiver "B Co., Ltd.". Suppose you have entered an operation that you want to specify as the recipient.

It is assumed that the approver of the receiver "B Co., Ltd." is set in the transfer destination approver setting 2023 on the server 20. The server 20 is an operation of concluding an agreement from the sender side terminal device 30 of the sender "A Co., Ltd." in a state where the user of the receiver "B Co., Ltd." is designated by the sender of the sender "A Co., Ltd." Accept. The server 20 transfers the request for concluding the agreement to the user "Tyuki Nzawa" set in the transfer destination approver setting 2023 as the approver of the receiver "B Co., Ltd.".

At this time, the receiver-side terminal device 10 of the user "Nzawa Toko" set as the approver presents the following information to the user to determine whether or not to perform an operation to agree to conclude the contract. Make it easy for the user to make a decision.
-Information of the sender's business operator who is the other party of the contract conclusion-Information of the user of the other party's business operator who sent the contract data to be the contract conclusion-Contents of the contract data to be the contract conclusion (contract) Document data of documents, etc.)
-Information of the user (first user) on the receiver side specified by the business operator on the sender side (information of the transfer source of the contract document)

Specifically, the user's receiver-side terminal device 10 displays the following information on the dialog screen 810.
-Message 810A: An area for displaying a message for prompting the user to confirm and approve the contract document.
Message 810B: This is an area for displaying information of the transfer source user when the contract data is transferred because the user is set to the transfer destination approver setting 2023. As a result, the user set in the transfer destination approver setting 2023 as the approver can easily confirm the information of the user designated by the sender as the receiver of the contract data. For example, the sender can easily confirm to which department of the business company the contract data was sent.
-Area 810C: An area for displaying the contents of contract documents for which a contract is concluded. In the area 810C, the receiver terminal device 10 displays the type of contract document (for example, the type of various contracts such as non-disclosure agreement and business consignment contract), the name of the contracting party, the clause of the contract document, and the like. ..
-Button 810D: This is an area for accepting an operation of approving the contract document after confirming the contract document from the second user.

The user confirms each information presented on the above dialog screen 810 and determines whether or not to agree the contract data.

In response to receiving an input operation to the button 810D from the user, the receiver-side terminal device 10 transmits information indicating that the user has approved the contract data to the server 20 (S652).

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing how to set the approver of the contract data on the terminal of the user of the first business operator. By setting the approver on the receiver side in the electronic contract, it is possible to prevent unauthorized representation when a receiver without the right of approval is set.

How the first business operator sets the contract data approver is based on the relationship between the user who becomes the approver of the first business operator and the user who becomes the contract receiver in the first business operator. May be decided. For example, if the contract recipient of the first business is a sales staff member, the approver of the first business is a sales manager and a sales deputy manager. May be set in-house. The approval flow refers to a series of procedures approved by the approver of the electronic contract. Specific examples will be described later.

As described above, the server 20 manages the user who approves the contract in the transfer destination approver setting 2023 according to the attributes (department, job title, etc.) of the user who becomes the contract recipient. May be good.

How the first business operator sets the approver may be determined based on the relationship between the approver of the first business operator and the contents of the contract data. How to determine the contents of the contract data is determined by reading the contract data (for example, PDF data) with OCR (or by holding the result of character recognition processing in advance in the storage unit) and contract data. Read as a sentence what the contents of are.

Then, machine learning is performed based on the contract data and the result of reading the contents of the contract data to generate a trained model.

As a result, the server 20 can determine what kind of contract data the contract data is based on the contract data and the trained model. Further, the server 20 holds a table for determining the contents of the contract data according to the reading result of the contract data, so that the contract data can be obtained based on the result of reading the contents of the contract data and the table. The type of contract content (type of contract such as confidentiality contract, business consignment contract, etc.) may be determined.

Further, the server 20 holds a table for determining the information of the department according to the reading result of the contract data, so that the contract data will be obtained based on the result of reading the contents of the contract data and the table. It may be determined whether or not it is intended for the department of.

