JP7491042B2 - Reservation system, message display method - Google Patents

Description

In view of the above problems, the present invention relates to a reservation system and a message display method.

Reservation systems that accept reservations for resources such as conference rooms are known. Prospective conference attendees can reserve a conference room by communicating with a reservation management server using a terminal device and operating the terminal device. While such reservation systems make it easy to reserve equipment, if a conference is postponed or canceled, prospective attendees may neglect to cancel or change the reservation of the conference room set up in the reservation system.

When an unused conference room is reserved, it is called an empty reservation, and not only does it deprive those who want to rent the conference room of the opportunity to use it, it also deprives the conference room provider of the opportunity to provide the room. One known method of reducing empty reservations is a technology that notifies potential participants of upcoming conferences by email, etc.

In addition, a situation may arise where a user who had planned to attend a conference is forced to be unable to attend the conference due to special circumstances. In response to this, a technique is known that reduces the effort required for a user who had planned to attend a conference to send a notice to multiple participants that they will be late (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing device that, when receiving conference-related information related to a conference from a first conference participant, selects a second conference participant other than the first conference participant from a schedule table that includes the first conference participant, and outputs the conference-related information to the second conference participant.

However, conventional technology has the problem that it does not use reservation information to identify the closest reservation for the current time and contact those who plan to attend. For example, if there are multiple reservation information for reserving resources that a user will use, such as a conference room, conference-related information is sent to the participants of all the reservation information. Alternatively, a user who is likely to be late to a conference has to go through the task of identifying the reservation information to send a message about their late attendance from the multiple reservation information they are planning to attend.

In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a reservation system that can identify the closest reservation for the current time.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a reservation system having one or more information processing devices that manage the use of reserved resources, and an information processing terminal that accepts an operation to start using the resources from a user of the resources , wherein the one or more information processing devices have a first communication unit that, when a terminal device requests reservation information for the resources by specifying the user's identification information, transmits the most recent reservation information with respect to the current time to the terminal device, including the user's identification information, and a second communication unit that, when a request to send a message for the reservation information is received from the terminal device, transmits the message to the information processing terminal, and the information processing terminal has a display control unit that displays the message transmitted from the one or more information processing devices.

It is possible to provide a reservation system that can identify the nearest reservation for the current time.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of an outline of the overall operation of a reservation system. 13 is a diagram illustrating a process in which a conference room terminal displays a message indicating that participation will be delayed. FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of a reservation system. FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of an example of a computer system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an example of a conference room terminal or a terminal device. 2 is an example of a functional block diagram illustrating functions of a reservation management server, a chat server, a conference management server, and a registration terminal in block form. FIG. 2 is an example of a functional block diagram illustrating functions of a terminal device and a conference room terminal in a block form. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a flow of communication between a chat server and a chat application. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a procedure in which a conference room terminal displays a message regarding a reservation selected by a user. 1 is an example of a chat page that a chat application may display when there is one upcoming appointment. 1 is an example of a chat page that a chat application may display when there are two upcoming appointments. This is an example of a chat page that a chat app may display when there are no upcoming appointments. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a standby screen I displayed by a conference room terminal when the conference room is currently vacant. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a standby screen II displayed by a conference room terminal when the conference room is currently vacant but there is still a predetermined time until the start time of the next conference (waiting for check-in). FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a standby screen III displayed by the conference room terminal when the conference room is currently in use. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a reservation status screen displayed on a conference room terminal common to a plurality of conference rooms. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a procedure in which a terminal device of another participant displays a message regarding a reservation selected by a user. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a chat page displayed on a terminal device of another participant.

Below, a reservation system and a message display method performed by the reservation system will be described with reference to the drawings as an example of a form for implementing the present invention.

<Overall operation of the reservation system>
First, an overview of the reservation system 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is an example of a diagram for explaining an overview of the overall operation of the reservation system 100. Fig. 1 describes a case where one or more conference room terminals 90 are arranged in each conference room.

A. A reserving person operates his/her terminal device 60 to communicate with the reservation management server 20 and reserve a conference room. The reservation management server 20 is a general-purpose cloud service (Office365, G Suite (both are registered trademarks), etc.), and conference rooms owned by an organization such as the company to which the reserving person belongs are registered on the reservation management server 20.

B. The conference management server 30 is a server that controls the entire reservation system 100 based on the reservation status of the conference room. The conference management server 30 communicates with the reservation management server 20 as appropriate to obtain reservation information, and therefore synchronizes the reservation information with the reservation management server 20.

C. The reservation system 100 or an administrator on the organization side can register users and perform various settings on the conference management server 30. Registering a user means registering a user who will be the target of various notifications using the chat server 10 (Slack, Line, Microsoft Teams (all registered trademarks), etc.). In addition, since notifications are performed via a chatbot that sends messages as the conference management server 30, a chatbot provided by the chat server is also registered. Various settings include registering the conference room terminal 90 (initial settings described below) and setting the timing of reminders.

D. The conference management server 30 reminds the person who made the reservation that the conference will be held a certain amount of time before the start time of the conference in the reservation information. This prevents empty reservations of the conference room. The conference management server 30 also notifies the user of an invitation code as necessary. When the person who made the reservation receives the reminder, the person saves information (conference identification information) for checking in to the conference room in the terminal device 60. Checking in means notifying the conference management server 30 that they will begin using the conference room and obtaining permission.

E. A conference room terminal 90 is placed in each conference room 6, and the conference room terminal 90 periodically downloads reservation information for conferences to be held in that conference room. The conference room terminal 90 can display the current and upcoming conference schedules, allowing conference participants to check their schedules. Shortly before the start time of the conference, the person reserving the conference room goes to the conference room 6 and checks in. For example, the person inputs the conference room identification information into the conference room terminal 90, or holds the terminal device 60 over the conference identification information (allowing the conference identification information to be read, communicated, etc.).

F. The conference room terminal 90 sends a check-in request to the conference management server 30, and if authentication can be performed using the conference identification information, a response is received from the conference management server 30 indicating that check-in has been successful. The conference room terminal 90 displays that it is in use (during a conference). If a usage start notification informing check-in cannot be confirmed by the specified time for the start of the conference, the conference management server 30 automatically cancels the reservation of the conference room 6 (cancelling the reservation information if the conference room has not started to be used within a specified time from the start time) and sends a status of "cancelled" included in the reservation information to the conference room terminal 90. In this case, the conference room terminal 90 displays that the room is vacant, allowing any user to use the conference room 6.

G. The conference room terminal 90 controls the electronic device 70 in response to a request from the conference management server 30. For example, the power is turned ON at the conference start time and turned OFF at the conference end time. This improves the convenience of the conference participants when operating the electronic device 70.

H. For example, if the electronic device 70 has a video conference function, it can communicate with an electronic device (such as a video conference terminal 70x) at another location 4 to hold a conference with the other location. The PC 70y on which the app runs can also communicate with the electronic device 70. The reservation information includes destination information (destination communication ID) indicating the other location, and the electronic device 70 can automatically communicate with the video conference terminal 70x and the PC 70y.

I. When the person who made the reservation finishes the conference, they press a button on the conference room terminal 90 to check out, and the conference room terminal 90 displays the next reservation status. This allows any user to understand the reservation status of the conference room. Checking out means notifying the conference management server 30 that the use of the conference room has ended.

<Message display>
However, when a participant is likely to be late for the next meeting because the previous meeting ended late or the schedule is full, in order to contact all the other participants in the meeting, it is necessary to identify the meeting that is likely to be late, check the participants of this meeting, set all of them as recipients, and then send a message, which is inconvenient and time-consuming. Also, if the participant who receives the message does not realize that it has been received, the message will not be delivered to the participants.

In this embodiment, the chat server 10 transmits the reservation immediately prior to the current time to the participant's terminal device 60, and the participant selects a reservation (specifies it if there is only one), allowing the conference management server 30 to display a message on the conference room terminal 90.

Figure 2 illustrates the process by which the conference room terminal 90 displays a message indicating that participation will be delayed.

(1) A participant who is likely to be late for the start time operates the terminal device 60 to request reservation information including the participant from the chat server 10. The chat server 10 obtains reservation information from the conference management server 30 and transmits to the terminal device 60 the reservation information including the participant who is likely to be late for the conference that has a start time nearest to the current time.

(2) When a participant selects a reservation that they will likely be late to, the terminal device 60 sends a message storage request to the conference management server 30. The contents of the message are stored in the chat server 10 or the conference management server 30. This message includes information that the participant will be late to the conference.

(3) The conference management server 30 stores (or associates) the message with the reservation information and transmits the reservation information to the conference room terminal 90 in response to a request from the conference room terminal 90.

(4) If the reservation information includes a message, the conference room terminal 90 displays the message together with the reservation information. In FIG. 2, a message 580 is displayed saying, "Mr. C has contacted me to say he will be a little late."

Therefore, in the reservation system 100 of this embodiment, the chat server 10 obtains the reservations of the participants, determines whether the reservation is an upcoming reservation, and then presents reservation options to the user, so that the user can send a message to the effect that they will be a little late simply by selecting the reservation. In addition, the message is displayed on the conference room terminal 90, where it is visible to all participants, so it is easy for the message to be conveyed to the participants.

<Terminology>
Resources refer to resources. Conference rooms, as well as equipment, devices, people (reception), and mechanisms that can be used in conference rooms can be resources. Resources that are difficult to move are called facilities. For the sake of convenience, this embodiment uses the term conference room as an example of a resource.

A reservation is a person who reserves a conference room, and a participant is a person who attends the conference. A reservation is included in participants. Collectively, those who use conference rooms are simply called users.

A reservation is a prior promise to use a resource. Reservation information is information about a reservation. An event or action that is determined by making a reservation is called a schedule. Therefore, a reservation can also be called a schedule.

A message associated with reservation information is not only managed in a storage format that can be considered as a single piece, such as part of the reservation information, but also includes a relationship in which the message is determined when the reservation information is determined.

Displaying in association with reservation information means that the message is displayed in a manner that has some relationship to the reservation information.

A message is information that is transmitted using language or other symbols. It is also called a message or a message. In this embodiment, an example using language will be mainly described. The message is not limited to language, and can also be a symbol, stamp (icon), number, alphabet, code, etc.

A bot is an application (program) that performs automated tasks. When a user inputs text or voice, it analyzes the content and presents information appropriate to the task. It also accepts text or voice input from the user and performs tasks.