For example, assume that the title of the contract data is "Invoice to the sales department of A Co., Ltd.". In that case, the contract data can be first read by OCR, and then it can be determined which department the contents of the contract data belong to based on the read sentence and the learned model. For example, in the document showing the contents of the contract data, since the title is "Invoice to the sales department of A Co., Ltd.", it can be determined that the contents of the contract data are related to the sales department. By carrying out as described above, the server 20 can determine which business unit the contents of the contract data are related to.

Then, for example, if the content of the contract data is a document related to the sales department, the approver of the first business operator is the sales department manager, the sales deputy department manager, and so on, based on the degree of relevance to the contract data content. An approver may be set. The approval flow of contract documents may be set in-house by the approver set as described above. Specific examples will be described later.

For example, a case where a certain company "C Co., Ltd." sets a rule in-house about how to set an approver of contract data will be described. It is assumed that a part of the setting of the approver is displayed on the document screen 910 of "C Co., Ltd.".

At this time, the document screen 910 displayed on the terminal device of the user of "C Co., Ltd." presents the following information to the user, and how to set the approver of the contract data in "C Co., Ltd." Can be easily determined by the user.
-The user who received the contract document or the one that determines the approver based on the organization to which the user belongs-The one that determines the approver based on the contents of the contract document

Specifically, the server 20 displays the following information on the document screen 910 of the terminal device of "C Co., Ltd.".
Message 910A: An area for displaying an agreement on how to set an approver based on the user information of the contract recipient of C Co., Ltd.
-Message 910B: An area for displaying an agreement on how to set an approver based on the information of the contents of the contract data.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a phase in which the approver flow of contract data is displayed on the terminal of the approver of the first business operator.

The server 20 appropriately transmits the data necessary for the electronic contract to the receiver-side terminal device 10, and accepts the operation of the receiver-side user to visualize the status of the electronic contract in the receiver-side terminal device 10. Let me.

By visualizing the status of the electronic contract (for example, the situation where the electronic signature is performed by the approver's user approving), the approver of the first business operator can use it when there are multiple approvers. , It is possible to know which of the users of the approver of the first business operator has not yet approved the contract data. As a result, the approver of the first business operator can take some action on the approver who has not approved the contract data, which leads to shortening the speed of concluding the contract data.

For example, when the sender "A Co., Ltd." requests the receiver "B Co., Ltd." to conclude a contract, and the approver of the receiver "B Co., Ltd." approves the documents for the contract data. explain. The sender "A Co., Ltd." is the sender side, and the receiver "B Co., Ltd." is the receiver side. At this time, it is assumed that the receiver "B Co., Ltd." on the receiver side has four approvers of the contract data, approver A, approver B, approver C, and approver D.

The approver's terminal device presents a visualization of the status of the electronic contract of the contract data on the screen. The approver's terminal device presents information about which approver has approved the contract data (signed) and which approver has not yet approved the contract data.

Specifically, the receiver side terminal device 10 of the approver B of the receiver "B Co., Ltd.", which is the receiver side, presents the following information on the dialog screen 1010.
-Message 1010A: An area for displaying the contents of contract data.
Area 1010B: An area for displaying the approval status of contract data.
-Message 1010C: An area for displaying the time point of the approval status of the contract data.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing signature data of contract data for which contract conclusion has been completed.

The server 20 holds data related to signatures (hereinafter referred to as signature data) in the contract data when concluding an electronic contract. With the signature data, those involved in the conclusion of the contract can check information such as "when and which approver agreed on the contract documents" and "whether the approval record is still valid". ..

For example, a situation after the contract conclusion of the contract data with the receiver "A Co., Ltd." and the sender "B Co., Ltd." is completed will be described. The sender "B Co., Ltd." is the sender side, and the receiver "A Co., Ltd." is the receiver side. It is assumed that the approver A of the receiver "A Co., Ltd." on the receiver side accepts the operation of presenting the signature data of the contract data on the receiver side terminal device 10.