<System configuration example>
3 is an example of a system configuration diagram of the reservation system 100. The reservation system 100 can be mainly divided into an external network N2 and an internal network N1. The internal network N1 refers to a network inside a firewall 105, and the external network N2 is a network such as the Internet through which an unspecified number of communications are transmitted.

The reservation management server 20, the conference management server 30, and one or more chat servers 10 are connected to the external network N2, and each server can communicate as necessary. Terminal devices 60 operated by conference participants may be connected to the external network N2 as necessary.

The reservation management server 20 is realized by one or more information processing devices (computer systems) equipped with a general server OS or the like. A system related to facility reservations provided by the reservation management server 20 is called a reservation management system. The reservation management server 20 has a calendar system and provides a web application that manages various schedules. Specifically, the reservation management server 20 has the following functions, for example:
・Accepts schedule registration and allows reservation users to check it anytime, anywhere・Notifies by email at a set date and time, such as 30 minutes before the schedule・Each person can manage schedules on multiple calendars (work, home, etc.)・Shares calendars with people in the same group The reservation management server 20 manages users with accounts. An account is the right of a user to use a service. In many systems, users log into the system using an account. For this reason, the account has a function (identification information function) that allows the system to uniquely identify the user. In this embodiment, the reservation management server 20 transmits reservation information of a pre-registered account (domain) to the conference management server 30. Alternatively, the conference management server 30 can obtain reservation information of the conference room 6 from the reservation management server 20 by specifying the account of the reservation management server 20 and having the conference management server 30 request the reservation information. Note that the account may be any information that can uniquely identify the user, such as an email address, ID, or phone number.

In this embodiment, the reservation that is managed as a schedule is the reservation of the conference room 6, but the reservation management server 20 can manage various schedules other than the conference room 6. In addition to the conference room 6, it can be used to reserve various facilities such as rental of various electronic devices, reservations for parking, rental offices, rental studios, rental bicycles, rental cars, accommodation facilities such as hotels, rental spaces such as event venues and lockers, etc.

Note that, although G Suite (registered trademark), Office365 (registered trademark), etc. are known as reservation management systems, any reservation management system having the functions described in this embodiment will suffice.

In addition, in this embodiment, information about the conference rooms 6 in the internal network N1 is preregistered in the reservation management server 20. That is, the web application of the reservation management server 20 is customized according to the conference room name, conference room ID, reservation time, capacity of each conference room 6, reservation unit, etc. of each conference room 6 in the internal network of the company using the reservation system 100. Therefore, the conference rooms 6 of the company using the reservation system 100 are linked to the reservation information.

The chat server 10 can be realized by one or more information processing devices (computer systems) equipped with a general server OS or the like. A real-time sharing system of information such as text, audio, and video among multiple users provided by the chat server 10 is called a chat system. The chat server 10 notifies the terminal device 60 of information related to reservations for the conference room 6. In this embodiment, multiple chat servers 10 operated by different entities may be included.

Although the information to be shared can include images and audio, and is not limited to text, in this embodiment, for the sake of convenience, it is described that text is mainly used for notifications. For example, the chat system may provide a voice call function between groups. Voice calls may be one-to-one or one-to-N (≧2). Therefore, in this embodiment, when the chat system notifies information regarding the reservation of the conference room 6, it may output a voice message in addition to displaying text. Note that, although LINE (registered trademark, omitted hereinafter), Slack, Microsoft Teams (registered trademark, omitted hereinafter), etc. are known as chat systems, any chat system capable of notifying one or multiple users from a chatbot (a program that executes a predetermined process) will suffice.

The chat server 10 also manages users by account, but in principle the conference management server 30 does not need to be aware of the chat server 10's accounts. However, the conference management server 30 can specify any account on the chat server 10 and notify it.

The conference management server 30 can be realized by one or more information processing devices (computer systems) equipped with a general server OS or the like (an example of a second information processing device). As part of processing related to the external network N2, the conference management server 30 obtains reservation information for the conference room 6 from the reservation management server 20, obtains the expected participants set in the reservation information, and sends notifications to the chat server 10 group (or individual persons such as the reservation holder) associated with the expected participants at the set timing. As part of processing related to the internal network N1, the conference management server 30 manages check-in and check-out to the conference room 6, and controls the power supply of the electronic device 70 based on the reservation information for the conference room 6 obtained from the reservation management server 20.

The internal network N1 includes a conference room 6, a work place 101 for the prospective participants, and a work place 102 for the administrator, and the prospective participants can access the external network N2 from various locations via the internal network N1. The internal network N1 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network). The conference room 6, the work place 101 for the prospective participants, and the work place 102 for the administrator are not necessarily LANs within the same company.

A conference room terminal 90 and electronic equipment 70 are placed in the conference room 6. The conference room terminal 90 and electronic equipment 70 can communicate with each other via a small LAN or a dedicated line. The electronic equipment can connect to the in-house network N1 and the external network N2 without going through the conference room terminal 90. The conference room terminal 90 and electronic equipment 70 can communicate with each other wirelessly or wired. Note that since the in-house network N1 is inside the firewall 105, direct communication from the external network N2 to the in-house network N1 is difficult.

The conference room terminal 90 is an information processing device operated by a conference participant, such as a person who makes a reservation to use the conference room 6 (an example of an information processing terminal). It serves as a reception terminal that accepts the use of the conference room. The conference room terminal 90 is placed on a desk in the conference room 6 or at the entrance to the conference room 6. Multiple conference room terminals 90 may be placed in one conference room 6. The conference room terminal 90 can be realized by one or more information processing devices (computer systems) equipped with a general OS or the like.

The conference room terminal 90 sends the conference room ID to the conference room management server 30 and displays reservation information for the conference room 6 for the day. It also obtains control information such as power ON/OFF for the electronic device 70 from the conference management server 30. In response to this, the conference room terminal 90 turns the power of the electronic device 70 ON and OFF.

The conference room terminal 90 also displays a standby screen for check-in, check-out, etc., and communicates with the conference management server 30 to notify the conference management server 30 of check-in or check-out. When checking in, the conference room terminal 90 transmits the conference identification information entered by the person who made the reservation and the conference room ID stored in advance to the conference management server 30, so that the conference management server 30 can confirm from the conference identification information and conference room ID that the person who made the reservation for the conference room 6 will be using the reserved conference room 6.

The electronic devices 70 are various office devices that can be used in the conference room 6. For example, they are electronic whiteboards, multifunction printers, projectors, digital signage, digital cameras, etc. An electronic whiteboard has a large display with a touch panel, detects the coordinates of the board surface indicated by the user, and displays strokes by connecting the coordinates. In addition, it can display images from a connected PC and communicate with electronic whiteboards at other locations to synchronize strokes. Note that electronic whiteboards are sometimes called electronic information boards or electronic whiteboards.

Multifunction devices have functions such as a copier, scanner, printer, and fax sender/receive, and are used to print and copy materials during a meeting, digitize materials, and send materials. A projector is a device that projects images. For example, it allows participants to share an image displayed on a terminal device 60 by projecting it onto a screen or the like. Digital signage is a large display that is used to display any still image or video. Digital cameras are used by each participant to capture and save images of paper materials or materials displayed on an electronic whiteboard.

A terminal device 60 that can connect to the in-house network N1 is placed at the work place 101 of the prospective participant. The terminal device 60 may communicate either wired or wirelessly. The terminal device 60 is an information processing device used by the prospective participant (including the person making the reservation) when reserving the conference room, but it is also assumed that the terminal device 60 will be brought into the conference room. It is an information processing device that is carried by the prospective participant.

The terminal device 60 can be realized by one or more information processing devices (computer systems) equipped with a general OS or the like. The terminal device 60 can be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a PC (Personal Computer), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a wearable PC (sunglasses type, wristwatch type, etc.), etc. However, it is sufficient if the terminal device 60 has a communication function and runs browser software, or dedicated application software on the chat server 10 or the reservation management server 20. For example, a car navigation system, a game console, a television receiver, etc. can also be the terminal device 60.

In the terminal device 60, dedicated application software for the chat server 10 (hereafter referred to as a chat app) runs, and further dedicated application software for the reservation system 100 (hereafter referred to as a conference app) runs. However, these may be substituted with browser software.

A registration terminal 50 that can be connected to the in-house network N1 is placed in the manager's work place 102. The registration terminal 50 may communicate either wired or wirelessly. The registration terminal 50 is a display terminal that the manager uses to make initial settings on the conference room terminal 90.

The registration terminal 50 may be an information processing device similar to the terminal device 60. However, since it is mainly used by the administrator to configure the conference management server 30, it does not need to have a chat app or conference app. The registration terminal 50 mainly communicates with the conference management server 30 using browser software and displays web pages.

<Hardware Configuration>
<<Hardware configuration of the conference management server, reservation management server, chat server, and registration terminal>>
The conference management server 30, the reservation management server 20, the chat server 10, and the registration terminal 50 are realized by a computer system having the hardware configuration shown in Fig. 4, for example. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a computer system 300 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, computer system 300 is constructed by a computer and includes a CPU 201, ROM 202, RAM 203, HD 204, HDD (Hard Disk Drive) controller 205, display 206, external device connection I/F 208 (Interface), network I/F 209, bus line 210, keyboard 211, pointing device 212, DVD-RW (Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable) drive 214, and media I/F 216.

Of these, the CPU 201 controls the operation of the entire computer system 300. The ROM 202 stores programs used to drive the CPU 201, such as IPL. The RAM 203 is used as a work area for the CPU 201. The HD 204 stores various data such as programs. The HDD controller 205 controls the reading or writing of various data from the HD 204 according to the control of the CPU 201. The display 206 displays various information such as a cursor, menu, window, character, or image. The external device connection I/F 208 is an interface for connecting various external devices. In this case, the external device is, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or a printer. The network I/F 209 is an interface for data communication using the communication network N. The bus line 210 is an address bus, a data bus, or the like for electrically connecting each component such as the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 4.

The keyboard 211 is a type of input means equipped with multiple keys for inputting characters, numbers, various instructions, etc. The pointing device 212 is a type of input means for selecting and executing various instructions, selecting a processing target, moving the cursor, etc. The DVD-RW drive 214 controls the reading and writing of various data from the DVD-RW 513, which is an example of a removable recording medium. Note that this is not limited to a DVD-RW, and may be a DVD-R, etc. The media I/F 216 controls the reading and writing (storing) of data from the recording medium 515, such as a flash memory.

<<Conference room terminals, terminal devices>>
Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the conference room terminal 90 and the terminal device 60. Note that the conference room terminal 90 or the terminal device 60 in Fig. 5 is assumed to be a tablet device or a smartphone.

The conference room terminal 90 or the terminal device 60 includes a CPU 701, a ROM 702, a RAM 703, an EEPROM 704, a CMOS sensor 705, an image sensor I/F 706, an acceleration/direction sensor 707, a media I/F 709, and a GPS receiver 711.

Of these, the CPU 701 controls the overall operation of the conference room terminal 90 or the terminal device 60. The ROM 702 stores the CPU 701 and programs used to drive the CPU 701, such as the IPL. The RAM 703 is used as a work area for the CPU 701. The EEPROM 704 reads or writes various data such as applications under the control of the CPU 701. The CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor 705 is a type of built-in imaging means that captures an image of a subject (mainly a self-portrait) under the control of the CPU 701 to obtain image data. Note that instead of a CMOS sensor, an imaging means such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor may also be used. The imaging element I/F 706 is a circuit that controls the operation of the CMOS sensor 705. The acceleration/direction sensor 707 is various sensors such as an electronic magnetic compass or gyrocompass that detects geomagnetism, and an acceleration sensor. The media I/F 709 controls the reading or writing (storing) of data from a recording medium 708 such as a flash memory. The GPS receiver 711 receives GPS signals from GPS satellites.

The conference room terminal 90 or the terminal device 60 also includes a long-distance communication circuit 712, a CMOS sensor 713, an image sensor I/F 714, a microphone 715, a speaker 716, an audio input/output I/F 717, a display 718, an external device connection I/F (Interface) 719, a short-distance communication circuit 720, an antenna 720a of the short-distance communication circuit 720, and a touch panel 721.

Among these, the long-distance communication circuit 712 is a circuit that communicates with other devices via a communication network. The CMOS sensor 713 is a type of built-in imaging means that captures an image of a subject and obtains image data under the control of the CPU 701. The imaging element I/F 714 is a circuit that controls the driving of the CMOS sensor 713. The microphone 715 is a built-in circuit that converts sound into an electrical signal. The speaker 716 is a built-in circuit that converts an electrical signal into physical vibrations to generate sounds such as music and voice. The sound input/output I/F 717 is a circuit that processes the input and output of sound signals between the microphone 715 and the speaker 716 under the control of the CPU 701. The display 718 is a type of display means such as a liquid crystal or organic EL (Electro Luminescence) that displays an image of a subject, various icons, etc. The external device connection I/F 719 is an interface for connecting various external devices. The short-distance communication circuit 720 is a communication circuit such as NFC (Near Field Communication) or Bluetooth (registered trademark). The touch panel 721 is a type of input means that allows a user to operate the conference room terminal 90 by pressing the display 718.

The conference room terminal 90 or the terminal device 60 also includes a bus line 710. The bus line 710 is an address bus, a data bus, or the like, for electrically connecting each component such as the CPU 701 shown in FIG. 5.

<About the function>
FIG. 6 is an example of a functional block diagram showing the functions of the reservation management server 20, the chat server 10, the conference management server 30, and the registration terminal 50 in blocks.

<<Reservation management server>>
The reservation management server 20 has a communication unit 21, a reservation information management unit 22, and an authentication unit 23. Each of these functional units of the reservation management server 20 is a function or means realized when any of the components shown in Fig. 4 operates in response to an instruction from the CPU 201 in accordance with a program loaded from the HD 204 to the RAM 203.

The communication unit 21 transmits and receives various information to and from the conference management server 30 and the terminal device 60. When accepting a reservation, the communication unit 21 may accept the reservation from the terminal device 60 or from a chatbot. When accepting a reservation from the terminal device 60, the communication unit 21 transmits screen information of the reservation setting screen to the terminal device 60 and receives an authentication request and reservation settings from the terminal device 60. It also transmits reservation information to the conference management server 30.

The reservation information management unit 22 manages reservation information registered by the user. The reservation information management unit 22 reads reservation information for the conference room 6 requested by the conference management server 30 from the reservation information DB 291, and transmits it to the conference management server 30 via the communication unit 21. Alternatively, when reservation information is registered (or changed), the reservation information is transmitted to the conference management server 30 even if no request is made. It is assumed that a general web application is used as a method for a person making a reservation to reserve the conference room 6 on the reservation management server 20.

The authentication unit 23 authenticates the user based on authentication information (e.g., a user ID and a password) stored in the authentication information DB 292. Authentication may also be performed using an IC card or biometric authentication information.

The reservation management server 20 has a memory unit 29. The memory unit 29 is realized by the RAM 203 and HD 204 in FIG. 4, etc. The memory unit 29 stores a reservation information DB 291 (Data Base) and an authentication information DB 292.

表１は予約情報ＤＢ２９１に記憶されている予約情報の一例を示す。予約情報は会議室６の予約状況を管理するための情報である。予約情報には、予約ＩＤに対応付けて予約者アカウント、会議名、会議室ＩＤ、開始時刻、終了時刻、及び、参加予定者アカウントの各項目が登録されている。予約ＩＤは予約情報の１レコードを識別する識別情報である。ＩＤはIdentificationの略であり識別子や識別情報という意味である。ＩＤは複数の対象から、ある特定の対象を一意的に区別するために用いられる名称、符号、文字列、数値又はこれらのうち１つ以上の組み合わせをいう。予約ＩＤ以外のＩＤについても同様である。予約者アカウントは会議室６を予約した参加予定者のアカウントである。会議名は参加予定者が予め付与されている会議の名称である。会議室ＩＤは社内ネットワークにある会議室６を識別する識別情報である。開始時刻は会議室６が予約された時間帯の始期（会議が開始される時刻）であり、終了時刻は会議室６が予約された時間帯の終期（会議が終わる時刻）である。参加予定者アカウントは会議に参加する予定の参加予定者のアカウントである。なお、表１のアカウントはいずれも予約管理サーバ２０が発行したアカウントである。参加予定者のアカウントと参加予定者アカウントはいずれもユーザ（会議への参加者）を識別するユーザＩＤとなる。

Table 1 shows an example of reservation information stored in the reservation information DB 291. The reservation information is information for managing the reservation status of the conference room 6. In the reservation information, the following items are registered in association with the reservation ID: the reservation account, the conference name, the conference room ID, the start time, the end time, and the prospective participant account. The reservation ID is identification information for identifying one record of the reservation information. ID is an abbreviation of Identification and means an identifier or identification information. The ID refers to a name, a code, a character string, a number, or a combination of one or more of these, which are used to uniquely distinguish a specific object from multiple objects. The same applies to IDs other than the reservation ID. The reservation account is the account of the prospective participant who has reserved the conference room 6. The conference name is the name of the conference to which the prospective participant is previously assigned. The conference room ID is identification information for identifying the conference room 6 in the internal network. The start time is the start of the time period for which the conference room 6 is reserved (the time when the conference starts), and the end time is the end of the time period for which the conference room 6 is reserved (the time when the conference ends). The prospective participant account is the account of the prospective participant who plans to participate in the conference. All of the accounts in Table 1 are accounts issued by the reservation management server 20. The accounts of the prospective participants and the prospective participant accounts are both user IDs that identify users (participants in the conference).

表２は認証情報ＤＢ２９２に記憶されている認証情報の一例を示す。認証情報はユーザ（予約者や参加者）が予約管理サーバ２０にログインするための情報である。ログイン情報は、ユーザＩＤ、及び、パスワードの各項目を有する。認証が成功するとユーザＩＤが正しいものであると見なされるが、このユーザＩＤは予約者又は参加者のアカウントと同じものなので、会議管理サーバ３０はユーザＩＤによりこのユーザが予約者である予約情報又は参加者である予約情報を特定できる。

Table 2 shows an example of authentication information stored in the authentication information DB 292. The authentication information is information for a user (reservation person or participant) to log in to the reservation management server 20. The login information has the following items: user ID and password. If authentication is successful, the user ID is deemed to be correct, and since this user ID is the same as the account of the reservation person or participant, the conference management server 30 can identify reservation information for which this user is a reservation person or a participant by the user ID.

<<Chat Server>>
Chat server 10 has a communication unit 11, a text processing unit 12, an authentication unit 13, an identification unit 14, and a reservation request unit 15. Each of these functional units of chat server 10 is a function or means realized when any of the constituent categories shown in FIG. 4 operates in response to an instruction from CPU 201 in accordance with a program loaded from HD 204 to RAM 203.

The communication unit 11 transmits and receives various information to and from the terminal device 60, the reservation management server 20, and the conference management server 30 (an example of a first communication unit). It receives information necessary for registering a reservation event from the terminal device 60. It transmits the information necessary for registering the reservation event to the reservation management server 20. It also receives information about the reservation of the conference room, information identifying the chatbot (such as a token described below), and information identifying the group to be notified from the conference management server 30. This information identifying the chatbot was notified in advance by the chat server 10 as chatbot identification information when the chatbot of the conference management server 30 was created. Furthermore, an individual account such as a reservation person may be specified. The communication unit 11 also transmits to the conference management server 30 a message indicating that the prospective participant has read the information about the conference room reservation, or a response from the prospective participant to the displayed information about the conference room reservation.

The text processing unit 12 transmits information about the reservation of the conference room 6 to the prospective participants who belong to the group as information to be spoken by the chatbot, based on the information identifying the chatbot and the information specifying the group to be notified, which have been notified by the conference management server 30. Therefore, notifications may be sent to the number of prospective participants, or only to the person who made the reservation or the user to be notified. Furthermore, information about the reservation of the conference room 6 is sent only to specific recipients.

The text processing unit 12 can perform so-called push notifications. For example, the mechanism is as follows: The chat application 60a receives an ID (token) for push notifications from a server operated by the OS (Operating System) manufacturer. This server associates the token with the device (terminal device 60). The chat application 60a registers the token and the chat application 60a's account in the chat server 10. When the chat server 10 performs a push notification, it identifies the chat application 60a's account and can therefore identify the associated token. The chat system specifies the token and sends the notification contents to a server operated by the OS manufacturer. This server sends a push notification to the device (terminal device 60) associated with the token.

The authentication unit 13 authenticates the user based on authentication information (e.g., a user ID and a password) stored in the authentication information DB 192. Authentication may also be performed using an IC card or biometric authentication information.

In response to a request from the terminal device 60, the reservation request unit 15 requests reservation information from the conference management server 30 by specifying a user's account. The reservation request unit 15 can obtain reservation information including the user's account from the conference management server 30.

The identification unit 14 identifies the most recent reservation information from the current time. The most recent is the reservation information whose start time is closest to the current time among the reservation information whose difference between the start time of the reservation information and the current time is within a threshold (for example, within a specified time period determined in advance by the system administrator, operator, etc.). The identified reservation information may have already been checked in, or may have passed its start time.