At this time, the receiver-side terminal device 10 of the approver A presents the following information to the user on the dialog screen 1110.
-Area 1110A: An area for displaying the contents of contract data.
-Message 1110B: An area for notifying the user when all signatures of contract data are valid.
-Area 1110C: An area where the signature data information can be confirmed. The user can check information such as "when and which approver agreed on the contract" and "whether the approval record is still valid".

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing signature data partially anonymized in contract data for which contract conclusion has been completed.

As described above, the server 20 associates the contract data managed assuming that an agreement has been reached between the contracting parties, the information of the user who has approved the contract data, and the information of the timing when the user has approved the contract data. It is managed in the approval history 2024 and so on.

The server 20 responds to a request from the user to view the contract data, and at least one of the information of the user who has approved and the information of the timing when the user has approved, which is the information to be stored in association with the contract data. The contract data may be presented to the user who made the browsing request without browsing any of them.

Regarding how to specify the user to be anonymized, specify the information of the user that the sender wants to anonymize to the receiver or the information of the user that the receiver wants to anonymize to the sender. , May be accepted from each user.

While the server 20 accepts the designation of the user who wants to be anonymized from the user, the server 20 may not accept the designation of anonymization for a specific user such as the user with the highest job title and disclose it to the contracting parties. This allows the contracting parties to easily confirm whether the contract has been approved by an authorized user.

The server 20 holds the signature data of the contract data when concluding the electronic contract. The signature data may be partially anonymized by setting it. By partially anonymizing the signature data, it becomes difficult to guess the order of approval, and it is possible to reduce the scope of disclosure of the company's approval flow to other organizations.

For example, a situation after the conclusion of the contract between the receiver "A Co., Ltd." and the sender "B Co., Ltd." will be described. The sender "B Co., Ltd." is the sender side, and the receiver "A Co., Ltd." is the receiver side. It is assumed that the approver A of the receiver "A Co., Ltd." on the receiver side accepts the operation of presenting the signature data of the contract data on the receiver side terminal device 10.

At this time, the receiver-side terminal device 10 of the approver A presents the following information to the user on the dialog screen 1210.
-Area 1210A: An area for displaying the contents of contract data.
Message 1210B: An area for notifying the user when all signatures of contract data are valid.
-Area 1210C: An area where the information of the signature data can be confirmed. The user can check information such as "when and which approver agreed on the contract" and "whether the approval record is still valid". However, it is assumed that some of the signature data is anonymized on the screen.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a person who is recommended to be incorporated as an approver in the approval flow of contract data from the past conclusion history of electronic contracts.

In concluding an electronic contract, the first business operator must set an approver for the contract data. However, deciding which person is the appropriate approver for which contract data can be a daunting task. This is because when it is a human being who determines the approver, it is necessary to always grasp and distribute which person in the first business operator has what kind of authority.

For the first business operator, recommending an approver from the past conclusion history of electronic contracts may be helpful in deciding an approver.

For example, a aspect of accepting an operation for concluding contract data between a user of the sender "A" and a receiver "B" on the terminal of the receiver "B Co., Ltd." will be described. The sender "A Co., Ltd." is the sender side, and the receiver "B Co., Ltd." is the receiver side.

The business operator of the receiver "B Co., Ltd." needs to consider who should agree on the contract data as an approver, and then conclude the contract data. Therefore, the server 20 may recommend who is an appropriate approver to be incorporated into the approval flow from the past electronic contract conclusion history, and present the information of the appropriate approver to the user of the business operator. And.

For example, suppose that the content of the contract data is related to sales, and that there are a plurality of past electronic contract histories that are very similar to the content of the contract data.