The chat server 10 also has a memory unit 19. The memory unit 19 is realized by the RAM 203 and HD 204 in FIG. 4, etc. The memory unit 19 stores a group information DB 191, an authentication information DB 192, and a message memory unit 193.

表３はグループ情報ＤＢ１９１に記憶されているグループ情報の一例を示す。グループ情報は同じグループに属するメンバのアカウントが登録された情報である。グループ情報には、ワークスペースとチャンネルに対応付けて、メンバアカウント１～ｎ（表３ではｎ＝４）、及び、ボットアカウントが登録されている。

Table 3 shows an example of group information stored in the group information DB 191. The group information is information in which the accounts of members belonging to the same group are registered. In the group information, member accounts 1 to n (n=4 in Table 3) and bot accounts are registered in association with workspaces and channels.

A workspace is identification information for identifying an organization such as a company or department. In this embodiment, multiple members belong to a workspace (for example, Company A). A workspace is, for example, a URL, but it need only be unique. Furthermore, a workspace has multiple channels according to the purpose of the chat, etc. A channel is a collection of members who exchange common information, such as a group for product A and a group for product B. Any of the members who belong to the workspace belong to a channel. In other words, the notification destination is specified by the workspace and the channel. However, since the method of specifying the notification destination differs depending on the chat system, if there is identification information that can uniquely identify the group, that information alone may be used, or it may be specified by three or more pieces of information.

The uniqueness of a channel is guaranteed. Member accounts 1 to n are the accounts of channel members, and these accounts are issued by the chat server 10. In this embodiment, a chatbot is registered as a member for notifying information related to reservations for the conference room 6. The chatbot can be considered a proxy or fictitious member of the conference management server 30. The chatbot's comments (text) are sent to the terminal devices 60 of member accounts 1 to n.

The workspace and channel are managed by the conference management server 30 and serve as information for identifying the group to which a participant belongs.

表４は認証情報ＤＢ１９２に記憶されている認証情報の一例を示す。認証情報はユーザ（予約者や参加者）がチャットサーバ１０にログインするための情報である。ログイン情報は、ユーザＩＤ、及び、パスワードの各項目を有する。認証が成功するとユーザＩＤが正しいものであると見なされる。このユーザＩＤはチャットサーバ１０に固有の情報である場合と、会議管理サーバ３０のユーザＩＤと共通の場合がある。表４は前者の例である。

Table 4 shows an example of authentication information stored in the authentication information DB 192. The authentication information is information for users (reservation holders and participants) to log in to the chat server 10. The login information has the following items: user ID and password. If authentication is successful, the user ID is deemed to be correct. This user ID may be information unique to the chat server 10, or it may be the same as the user ID of the conference management server 30. Table 4 shows an example of the former.

表５はメッセージ記憶部１９３に記憶されているメッセージの一例を示す。メッセージ記憶部１９３には状況ごとに対応するメッセージが登録されている。チャットサーバ１０は状況に応じたメッセージをメッセージ記憶部１９３から取得する。

Table 5 shows an example of a message stored in the message storage unit 193. Messages corresponding to different situations are registered in the message storage unit 193. The chat server 10 obtains a message from the message storage unit 193 according to the situation.

<<Conference management server>>
The conference management server 30 has a communication unit 31, an information association unit 32, a reservation information acquisition unit 33, a notification determination unit 34, a control information generation unit 35, a control information response unit 36, a conference information notification unit 37, a usage management unit 38, an authentication key verification unit 41, a management control unit 42, and a reservation information transmission unit 44. Each of these functional units of the conference management server 30 is a function or means realized by operating any of the constituent categories shown in Fig. 4 in response to an instruction from the CPU 201 in accordance with a program loaded from the HD 204 to the RAM 203. This program is distributed from a server for program distribution or distributed in a state stored in a storage medium.

The communication unit 31 transmits and receives various information to and from the reservation management server 20, chat server 10, registration terminal 50, and terminal device 60 (an example of a second communication unit). The communication unit 31 has a transmission unit 31a and a reception unit 31b. The reception unit 31b receives reservation information from the reservation management server 20, and receives requests for reservation information from the conference room terminal 90. The reception unit 31b also receives check-in and check-out requests from the conference room terminal 90. The reception unit 31b also accepts associations between groups and accounts in the chat system from the registration terminal 50 operated by the administrator. The transmission unit 31a transmits information related to conference room reservations to the chat server 10, and transmits reservation information to the conference room terminal 90.

The information association unit 32 mainly performs processing related to advance registration work. That is, it accepts domain registrations from the registration terminal 50 or the like operated by the administrator, registers them in the customer domain DB 495, and associates the workspace and channel of the chat system transmitted from the registration terminal 50 or the like with an account on the reservation management server 20, and registers them in the association information DB 491.

The reservation information acquisition unit 33 acquires reservation information from the reservation management server 20 by specifying the domain (or an account) of the customer using the reservation system 100, and registers it as conference management information in the conference management information DB 493 (an example of a reservation information storage unit). Alternatively, it receives reservation information that has been changed. Therefore, at least a portion of the reservation information in the reservation management server 20 is stored in the conference management information DB 493. The reservation information acquisition unit 33 acquires reservation information for a specified period from the present from the reservation information held by the reservation management server 20. The specified period is determined by how far into the future information regarding the reservation of the conference room 6 is to be notified.

In addition, when the reservation information acquisition unit 33 receives a reservation ID and a message from the chat server 10, it stores the message in association with the reservation ID in the conference management information DB 493.

The notification determination unit 34 determines whether there is a reservation with a start time that satisfies the conditions for notification in the conference management information. For example, it refers to the notification setting DB 496 and determines that notification will be sent when the set date and time is reached by counting backwards from the start time of the reservation. Note that if chatbots are divided by role, such as a chatbot for reminders and a chatbot for taking reservations, the bot is identified according to the process.

When the notification determination unit 34 determines that a notification should be made, the conference information notification unit 37 requests the chat server 10 to notify information related to the reservation of the conference room 6 by specifying information for identifying the chatbot (e.g., a token in Slack) and information specifying the group to be notified. In some cases, the group to be notified is the participants of the conference registered in the reservation information. In addition, the chatbot may be a chatbot for a reservation system that accepts reservations and sends reminders.

The notification may be made in several instalments, but at least one of the instalments will include the conference identification information. The conference identification information is information that allows the conference management server 30 to confirm that the participant has the right to use the reserved conference room 6 during the reserved time period. The conference information notification unit 37 generates the conference identification information at least before the final notification. The conference identification information is registered in the conference identification information DB 494.

In addition, when the chat server 10 requests reservation information by specifying a user ID (reservation user account or expected participant account), the conference information notification unit 37 transmits the reservation information including the user ID to the chat server 10.

The control information generation unit 35 generates control information for the electronic device 70 by referring to the conference management information, and registers the control information in the control information DB 497. For example, control information is generated to turn on the power of the electronic device 70 a few minutes before the start time of the conference, and control information is generated to turn off the power of the electronic device 70 when check-out is detected. The control information is stored in the control information DB 497.

The control information response unit 36 receives an inquiry from the conference room terminal 90 or the terminal device 60 in the conference room 6 as to whether there is control information, refers to the control information DB 497, and transmits the control information corresponding to the conference room 6 to the conference room terminal 90 or the terminal device 60.

The usage management unit 38 manages check-in (start of use) and check-out (end of use) to the conference room. It also registers the status of the conference, mainly related to check-in and check-out, in the conference management information DB 493. Check-in is recognized as occurring 5 to 10 minutes before the start time of the conference specified by the reservation ID. This changes the status to "waiting for check-in." When waiting for check-in, check-in is permitted if the set of conference room ID and conference identification information (invitation code) sent by the conference room terminal 90 is registered in the conference identification information DB 494. Note that the usage management unit 38 cancels the reservation if check-in is not permitted by the set time.

The authentication key verification unit 41 authenticates the conference room terminal 90 based on whether the authentication key sent from the conference room terminal 90 matches the one registered in the conference room setting information DB 498. Therefore, only conference room terminals 90 that have a correct authentication key can obtain reservation information.

For each conference room, the management control unit 42 checks whether the management start flag registered in the conference room setting information DB 498 is True. The management start flag is a flag that indicates whether management of the conference room can be started.

In response to a request from the conference room terminal 90, the reservation information sending unit 44 sends reservation information (conference management information) stored in the conference management information DB 493. However, authentication using the authentication key must be successful and the management start flag must be set to True. The reservation information sending unit 44 may send the information in JSON format, XML format, CVS (Comma-Separated Values) format, or the like. Since the reservation information is sent repeatedly, a format with a small capacity is advantageous. If a message is included, it is sent as part of the reservation information. However, it may also be sent in a format attached to the reservation information.

The conference management server 30 also has a memory unit 49. The memory unit 49 is realized by the RAM 203 and HD 204 in FIG. 4, etc. The memory unit 49 stores a correspondence information DB 491, a conference management information DB 493, a conference identification information DB 494, a customer domain DB 495, a notification setting DB 496, a control information DB 497, and a conference room setting information DB 498.

表６は対応付情報ＤＢ４９１に記憶されている対応付情報の一例を示す。対応付情報は予約管理システムのアカウントとチャットシステムのグループを対応付ける情報である。対応付情報は、ワークスペース、チャンネル及びメンバアカウント１～ｎ（表ではｎ＝４）の各項目を有する。ワークスペースとチャンネルは上記のとおりである。メンバアカウント１～ｎには予約管理サーバ２０が発行した各参加者のアカウントが登録される。また、表６に示すようにチャットシステムのアカウントが登録されてよい。グループに対して通知を行うためには予約管理サーバ２０に対して会議を予約したユーザの予約管理サーバ２０のアカウントと通知先のグループ及びチャンネルを特定するための情報（本実施形態ではワークスペースとチャンネル名）があればよく、必ずしもグループに所属するすべてのメンバのアカウントが登録されている必要はない。ただし、個人ユーザ宛に通知する場合、それぞれのチャットシステムのアカウント情報が必要なため、表６のように登録されていてもよい。

Table 6 shows an example of the correspondence information stored in the correspondence information DB 491. The correspondence information is information that associates an account of the reservation management system with a group of the chat system. The correspondence information has each item of workspace, channel, and member account 1 to n (n=4 in the table). The workspace and channel are as described above. The account of each participant issued by the reservation management server 20 is registered in the member accounts 1 to n. Also, an account of the chat system may be registered as shown in Table 6. In order to notify a group, all that is required is the reservation management server 20 account of the user who has booked the conference with the reservation management server 20 and information for identifying the group and channel to be notified (workspace and channel name in this embodiment), and it is not necessary to register the accounts of all members belonging to the group. However, when notifying an individual user, account information of each chat system is required, so registration as shown in Table 6 may be performed.