An example of determining the content of the contract data is described in the description of FIG. Further, the similarity determination of the contents of the contract data may be determined by looking at the title of the contract data. For example, suppose that there is contract data titled "Invoice to Sales Department of A Co., Ltd. May 2021" and contract data titled "Quotation to Sales Department of A Co., Ltd. June 2021". In this case, it can be determined that the titles of the former and the latter are similar because all the other words are the same except for the part of the year and month. As described above, it is possible to determine the similarity of the contents of the contract data by looking at the title of the contract data.

Of the multiple electronic contract histories, it is assumed that Mr. Tanaka of the sales department was involved as an approver. In that case, the server 20 determines that Mr. Tanaka of the sales department is appropriate as an approver for this contract data, and the information about the appropriate approver is given to the user of the business operator of the receiver "B Co., Ltd.". Present on the screen.

At this time, the receiver-side terminal device 10 of the approver B presents the following information to the user on the dialog screen 1310.
-Area 1310A: An area for displaying the contents of contract data.
-Message 1310B: An area for displaying the recommendation information of the approver.
Area 1310C: An area for displaying a past electronic contract history that is very similar to contract data.

<Modification example>
(1) Specifying the number of people required to conclude a contract based on the number of parties involved in concluding a contract The server 20 determines the number of users on the sender side or the number of users on the receiver side. The parties may evaluate the number of users involved in the conclusion of the contract, and present the evaluation results to each user.

For example, the server 20 determines the number of users on the sender side involved in the conclusion of an electronic contract by acquiring the information of the user on the sender side. The server 20 specifies the number of users on the receiver side who should be involved in the conclusion of the electronic contract based on the determined result, and at least one of the users on the receiver side or the user on the sender side determines the specified result. It may be presented as a contract.

For example, the server 20 has a sender so that the difference in the number of people between the sender and the receiver is within a certain range (for example, the difference in the number of people between the sender and the receiver is zero or within a certain value). To reduce the number of people to the side with a large number of people or to increase the number of people to the side with a small number of people so that the difference in the number of people involved in concluding a contract between the side and the recipient side is within a certain range. May be good.

For example, the server 20 may present a proposal to the sender side or the receiver side to increase or decrease the number of people involved in the contract conclusion to each user at the following timings.
-The stage of performing the operation to approve the contract document (step S652, etc.)
-The stage of transferring the data of the document to be contracted to the user who is set to have the contract conclusion authority (step S632).
-The stage where the sender has uploaded the contract documents for which the contract is to be concluded (step S601, etc.)

The details of determining the number of senders from the e-mail address information are described in the explanation of FIG.

When the number of people on the sender side is large, the contract data is checked by a large number of people on the sender side, and it is highly possible that it is an important document. In this aspect, the receiver side can carefully judge important documents by a plurality of people by matching the number of approvers on the receiver side with the number of people on the sender side.

It is assumed that the more people involved in concluding a contract, the more carefully the contract is concluded. Therefore, by constructing as described above, it is possible to reduce the discrepancy in recognition of the importance of the contract by aligning the cautions of both parties.

<Modification example>
(2) Estimating the title of the approver The server 20 may determine the title of the user who has approved the contract data based on the approval order of the plurality of users who have approved the contract data.

The server 20 may extract the candidate of the user set as the approver in the transfer destination approver setting 2023 in the group on the receiver side based on the result of determining the job title.

In step S633, the server 20 estimates the position of each approver (“manager”, “president”, etc.), evaluates the effectiveness of the approver based on the estimated result, and presents it to the user on the sender side. May be. The estimated job title is referred to as the estimated job title below.

When concluding a contract, it is often possible to determine the approval flow according to the position within the company. The approval flow refers to a series of procedures approved by the approver of the electronic contract. By evaluating the effectiveness of the approver, the probability of establishing a smooth approval flow in concluding a contract increases. Therefore, by configuring as described above, it is possible to establish a logic that can determine an appropriate decision-making authority when there are a plurality of candidates for approver (“President”, “Director”, “Business division manager”, etc.).

How to estimate the job title may be based on the information of the transfer destination approver setting 2023, the approval history 2024, and the contents of the contract data. For example, if Mr. Tamura has a history of approving contract data related to the sales department at the end of the approval flow each time, it is highly possible that Mr. Tamura's estimated position is the sales department manager. Can be determined.