Table 6 also shows the case where accounts such as user IDs are different between the chat server 10 and the reservation management server 20. If the accounts are the same for reasons such as the chat server 10 and the reservation management server 20 being operated by the same company, Table 6 may not be necessary.

表７は会議管理サーバ３０の会議管理情報ＤＢ４９３が記憶する会議管理情報の一例を示す。会議管理情報ＤＢ４９３には予約情報が記憶されるので、表７では表１の予約情報ＤＢ２９１との相違を説明する。表７の会議管理情報はステータスの項目を有する。ステータスは、予約の状況を意味する。例えば、会議室６の予約に関する情報の通知済み、利用確定、チェックイン待ち、チェックイン済み、チェックアウト済み、又は、キャンセル（取り消し）等の状況が登録される。メッセージの項目には、チャットサーバ１０から送信されたメッセージが保存される。メッセージは予約情報と共に会議室端末９０に送信される。

Table 7 shows an example of conference management information stored in the conference management information DB 493 of the conference management server 30. Since reservation information is stored in the conference management information DB 493, Table 7 explains the differences from the reservation information DB 291 in Table 1. The conference management information in Table 7 has a status field. Status means the status of the reservation. For example, statuses such as notified of information regarding the reservation of the conference room 6, confirmed use, waiting for check-in, checked in, checked out, or canceled (canceled) are registered. Messages sent from the chat server 10 are saved in the message field. The message is sent to the conference room terminal 90 together with the reservation information.

表８は会議識別情報ＤＢ４９４に記憶されている会議識別情報管理情報の一例を示す。会議識別情報管理情報は会議室６の予約ごとに会議識別情報を管理する情報である。会議識別情報管理情報は、予約ＩＤ、会議室ＩＤ、及び、会議識別情報の各項目を有する。これらについてはステータスを除き予約情報と同じであり（予約管理サーバ２０から受信した予約情報）、既出であるため説明は省略する。なお、予約ＩＤが登録されているのは、同じ会議室６の予約を識別するためである。

Table 8 shows an example of conference identification information management information stored in the conference identification information DB 494. The conference identification information management information is information that manages the conference identification information for each reservation of the conference room 6. The conference identification information management information has the following fields: reservation ID, conference room ID, and conference identification information. These are the same as the reservation information (reservation information received from the reservation management server 20) except for the status, and as they have already been mentioned, a description will be omitted. The reservation ID is registered in order to identify reservations of the same conference room 6.

表９は顧客ドメインＤＢ４９５に記憶されている顧客ドメイン情報の一例を示す。顧客ドメイン情報は顧客のドメインと顧客の管理者のアカウントを管理する情報である。顧客ドメイン情報には顧客のドメイン名と顧客の管理者アカウントが対応付けて登録されている。表９の顧客のドメインは予約管理サーバ２０が発行したアカウント（メールアドレス）のドメインである。また、管理者アカウントは、顧客の管理者（代表する）のアカウントである。なお、表９のアカウントは予約管理サーバ２０が発行したものである。

Table 9 shows an example of customer domain information stored in customer domain DB 495. Customer domain information is information for managing a customer's domain and the customer's administrator's account. The customer's domain name and the customer's administrator's account are registered in correspondence with each other in the customer domain information. The customer's domain in Table 9 is the domain of the account (email address) issued by the reservation management server 20. The administrator account is the account of the customer's administrator (representative). The accounts in Table 9 are issued by the reservation management server 20.

表１０は通知設定ＤＢ４９６に記憶されている通知設定情報の一例を示す。通知設定情報は顧客ごとに通知に関する設定を保持する。通知設定情報には、顧客ドメイン名と通知設定が対応付けて登録されている。通知設定には、会議の開始時刻のどのくらい前に、会議室６の予約に関する情報を通知するかのタイミングが設定されている。あるいは決まった日時が設定されていてもよい。また、タイミングは１つである必要はなく、１つの顧客に複数回の通知設定が登録されていてもよい。

Table 10 shows an example of notification setting information stored in the notification setting DB 496. The notification setting information holds notification settings for each customer. The notification setting information is registered in association with the customer domain name and the notification setting. The notification setting specifies the timing of how long before the start time of the conference to notify information related to the reservation of the conference room 6. Alternatively, a fixed date and time may be set. Also, there does not have to be just one timing, and multiple notification settings may be registered for one customer.

表１１は制御情報ＤＢ４９７に記憶されている制御情報の一例を示す。制御情報は会議室６の電子機器７０を制御するための情報である。制御情報は、会議室ＩＤ、及び、制御内容の各項目を有する。制御内容は、電子機器７０の具体的な制御方法である。会議管理サーバ３０は電子機器７０ごとに詳細な制御内容を設定できる。また、制御する時刻が登録されないのは、社外ネットワークの会議管理サーバ３０から会議室端末９０又は端末装置６０に送信することが困難であり、会議室端末９０又は端末装置６０が会議管理サーバ３０にアクセスし、この時、制御情報が生成されていれば制御内容を送信するからである。

Table 11 shows an example of control information stored in the control information DB 497. The control information is information for controlling the electronic device 70 in the conference room 6. The control information has items of conference room ID and control content. The control content is a specific control method for the electronic device 70. The conference management server 30 can set detailed control content for each electronic device 70. In addition, the reason why the time of control is not registered is that it is difficult to transmit the control content from the conference management server 30 on the external network to the conference room terminal 90 or the terminal device 60, and the conference room terminal 90 or the terminal device 60 accesses the conference management server 30, and transmits the control content if the control information is generated at this time.

表１２は、会議室設定情報ＤＢ４９８に記憶されている会議室設定情報の一例を示す。会議室設定情報は会議室ごとの設定に関する情報である。会議室設定情報は、顧客ＩＤに対応付けて、会議室名称、会議室ＩＤ、会議室端末の状態、認証キー、及び、管理開始フラグの各項目を有する。
・会議室名称は会議の参加者が認識している会議室の一般的な名称であり、例えば会議室の入り口に提示されているものをいう。
・会議室ＩＤは上記のように会議室を一意に識別する識別情報である。簡易的には、会議室ＩＤは予約管理サーバ２０と共通とすることができる。また、変換テーブルを設けることで、予約管理サーバ２０と別に管理者が設定することもできる。
・会議室端末の状態は会議室端末９０の初期設定が終了したか、通信が可能か等を示す。初期設定とは、会議室端末９０が少なくとも最小限の機能を発揮できるように、人が例えば通信に関する設定などを行うことをいう。
接続中：一定期間内に通信が確認できている状態（通信によりセットアップ前又は接続断から接続中に遷移する）
セットアップ前：初期設定の前
接続断：一定期間以上、通信がない状態（接続中から接続断に遷移する）
・認証キーは会議管理サーバ３０が会議室端末９０又は端末装置６０を認証するための認証情報となる。初期設定により認証キーが会議室端末９０に設定される。認証キーは総当たり方式で特定できない程度に長い桁数の数字、アルファベット、記号などの組み合わせである。認証キーは会議管理サーバ３０が決定しても管理者が決定してもよい。
・管理開始フラグは、会議室端末９０の初期設定が終わった後に、会議室の管理を会議管理サーバ３０が開始するか否かを示すフラグ（True：開始する False：開始しない）である。管理開始フラグは管理者が設定する。会議室端末９０が設置されない会議室では管理者が適宜、Trueに設定すればよい。

Table 12 shows an example of conference room setting information stored in the conference room setting information DB 498. The conference room setting information is information about the settings for each conference room. The conference room setting information includes the following items in association with a customer ID: conference room name, conference room ID, status of the conference room terminal, authentication key, and management start flag.
The conference room name is the general name of the conference room that is recognized by the conference participants, for example, the one displayed at the entrance to the conference room.
The conference room ID is identification information that uniquely identifies the conference room as described above. For simplicity, the conference room ID can be the same as the reservation management server 20. Also, by providing a conversion table, the administrator can set the conference room ID separately from the reservation management server 20.
The status of the conference room terminal indicates whether the initial settings of the conference room terminal 90 have been completed, whether communication is possible, etc. The initial settings refer to a person making settings related to communication, for example, so that the conference room terminal 90 can perform at least the minimum functions.
Connected: A state where communication has been confirmed within a certain period of time (transition from pre-setup or disconnected to connected due to communication)
Pre-setup: Before initial settings Disconnected: No communication for a certain period of time (transition from connected to disconnected)
The authentication key is authentication information used by the conference room terminal 90 or the terminal device 60 by the conference room management server 30. The authentication key is set in the conference room terminal 90 by default. The authentication key is a combination of numbers, letters, symbols, etc. with a long number of digits that cannot be identified by a brute force method. The authentication key may be determined by the conference room management server 30 or by the administrator.
The management start flag is a flag (True: start; False: do not start) that indicates whether the conference room management server 30 starts managing the conference room after the initial settings of the conference room terminal 90 are completed. The management start flag is set by the administrator. In a conference room where the conference room terminal 90 is not installed, the administrator can set it to True as appropriate.

When the management start flag is set to True, the conference management server 30 is ready to manage the conference room. When the management start flag is True and the conference management server 30 receives a request for reservation information from the conference room terminal 90 or the terminal device 60, it starts managing the conference room. As a result, it starts sending reservation information when requested by the conference room terminal 90 or the terminal device 60.

When the conference room terminal 90 acquires reservation information from the conference room management server 30, the conference room terminal 90 starts cooperation with the conference room management server 30. Therefore, the start of cooperation and the start of management are triggered by the related processes of requesting reservation information and sending the reservation information.

The following processing is performed when collaboration or management is started.
- Display reservation information (check-in, check-out, extension, use now)
- Control of electronic devices linked to check-in and check-out - Automatic cancellation of reservations Note that "extension" refers to a participant extending a reservation beyond the end time of the conference room reservation, and "use now" refers to any user using an available conference room without making a reservation.

The management start flag helps prevent problems such as automatic cancellation that occur due to the time lag between the completion of the initial settings and the placement of the conference room terminal 90.

The conference room name and conference room ID are either predetermined or can be set by the administrator. Those sent from the reservation management server 20 may be used. The initial state of the conference room terminal (immediately after the provider sets it up) is before setup, but this automatically transitions depending on the communication situation. The authentication key is numbered and set, for example, by the conference management server 30 during initial setup. The management start flag is set by the administrator from an administrator-required settings screen, etc.

<<Registered device>>
The registration terminal 50 has a communication unit 51, an operation acceptance unit 52, and a display control unit 53. Each of these functional units of the registration terminal 50 is a function or means realized by any of the components shown in Fig. 4 operating in response to an instruction from the CPU 201 in accordance with a program loaded from the HD 204 to the RAM 203. This program (e.g., a browser) is distributed from a server for program distribution or is distributed in a state of being stored in a storage medium.

The registration terminal 50 is a terminal that allows the administrator to configure various settings related to the conference room via a web page provided by the conference management server 30. One of these settings is a setting in which the information registered in the conference room setting information DB 498 is obtained as an image code, and the administrator sets the conference room terminal 90 to its initial settings. Note that the terminal device 60 may be used for the initial settings.

The communication unit 51 transmits and receives various information to and from the conference management server 30 and the reservation management server 20. The operation reception unit 52 receives various operations by participants on the registration terminal 50. The display control unit 53 interprets screen information of various screens and displays it on the display 206. The operation reception unit 52 and the display control unit 53 have, for example, a browser function and can execute a web application.

<<Terminal Device>>
7 is an example of a functional block diagram showing functions of the terminal device 60 and the conference room terminal 90. The functions of the electronic device 70 will be described as necessary.

The terminal device 60 has a communication unit 61a, an operation reception unit 61b, a display control unit 61c, a chat application 60a, and a conference application 60b. The chat application 60a has a chat communication unit 62, a display unit 63, an application communication unit 64, an authentication request unit 71, and an operation reception unit 72. The conference application 60b has a server communication unit 65, a display control unit 66, an application communication unit 67, a terminal communication unit 68, and an operation reception unit 69. Each of these functional units of the terminal device 60 is a function or means realized by operating any of the configuration categories shown in FIG. 5 by an instruction from the CPU 701 according to the program expanded from the EEPROM 704 to the RAM 703. This program is distributed from a server for program distribution or distributed in a state stored in a storage medium. Since the chat application 60a and the conference application 60b are operating in the terminal device 60, the program includes the chat application 60a and the conference application 60b.

The communication unit 61a transmits and receives various information to and from the conference management server 30 and the reservation management server 20. The operation reception unit 61b receives various operations by participants on the terminal device 60. The display control unit 61c interprets screen information of various screens and displays it on the display 718. The operation reception unit 61b and the display control unit 61c have, for example, a browser function and can execute a web application.

The chat communication unit 62 of the chat application 60a transmits and receives various information to and from the chat server 10 (an example of a third communication unit). In this embodiment, it receives information about reservations for the conference room 6 from the chat server 10, and notifies the chat server 10 that the information has been read, and whether the conference room 6 is being used or canceled. The chat communication unit 62 also receives the most recent reservation information from the chat server 10, and sends a message to the chat server 10 to be saved (sent to the conference management server 30) in response to the participant's operation.

The display unit 63 of the chat application 60a displays information related to reservations for the conference room 6, the most recent reservation information, etc., sent from the chat server 10. For example, if the comment originates from a chatbot, text, stamps, images, videos, etc. are displayed as if they were entered by the chatbot.

The app communication unit 64 of the chat app 60a calls the conference app 60b and sends the conference identification information to the conference app 60b. When notifying the terminal device 60 of information related to the reservation of the conference room 6, the chat server 10 sends information for identifying the conference app 60b, so the chat app 60a specifies the conference app 60b to the OS and requests notification of the conference identification information. The OS can then start the conference app 60b.

The authentication request unit 71 requests authentication from the chat server 10 via the chat communication unit 62, specifying the user ID and password entered by the user. If the authentication is successful, the user ID 791 is stored in the memory unit 79. The operation reception unit 72 receives various operations for the chat application 60a.

The chat application 60a also has a storage unit 79 realized by the ROM 202, the RAM 203, the HD 204, or the like. A user ID 791 is stored in the storage unit 79. This user ID is saved when authentication by the authentication request unit 71 is successful. The user ID 791 is, for example, a user's account on the chat server 10.

The server communication unit 65 of the conference app 60b communicates with the conference management server 30 or the reservation management server 20. The server communication unit 65 receives reservation information and sends check-in requests, check-out requests, and reservation requests to the conference management server 30. The server communication unit 65 also sends authentication requests to the reservation management server 20.

The display control unit 66 of the conference app 60b displays an image code or the like including the conference identification information on the display 718 for the conference room terminal 90 (if the conference identification information is not entered manually).

The app communication unit 67 of the conference app 60b obtains various information (such as conference identification information included in information related to the reservation of the conference room 6) from the chat app 60a via the OS.

In a conference room where a conference room terminal 90 is located, the terminal communication unit 68 communicates with the conference room terminal 90 and transmits conference identification information, etc. (however, this may also be entered manually). The terminal communication unit 68 detects the presence of the conference room terminal 90 by short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), and transmits conference identification information when it detects the conference room terminal 90. The operation reception unit 69 receives various operations for the conference app 60b.

<<Conference room terminal>>
The conference room terminal 90 has a server communication unit 91, a terminal device communication unit 92, an operation reception unit 93, a display control unit 94, an electronic device communication unit 95, a terminal authentication unit 96, an imaging unit 97, a decoding unit 98, a setting recording unit 98-2, and a reservation information request unit 98-3. Each of these functional units of the conference room terminal 90 is a function or means realized by operating any of the configuration categories shown in Fig. 5 by an instruction from the CPU 701 according to a program loaded from the EEPROM 704 to the RAM 703. This program is distributed from a server for program distribution or distributed in a state stored in a storage medium.

The server communication unit 91 communicates with the conference management server 30, using server URL 993 as the destination. Because the conference room terminal 90 is located on the in-house network, it is difficult for the conference room terminal 90 to be communicated with from the conference room management server 30. For this reason, the server communication unit 91 communicates with the conference room management server 30 using communication techniques such as polling (periodically communicating with the conference room management server 30) or WebSocket. If the "conference room terminal status" is connected and there is no communication from the server communication unit 91, a disconnection is registered in the conference room setting information DB 498. If the "conference room terminal status" is before setup, it remains as it was before setup regardless of whether communication is occurring. The server communication unit 91 only needs to communicate using a communication protocol such as HTTP, and there are no particular restrictions on the communication protocol.

In this embodiment, the server communication unit 91 receives reservation information, and at the time of check-in, the terminal device communication unit 92 transmits the conference identification information received from the terminal device 60 or the conference identification information manually input to the conference management server 30. The server communication unit 91 also receives control information from the conference management server 30.

The terminal device communication unit 92 communicates with the terminal device 60. In this embodiment, it receives conference identification information, etc. The electronic device communication unit 95 communicates with the electronic device 70. In this embodiment, it transmits control information received by the server communication unit 91 to the electronic device 70.

The display control unit 94 displays a screen generated by the terminal application 90a on the display 718. This screen is a standby screen on which check-in, check-out, etc. can be performed. The operation reception unit 93 receives various operations for the conference room terminal 90.

The terminal authentication unit 96 authenticates the administrator's login to the terminal app based on whether the entered administrator password is correct. The conference room terminal 90 placed in the conference room can be operated by unspecified participants, and if there is no authentication function, there is a risk that the initial settings will be changed.

The imaging unit 97 and the decoding unit 98 are functions required when the conference room terminal 90 is initially set up or when a user logs in with an image code. The setting recording unit 98-2 is required when the conference room terminal 90 is initially set up. The initial setting is not described in this embodiment.

When a user logs in using an image code, the imaging unit 97 captures the image code displayed by the terminal device 60. When the administrator operates the terminal device 60 so that the image code is within the angle of view of the CMOS sensor 713 of the conference room terminal 90, the imaging unit 97 recognizes the image code and automatically generates image data. The decoding unit 98 decodes the image code captured by the imaging unit 97 to restore the conference identification information.

The reservation information request unit 98-3 repeatedly transmits the conference room ID and authentication key to the conference management server 30 via the server communication unit 91 at the regular timing for obtaining reservation information. In response, the reservation information request unit 98-3 obtains reservation information via the server communication unit 91. Reservation information only needs to be obtained when there is a change. The timing is every few seconds to several minutes. A shorter period allows the reservation information to be updated earlier, but also increases the communication load, so the period is determined by taking both into consideration. In this embodiment, the period is set to 30 seconds, for example. In addition, conference management information (reservation information) for at least the current day for conference room 6 can be received via the server communication unit 91.

The conference room terminal 90 also has a memory unit 99. The memory unit 99 is realized by the ROM 702 and EEPROM 704 in FIG. 5, etc. The memory unit 99 stores a conference room ID 991, an authentication key 992, a server URL 993, a conference room name 994, a terminal ID 995, an administrator password 996, and an IP address 997 of the electronic device 70.

The terminal ID 995 is identification information for the conference room terminal 90. The terminal ID is used by the conference room management server 30 to identify the conference room terminal 90 in order to prevent more than a fixed number of conference room terminals 90 in one conference room from connecting to the conference room management server 30. The terminal ID may be any unique identifier such as a universally unique identifier (UUID) of a terminal application or a MAC address. The UUID is a unique identifier such that no two or more items in the world have the same value, even without specific management.

The administrator password 996 is set by the administrator when the terminal app 90a is installed or launched for the first time. The IP address 997 of the electronic device 70 is set by the administrator as necessary.

<Chat server supplement>
The chat server 10 of this embodiment uses a platform 81 that provides a chat service to transmit and receive various information to and from the terminal device 60. The chat server 10 has a bot server 80 (an example of a first information processing device) on which a chatbot operates, and the platform 81. The functions of the chat server 10 in FIG. 6 are mainly those of the bot server 80. The operator of the conference management server 30 installs chatbot functions in the bot server 80. The platform 81 is a system that enables chat between users or between a user and a chatbot using a chat application 60a, and is often operated separately from the conference management server 30.

Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of the flow of communication between the chat server 10 and a chat app. A chatbot is realized by linking the chat app 60a and the bot server 80 via an API (Application Programming Interface). The chatbot sends messages to the chat app 60a as if acting on behalf of the conference management server 30. For example, when a user selects a chatbot and enters information into the chat app 60a, the platform 81 identifies the bot server 80 corresponding to the chatbot and transmits the information. The bot server 80 is provided with a receiving API corresponding to the platform 81.