As described above, the server 20 estimates the job title of the user as follows.
-Refer to the electronic contract management database 2021 and approval history 2024, and when concluding contract data, it is estimated that users with a high percentage of contractors designated as contractors on the sender side or receiver side have positions.-Electronic contract management With reference to database 2021 and approval history 2024, when concluding contract data, the sender or receiver is based on the order of approval (for example, the order of approval is later or the user who approves last). Estimate that there is a position and the height of the position. For example, it is estimated that the last the order of approval, the higher the position (for example, president, general manager, etc.).

<Modification example>
(3) Determining the appropriate decision-making authority In step S631, the server 20 acquires the job title information and validity information of a plurality of approvers, and determines the appropriate decision-making authority on the receiver side of the contract conclusion. , The information of the appropriate decision-making authority may be presented to the user on the receiving side based on the determination result.
Regarding this modification, details such as an embodiment are described in the description of FIG.

In the approval flow, it is necessary to carefully decide who should be set as the approver. Therefore, by configuring as described above, the server 20 can present an appropriate decision-making authority based on the job title information and the effect information of the approver.

<Modification example>
(4) Recommendation of appropriate decision-maker The server 20 extracts and extracts the candidates of the user set as the approver based on the history of contract conclusion by the group on the side of the sender or the receiver. The user may be presented with information suggesting that the candidate for the user be included in the contracted user.
For example, the server 20 extracts candidates for users set as approvers in the group on the receiver side based on the history of contract conclusions by the group on the receiver side, and sends the extracted user candidates as candidates for the sender. Information that is proposed to be included in the conclusion of the contract with the user on the receiving side may be presented to the users in the group on the receiving side.
Regarding this modification, details such as an embodiment are described in the description of FIG.

Therefore, by configuring as described above, it is possible to recommend who should be included in the workflow as the decision-making authority from the history of past contract conclusions, which can be helpful in deciding the approval flow. The approval flow refers to a series of procedures approved by the approver of the electronic contract.

(5) Notification of contract conclusion request As described above, when concluding a contract, the sender side user specifies the receiver side user to approve the contract data to be contracted, and the contract data is included in the contract data. On the other hand, the contract data is managed by the server 20 on the assumption that the user who approves the contract has digitally signed the contract.

The server 20 may notify each user of the conclusion of the contract as follows.
-If the server 20 determines that the user on the receiver side specified by the user on the sender side does not have the authority to conclude a contract (not set as an approver in the transfer destination approver setting 2023), the server 20 approves. Notify the user who has the authority to make a request to conclude a contract. For example, when an email containing a contract conclusion request and a link for confirming contract data is sent to the email address of the authorized user, or when the user logs in to the electronic contract system provided by the server 20. The content of the notification is displayed in.
-When the server 20 determines that the user on the receiver side designated by the user on the sender side does not have the authority to conclude a contract, the server 20 concludes a contract with the user designated by the user on the sender side. Notify that you do not have the authority to do so, notify the user who has the authority to conclude a contract (the user on the receiver side), and give other notifications.
-The server 20 may distinguish between the information of the user who does not have the approval authority on the receiver side and the information of the user who has the approval authority and present it to the user on the sender side. For example, when the receiver-side user specified by the sender-side user does not have approval authority, a display indicating to the sender-side user that the specified receiver-side user does not have approval authority. While doing this, a display indicating that the transfer has been made to a user with approval authority is displayed. For example, for a user on the sender side, a user who does not have the approval authority and a user who is transferred and has the approval authority are sent to the sender side user in a different manner, or the sender side user is an electronic contract system. Notify by displaying on the screen when accessing.

(6) Method for Designating a User for Concluding a Contract In order to provide an electronic contract system to each user (or a business operator to which a plurality of users belong), the server 20 provides user information for each user to log in. I manage it. For example, the server 20 manages information such as a user name, a user's e-mail address, and a user's company name displayed in the electronic contract system. In this way, the server 20 manages the information of the users belonging to each business operator for each business operator.