The bot server 80 performs processing according to the information sent from the chat application 60a. If necessary, it also communicates with the conference management server 30. The bot server 80 transmits the results of the processing to the chat application 60a via the receiving API on the platform 81 side.

The conference management server 30 transmits information by specifying chatbot identification information and group identification information, so the platform 81 can transmit information to the chat application 60a based on the information identifying the chatbot and the information identifying the group to be notified.

<Processing for displaying messages on conference room terminals>
Next, the process of displaying a message by the conference room terminal 90 will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is an example of a sequence diagram showing the procedure by which the conference room terminal 90 displays a message for a reservation selected by a user. Note that examples of screens displayed by the terminal device 60 or the conference room terminal 90 when the sequence is executed are shown in Figs. 10 to 16.

S1, S2: The reservation information acquisition unit 33 of the conference management server 30 repeatedly sends a reservation information acquisition request to the reservation management server 20. A reservation information acquisition request refers to specifying a domain and requesting reservation information for reservation holders who have an account with this domain. This allows the conference management server 30 to acquire reservation information for a fixed period of time. It is preferable that the repetition frequency is relatively high, for example, every few minutes, every 30 minutes, or every hour. In addition, with regard to reservation information, newly registered or changed reservation information may be automatically sent from the reservation management server 20.

S3: A user who wants to send a message to the conference room terminal 90 (a user who is likely to be late for the conference) launches the chat application 60a on the terminal device 60.

S4: This starts the chat application 60a. The URL of the chat server 10 and other information are preset in the chat application 60a. If the chat application 60a is replaced by browser software, the user can set the URL.

S5: The user inputs authentication information for the chat server 10 into the terminal device 60. The user inputs, for example, a password and a user ID. The operation reception unit 72 of the terminal device 60 receives the authentication information. Note that the authentication information needs to be input only once. This is because the terminal device 60 is dedicated to the user, and the user ID 791 is stored in the memory unit 79 upon successful authentication.

S6: The authentication request unit 71 of the terminal device 60 sends the authentication information to the chat server 10 via the chat communication unit 62.

S7: The communication unit 11 of the chat server 10 receives the authentication information, and the authentication unit 13 authenticates the user by referring to the authentication information DB 192. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the authentication is successful.

S8: The communication unit 11 of the chat server 10 sends the authentication success and the user ID to the terminal device 60.

S9: The chat communication unit 62 of the terminal device 60 receives the authentication success and the user ID, and stores the user ID 791 in the memory unit 79.

S10: The user selects a chatbot registered in the chat application 60a. The operation reception unit 72 of the chat application 60a receives the selection. The chat application 60a displays chatbots in the workspace to which the user belongs, so the user can select a chatbot for the reservation system.

S11: The display unit 63 of the chat application 60a displays a chat page for the chatbot to communicate with the bot server 80. The chat page is a page that displays the contents of communication between the chatbot and the user in chronological order.

S12: The display unit 63 of the chat application 60a displays the message "I will be a little late. Would you like to be notified?" as one of the menus on the chat page. The user presses the "Yes" button to select the message display function (the function to display a message on the conference room terminal 90). The operation acceptance unit 72 of the chat application 60a accepts the selection.

S13: The chat communication unit 62 of the chat application 60a requests the bot server 80 to activate a message display function by specifying the user ID 791. Note that the information is not limited to the user ID, and any information that can identify the user can be used. In other words, the request for resource reservation information is sent to the conference management server 30 in response to an operation to display the operation reception unit in the chat application 60a.

S14: When the first communication unit 11 of the bot server 80 receives a request to activate the message display function, the reservation request unit 15 requests reservation information from the conference management server 30 by specifying the user ID.

S15, S16: The receiving unit 31b of the conference management server 30 receives the user ID and the request for reservation information. The reservation information acquisition unit 33 acquires the reservation information again from the reservation management server 20. Note that since the conference management server 30 has acquired the reservation information in steps S1 and S2, if there is no change in the reservation information, it receives that information and does not need to acquire the reservation information. It is also possible to acquire reservation information including that user by specifying a user ID, or to acquire reservation information for a certain period of time during which the current time has not passed the end time.

When the chat server 10 and the reservation management server 20 are operated by different parties and therefore have different accounts, the reservation information acquisition unit 33 refers to the correspondence information in Table 6 and converts the user ID (account) sent from the chat server 10 into the user ID (account) of the conference management server 30. Account conversion is also performed when sending information from the conference management server 30 to the chat server 10 (when sending information by specifying a user).

S17: The transmission unit 31a of the conference management server 30 transmits reservation information including the user ID of the reservation party or the planned participant to the bot server 80. Extraction based on the user ID may be performed by the bot server 80.

S18: The communication unit 11 of the bot server 80 receives the reservation information. The identification unit 14 determines whether there is an upcoming reservation in the acquired reservation information of the user. Note that the identification unit 14 is not limited to the upcoming reservation, but may identify a reservation whose start time is closest to the current time (i.e., it is not limited to reservation information whose difference between the start time of the reservation information and the current time is within a threshold). This makes it possible to notify a delay even for reservations that are slightly in the future. Also, the identification of the reservation information by the identification unit 14 may be performed by the conference management server 30, and the conference management server 30 may send the most recent reservation information to the chat server 10.

S19: If an upcoming reservation exists, the communication unit 11 of the bot server 80 sends "Please select the conference to be contacted" to the terminal device 60 from the message storage unit 193 as a message for when an upcoming reservation exists (reservation selection message). The upcoming reservation is attached to this message.

If there is no upcoming reservation, the message storage unit 193 sends the message "There is no relevant meeting" to the terminal device 60 as a message in the case where there is no upcoming reservation. In this case, the process in FIG. 9 ends.

S20: The chat communication unit 62 of the terminal device 60 receives the reservation selection message, and the display unit 63 displays it on the chat page as a comment from the chatbot.

S21: The user selects from the list (there may be only one reservation) the reservation for which he or she wishes to send a message (the reservation that is likely to be delayed). The operation reception unit 72 receives the selection. This identifies the reservation ID.

S22: The chat communication unit 62 of the terminal device 60 requests the bot server 80 to save a message for the selected reservation by specifying the reservation ID. The save request is, in other words, a request to send a message to the conference room terminal 90.

S23: The communication unit 11 of the bot server 80 receives the message save request and retrieves the message "[User name] has informed us that he/she will be a little late" from the message storage unit 193 as a message informing them that they will be late. The communication unit 11 specifies the user ID and reservation ID and sends a message save request to the conference management server 30.

S24: The receiving unit 31b of the conference management server 30 receives a request to save the message. The reservation information acquisition unit 33 acquires a user name from an external authentication server or the like based on the user ID. This user name is set as the [User name] of the message. The reservation information acquisition unit 33 then saves the message in the message item of the reservation information identified by the reservation ID in the conference management information DB 493. Note that the message "[User name] has contacted us to say that he or she will be a little late" may be held by the conference management server 30.

S25: The transmission unit 31a of the conference management server 30 transmits the storage result (OK, NG) to the bot server 80. The storage result is NG when, for example, the reservation is canceled and the reservation ID is not in the conference management information DB 493.

S26: The communication unit 11 of the bot server 80 receives the storage result (OK, NG), and based on this, transmits "I will be late" from the message storage unit 193 to the terminal device 60 as a message in case of completion of notification that I will be late. This message becomes the execution result message.

S27: The chat communication unit 62 of the terminal device 60 receives the execution result message, and the display unit 63 displays the execution result message.

S28, S29: The reservation information request unit 98-3 of the conference room terminal 90 specifies the conference management server 30 by the server URL, and requests reservation information by sending the conference room ID and authentication key via the transmission unit 31a. The communication unit 31 of the conference management server 30 receives the request for reservation information, and the reservation information transmission unit 39 authenticates using the authentication key. In this embodiment, the authentication is deemed successful, and the reservation information transmission unit 39 sends the reservation information identified by the conference room ID to the conference room terminal 90.

S30: The server communication unit 91 of the conference room terminal 90 receives the reservation information, and the display control unit 94 displays the reservation information. If the reservation information includes a message, the display control unit 94 displays the message. The message may be displayed and read aloud at the same time.

<Screen example>
10A shows an example of a chat page that the chat application 60a displays when there is one upcoming reservation.

M1: A message displayed as one of the menus on the chat page. The chat application 60a displays a Yes button 231 and a No button 232. Because the terminal device 60 has a touch panel, the user can press the Yes button 231 or the No button 232 with a finger. Alternatively, operation can also be performed by voice.

M2: When the user presses the Yes button 231, the chat application 60a displays the pressed button for confirmation.

M3: This is a message that is displayed when there is an upcoming reservation. The most recent reservation information 233 is displayed at the bottom of this message. The user can press the reservation information 233.

M4: When the user presses reservation information 233, the chat application 60a displays the pressed reservation information for confirmation.

M5: This is the message that is displayed when the notification that you will be late has been completed. The user can understand that the notification that you will be late has been completed.

As shown in Fig. 10(b), the user can also input an arbitrary message, in which the user inputs an arbitrary message following message M4.
M11: The chat application 60a displays "Would you like to enter a message?" and displays a Yes button 234 and a No button 235. When the No button 235 is pressed, a standard message is stored in the conference management server 30, as in Fig. 10(a). When the Yes button 234 is pressed, the user can enter any message.
M12: The user inputs an arbitrary message such as "Hanako, I will be a little late at XX." The chat application 60a accepts the input and displays it. When the user performs a send operation, the input message is sent to the conference management server 30. In this way, the user can input arbitrary text and display it on the conference room terminal 90.

Instead of the user inputting a message at random, the user may be able to select a message from options. In this case, the bot server 80 holds messages associated with option IDs and transmits each message and option ID to the terminal device 60 to display each message. Furthermore, the message to be displayed is not limited to "I will be late," but may be any message that the user wishes to inform others of in advance, such as "Please take your materials with you," "I will leave the room early today," "I may not be able to participate," or "Level of confidentiality." The terminal device 60 transmits the option ID of the selected message to the bot server 80.

Figure 11 is an example of a chat page that the chat application 60a displays when there are two upcoming reservations. The explanation of Figure 11 will mainly focus on the differences from Figure 10. The message for M3 in Figure 11 is different from that in Figure 10.

M3: Since there are two upcoming reservations, two reservation information items 233a, 233b are displayed at the bottom of the message. The user can press one or two reservation information items 233a, 233b. Note that there are two upcoming reservations when the user operating the terminal device 60 is registered as a reservation holder or participant in two conferences that have the same start time. This is a rare case, but occurs when a user participates in two conferences at the same time.