Here, when the server 20 concludes a contract, the sender side user specifies the receiver side user, and the information identifying the user in the electronic contract system (for example, the information of the user's account (ID in the electronic contract system). Etc.)) may be accepted. The server 20 includes a link for confirming a contract conclusion request and contract data to the e-mail address by specifying an e-mail address associated with the information of the account of the user designated as the user on the receiving side. You may also send an email.

Further, when the user on the sender side specifies the account of the user on the receiver side, the server 20 is registered as having the approval authority such as the e-mail address associated with the account and the forwarding approver setting 2023. By collating with the e-mail address of the user, it may be determined whether or not the user associated with the account has approval authority.

As described above, even when the sender-side user specifies information other than the e-mail address as the information for identifying the receiver, the comparison with the e-mail address information of each user stored in the server 20 is performed. It is possible to determine whether or not each user has approval authority.

Although some embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, these embodiments can be implemented in various other embodiments, and various omissions, replacements, and modifications are made without departing from the gist of the invention. It can be performed. These embodiments and variations thereof shall be included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof, as well as in the scope and gist of the invention.

<Additional Notes>
The matters described in each of the above embodiments are added below.
(Appendix 1)
A program for operating a computer (20), the computer is for concluding an electronic contract between a plurality of corporate or individual users, and the program is a plurality of programs on a computer processor (29). In the first group composed of the users of the first group, the step of accepting the setting (2023) of the first user who becomes the approver when concluding the electronic contract, and the second user different from the users of the first group. From the step (S601) of receiving the information identifying the user of the first group and the contract data for which the electronic contract is concluded with the first group, and the first approver in the first group. When the user is not set, the step of requesting the operation of approving the contract conclusion of the contract data from the user specified by the second user, and the first user who becomes the approver in the first group. When is set, the first user is authorized to conclude a contract for the contract data regardless of whether or not the information of the user specified by the second user includes the first user. By accepting the step (S632) for requesting the operation to be performed and the operation to approve from the requested user, the first group and the second group including the second user or the second user for the contract data can be used. A program for executing the step (S633) of managing the contract data on a computer, assuming that the agreement has been reached.

(Appendix 2)
In the step of accepting the contract data, the information of the user of the first group and the second user is acquired, and the e-mail address of the user of the first group is compared with the e-mail address of the second user. The program according to claim 1, wherein it is determined that the group of the user and the second user are contracting parties to different affiliations (S732).

(Appendix 3)
In the step of accepting contract data, the contracting party who concludes an electronic contract by comparing the email address of the user of the first group and the email address of the second user to determine whether the domain part is different. The program according to claim 2, which distinguishes from different affiliations and presents the distinguished result to at least one of the users of the first group or the second user (S732).

(Appendix 4)
In the step of accepting contract data, the number of people on the side of the second user involved in the conclusion of the electronic contract should be determined by acquiring the information of the second user, and based on the determined result, the person should be involved in the conclusion of the electronic contract. The program of claim 2, wherein the number of users in the first group is specified and the identified result is presented to at least one of the users in the first group or the second user.

(Appendix 5)
The program according to claim 1, wherein in the management step, the job title of the approving user is determined based on the approval order of the plurality of users who approve the contract data in the first group (2023).

(Appendix 6)
The program according to claim 5, wherein in the management step, candidates of users set as the first user in the first group are extracted based on the result of determining the position (2023).

(Appendix 7)
In the management step, based on the history of contract conclusion by the first group, candidate users set as the first user are extracted, and the extracted user candidates are contracted with the second user. The program according to claim 1, wherein the information proposed to be included in the user of the first group is presented to the users of the first group (1310B).

(Appendix 8)
In the management step, the contract data to be managed assuming that an agreement has been reached, the information of the user who has approved the contract data, and the information of the timing when the user has approved are associated and stored in the storage unit. (2024), the program according to claim 1.

(Appendix 9)
In the management step, at least one of the information of the user who has approved and the information of the timing when the user has approved, which is the information to be stored in association with the contract data in response to the request to view the contract data. The program according to claim 8, wherein the contract data is presented to the user who made the viewing request without viewing (1210C).

(Appendix 10)
A method of operating a computer, wherein the computer is for concluding an electronic contract between a plurality of corporate or individual users, and a method is a first method in which a computer processor is composed of a plurality of users. In the group of, the user of the first group is specified from the step of accepting the setting of the first user who becomes the approver when concluding the electronic contract and the second user different from the user of the first group. A step of accepting information and contract data for which an electronic contract is to be concluded with the first group, and when the first user to be an approver is not set in the first group, by the second user. Specified by the second user when the step of requesting the specified user to approve the contract conclusion of the contract data and the first user who becomes the approver in the first group are set. Regardless of whether or not the information of the requested user includes the first user, the step of requesting the operation of approving the contract conclusion of the contract data from the first user and the approval from the requested user. By accepting the operation to be performed, it is assumed that an agreement has been reached between the first group and the second group including the second user or the second user for the contract data, and the step of managing the contract data on the computer. And how to do it.

(Appendix 11)
An information processing device including a control unit, wherein the information processing device is for concluding an electronic contract between a plurality of corporate or individual users, and the control unit is a first configuration composed of a plurality of users. In the group of, the user of the first group is specified from the step of accepting the setting of the first user who becomes the approver when concluding the electronic contract and the second user different from the user of the first group. A step of accepting information and contract data for which an electronic contract is concluded with the first group, and when the first user to be an approver is not set in the first group, by the second user. Specified by the second user when the step of requesting the specified user to approve the contract conclusion of the contract data and the first user who becomes the approver in the first group are set. Regardless of whether or not the first user is included in the information of the requested user, the step of requesting the operation of approving the contract conclusion of the contract data from the first user and the approval from the requested user. By accepting the operation to be performed, it is assumed that an agreement has been reached between the first group and the second group including the second user or the second user for the contract data, and the step of managing the contract data on the computer. And, an information processing device that executes.

1: Electronic contract system, 10: Recipient side terminal device, 12: Communication IF, 13: Input device, 14: Output device, 15: Memory, 16: Storage unit, 19: Processor, 20: Server, 22: Communication IF , 23: Input / output IF, 25: Memory, 26: Storage, 29: Processor, 30: Sender side terminal device, 32: Communication IF, 33: Input device, 34: Output device, 35: Memory, 36: Storage unit , 39: Processor, 80: Network, 111: Antenna, 121: First wireless communication unit, 130: Operation reception unit, 132: Display, 140: Audio processing unit, 141: Microphone, 142: Speaker, 161: Electronic contract management Information, 162: Approver information at the time of transmission, 163: Transfer destination approver setting, 164: Approval history, 191: Input operation reception unit, 192: Transmission / reception unit, 193: Data processing unit, 194: Notification control unit, 201: Communication Unit, 202: Storage unit, 203: Control unit, 2021: Electronic contract management database, 2022: Transmission approver information, 2023: Transfer destination approver setting, 2024: Approval history, 2031: Reception control module, 2032: Transmission control Module, 2033: Electronic contract information acquisition module, 2034: Approver user information acquisition module, 2035: Approval date and time information acquisition module

Claims (11)

A program for running a computer
The computer is for concluding an electronic contract between a plurality of users who are corporations or individuals.
The program is applied to the processor of the computer.
In the first group composed of a plurality of users, a step of accepting the setting of the first user who is the approver when concluding the electronic contract, and
A step of receiving information identifying a user of the first group and contract data for which the electronic contract is concluded with the first group from a second user different from the user of the first group. When,
When the first user who is the approver is not set in the first group, the user specified by the second user is requested to approve the contract conclusion of the contract data. Steps to do and
Whether or not the first user is included in the user information specified by the second user when the first user who is the approver is set in the first group. Regardless of the step of requesting the first user to approve the contract conclusion of the contract data,
By accepting the approval operation from the requested user, it is assumed that an agreement has been reached between the first group and the second group including the second user or the second user for the contract data. , A program that executes the steps of managing the contract data on the computer. In the step of accepting the contract data, the information of the user of the first group and the second user is acquired, and the e-mail address of the user of the first group is compared with the e-mail address of the second user. The program according to claim 1, wherein the first group and the second user are determined to be contracting parties to different affiliations. In the step of accepting the contract data, the electronic contract is concluded by comparing the email address of the user of the first group with the email address of the second user and determining whether the domain portion is different. The program according to claim 2, wherein the contracting parties are distinguished from each other and the result of the distinction is presented to at least one of the users of the first group or the second user. In the step of accepting the contract data, the number of people on the side of the second user involved in the conclusion of the electronic contract is determined by acquiring the information of the second user, and the electronic contract is based on the determination result. The program according to claim 2, wherein the number of users of the first group to be involved in the conclusion of the above is specified, and the specified result is presented to at least one of the users of the first group or the second user. .. The program according to claim 1, wherein in the management step, the job titles of the users who have approved the contract data are determined based on the approval order of the plurality of users who have approved the contract data in the first group. The program according to claim 5, wherein in the management step, candidates of users set as the first user in the first group are extracted based on the result of determining the position. In the management step, the candidate of the user set as the first user is extracted based on the history of the contract conclusion of the first group, and the extracted candidate of the user is referred to as the second user. The program according to claim 1, wherein the information proposed to be included in the user who concludes a contract with the user is presented to the users of the first group. In the management step, the storage unit associates the contract data managed assuming that the agreement has been reached, the information of the user who has approved the contract data, and the information of the timing when the user has approved the contract data. The program according to claim 1, which is stored in. In the management step, the information of the user who has performed the approval, which is the information to be stored in association with the contract data in response to the viewing request of the contract data, and the information of the timing when the user has performed the approval. The program according to claim 8, wherein the contract data is presented to the user who made the viewing request without viewing at least one of them. It ’s a way to get your computer working.
The computer is for concluding an electronic contract between a plurality of users who are corporations or individuals.
In the method, the processor of the computer
In the first group composed of a plurality of users, a step of accepting the setting of the first user who is the approver when concluding the electronic contract, and
A step of receiving information identifying a user of the first group and contract data for which the electronic contract is concluded with the first group from a second user different from the user of the first group. When,
When the first user who is the approver is not set in the first group, the user specified by the second user is requested to approve the contract conclusion of the contract data. Steps to do and
Whether or not the first user is included in the user information specified by the second user when the first user who is the approver is set in the first group. Regardless of the step of requesting the first user to approve the contract conclusion of the contract data,
By accepting the approval operation from the requested user, it is assumed that an agreement has been reached between the first group and the second group including the second user or the second user for the contract data. , The steps of managing the contract data on the computer, and the method of performing. An information processing device equipped with a control unit
The information processing device is for concluding an electronic contract between a plurality of users who are corporations or individuals.
The control unit
In the first group composed of a plurality of users, a step of accepting the setting of the first user who is the approver when concluding the electronic contract, and
A step of receiving information identifying a user of the first group and contract data for which the electronic contract is concluded with the first group from a second user different from the user of the first group. When,
When the first user who is the approver is not set in the first group, the user specified by the second user is requested to approve the contract conclusion of the contract data. Steps to do and
Whether or not the first user is included in the user information specified by the second user when the first user who is the approver is set in the first group. Regardless of the step of requesting the first user to approve the contract conclusion of the contract data,
By accepting the approval operation from the requested user, it is assumed that an agreement has been reached between the first group and the second group including the second user or the second user for the contract data. , An information processing device that executes a step of managing the contract data in the information processing device.

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