Figure 12 is an example of a chat page that the chat application 60a displays when there are no upcoming reservations. The explanation of Figure 12 will mainly focus on the differences from Figure 10.

M6: This is a message that is displayed when there are no upcoming reservations. The user can understand that there are no upcoming reservations and that there is no need to notify the user that they will be late. It is not limited to the upcoming reservation, and it is also possible to display the reservation whose start time is closest to the current time. If it is not the upcoming reservation but the user knows that they will be late to the conference, they can register a message of being late in advance with the conference management server 30.

Using Figures 13 to 15, examples of standby screens and message displays displayed by the conference room terminal 90 will be described. Figure 13 shows an example of standby screen I displayed by the conference room terminal 90 when the conference room is currently vacant. Standby screen I in Figure 13 displays a current status column 561, conference room name column 562, conference name column 563, start time column 564, end time column 565, start use button 566, and future reservations column 567, etc.

The current status column 561 indicates the current status of the conference room. The display control unit 94 of the conference room terminal 90 displays the status of the reservation information in the current status column 561. If there is no reservation information reserved at the current time, the display control unit 94 displays "Vacant" (until check-in for the next reservation becomes possible) or "Waiting to enter" (after check-in for the next reservation becomes possible) in the current status column 561.

The conference room name field 562 displays the conference room name stored in the memory unit 99. The conference name field 563 displays the conference name included in the reservation information. Until check-in for the next reservation becomes possible, the display control unit 94 displays "No reservations" in the conference name field 563.

The start time column 564 and end time column 565 display the start time and end time included in the reservation information. In FIG. 13, the standby screen is for a time period when no reservations are available, so the end time of the last meeting is displayed in the start time column 564, and the start time of the next meeting is displayed in the end time column 565.

The Start Using button 566 is displayed when the current status column 561 is "Vacant". Even if the conference room has not been reserved, the user can start using the conference room by pressing the Start Using button 566. Pressing this button is transmitted to the reservation management server 20 via the conference management server 30, reservation information is generated, and the status of the conference room is changed. The status change is also reflected on the standby screen when the conference room terminal 90 receives the reservation information.

Then, in the reservation field 567, the start and end times of each conference that is booked after the current one are displayed according to the reservation information. In FIG. 13, a message mark 567a is displayed in reservation information 567b for 13:00-14:00. This message mark 567a indicates that the reservation information has a message. When reservation information 567b is waiting for check-in, the message is automatically displayed (when it is time to accept the start of use of the resources reserved in the most recent reservation information). The message may be displayed when the user presses message mark 567a.

Figure 14 shows an example of a standby screen II displayed by the conference room terminal 90 when the conference room is currently vacant but there is still a specified time until the start of the next conference (waiting for check-in). In the standby screen II of Figure 14, "Waiting to enter" is displayed in the current status column 561, and an enter button 568 (an example of a display component) is displayed. Waiting to enter corresponds to waiting to check in. In addition, the person who made the reservation is displayed in the reservation person name column 570. When the status of the reservation information changes to "waiting for check-in" or the like, the display control unit 94 displays "Waiting to enter" and displays the enter button 568.

For example, 10 minutes before the start time, the status will change to "Waiting for check-in" or the like, so the display control unit 94 will display "Waiting to enter" and allow check-in. In other words, the person who made the reservation can check in. Also, if the conference room terminal 90 does not send a check-in request by the set time, the task execution unit 40 of the conference management server 30 will automatically cancel the check-in if it is not detected. For this reason, the display control unit 94 counts down the time 569 until automatic cancellation and displays it in the current status column 561. The time at which the check-in will be automatically canceled is, for example, 10 minutes after the start time.

The Enter button 568 allows the user to check in. When this button is pressed, the person making the reservation can enter the conference identification information.

The reservation person's name field 570 displays reservation person information. This reservation person may be an account included in the reservation information, or the name or nickname of the reservation person may be sent from the conference management server 30. In addition, a photo of the reservation person or a character representing the reservation person may be displayed.

If there is a message, message 580 is displayed superimposed on standby screen II when waiting to check in. In FIG. 14, "Mr. C has contacted us to say that he will be a little late." In other words, the message is displayed together with at least a portion of the most recent reservation information. In this way, participants other than the participant who sent message 580 (Mr. C) can confirm that Mr. C will be late to the meeting without having to check their email or chat app. Note that message 580 can be erased by a participant pressing x mark 581 in the upper right corner.

Figure 15 shows an example of a standby screen III displayed by the conference room terminal 90 when the conference room is currently in use. In the standby screen III in Figure 15, "In Use" is displayed in the current status column 561, and the exit button 571 is displayed. When the reservation person enters the conference identification information or holds the terminal device 60 over the conference room and the conference management server 30 permits check-in, the status of the conference management information DB 493 becomes "Checked in". When the conference room terminal 90 receives the reservation information, the display control unit 94 detects that the status has become checked in. The display control unit 94 displays "In Use" in the current status column 561 and displays the exit button 571 until the person checks out. In addition, the display control unit 94 counts down the time until the end time and displays it in the current status column 561. The exit button 571 is a button for the reservation person to check out. When this button is pressed, a check-out request is sent to the conference management server 30, and the usage management unit 38 of the conference management server 30 updates the status of the conference management information DB 493 to "Checked out". When the conference room terminal 90 receives the reservation information, the display control unit 94 displays "Vacant room" or "Waiting to enter" in the current status column 561.

The timing of message deletion will be explained.
(i) If the user presses the enter button 568 without pressing the cross mark 581, the message remains displayed (the message is not erased even if the display component is pressed). In this case, the conference room terminal 90 may erase the message when a certain time (e.g., 10 minutes, half the conference time, etc.) has elapsed from the start time. This determination may be made by the conference management server 30, and the conference room terminal 90 may be instructed to erase the message.
(ii) Even if the cross mark 581 is not pressed, the message may be deleted when the entry button 568 is pressed. This saves the user the trouble of having to press the cross mark 581.
(iii) Even if the message is not deleted until the end of the conference or when the user checks out, the conference room terminal 90 deletes the message when the conference ends or when the user checks out.

The standby screens in Figs. 13 to 15 are standby screens displayed by a dedicated conference room terminal 90 in a conference room. In contrast, there are cases where a conference room terminal 90 shared among multiple conference rooms displays reservation information.

16 is an example of a reservation status screen displayed by a conference room terminal 90 common to multiple conference rooms. The reservation status screen 301 in FIG. 16 has the following items: usage status 311, detailed information 312, name of reservation user 313, message 314, and button field 315.
Usage status 311: Displays the current usage status of the conference room based on the status of the reservation information. For example, waiting to enter (waiting to check in), in use (checked in), vacant, etc. are displayed.
Detailed information 312: The name of the conference room, the name of the conference, the start time and the end time are displayed. All of these are included in the reservation information managed by the conference management server 30.
Reservation person name 313 . The reservation person name is displayed. This name is included in the reservation information managed by the conference management server 30.
A message 314 displays the remaining time until automatic cancellation and the start time of the next reservation. These are sent from the conference management server 30.
Button column 315 includes a use now button 316, an enter button 321, an extend button 322, and an exit button 323. Each button is displayed depending on the situation.
The Use Now button 316 is a button that allows the user to immediately reserve a conference room (the conference management server 30 reserves the conference room in the reservation management server 20 using the license of the conference management server 30, and the user can check in from the conference room terminal 90). The Use Now button 316 is displayed when the room is vacant.
The Enter button 321 is displayed when the usage status is waiting for entry (an example of a display component that accepts the start of usage). This entry corresponds to check-in.
The Extend button 322 and Leave button 323 are displayed when the usage status is In Use. This is for checked-in bookers to extend or check out. The Extend button may also be displayed when there is less than a certain amount of time left until the end time. However, if extension is not possible (if the next meeting has been booked), the Extend button will not be displayed. Leaving the room in this way corresponds to checking out.

A message mark 567a is displayed for reservations with a message. Participants can know that some other participants will be late. The message may be displayed when the user presses the message mark 567a. Considering that the message displays the user name of the user who will be late, the conference room terminal 90 may display the message only when a participant has entered the conference identification information and checked in.

<When the terminal device displays a message>
By displaying the message on the conference room terminal 90, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience of the participant receiving the message not realizing that the message has arrived. However, even in this embodiment, the terminal device 60 of a participant who is likely to be late for the conference can send a message to the terminal devices 60 of the other participants.

Figure 17 is an example of a sequence diagram showing the procedure by which the terminal device 60 of the other participants displays a message regarding a reservation selected by the user. The explanation of Figure 17 will mainly focus on the differences from Figure 9. The processing of steps S1 to S28 may be the same as that of Figure 9.

S41: The communication unit 11 of the bot server 80 sends a message to other participants in the most recent conference (excluding the user who sent the message). The conference management server 30 notifies the bot server 80 of the other participants based on the reservation information. The message may be sent from the conference management server 30 or may be held by the bot server 80. In addition to the message, the most recent reservation information may also be sent.

S42: The terminal devices 60 of the other participants receive the message, and the display units 63 display the message on the chat page. By displaying the message on the terminal devices 60 of each participant, the user who sent the message can check whether the message has been read, etc.

Figure 18 is an example of a chat page displayed on the terminal device 60 of another participant. This chat page displays a message 240 spoken by the chatbot saying, "Mr. C has contacted me to say he will be a little late." The other participants can see that Mr. C will be late. Furthermore, upcoming reservation information may be displayed.

<Major Effects>
As described above, in the reservation system 100 of this embodiment, the chat server 10 acquires the reservations of the participants, judges whether the reservation is the latest one, and then presents the user with reservation options, so the user can send a message simply by selecting a reservation. In addition, the message is easily conveyed to the participants because it is displayed on the conference room terminal 90, which is visible to all participants.

<Other application examples>
The above describes the best mode for carrying out the present invention using examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples in any way, and various modifications and substitutions can be made within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention.

For example, in this embodiment, the conference room terminal 90 mainly displays text data as a message, but the conference management server 30 may also send to the conference room terminal 90 an icon indicating that the user will be late, a user's photo or avatar, video, etc., along with or without a message. In the case of an icon, it is preferable that the icon represent an individual user. The user's photo or avatar is the user who operated the terminal device 60. In the case of a video, the user may record the reason for being late on the terminal device 60 and send it to the chat server 10.

There may be multiple conference management servers 30, or the functions of the conference management server 30 may be distributed among multiple servers. In addition, the reservation management server 20 and the conference management server 30 may be integrated.

The devices described in this embodiment are merely illustrative of one of several computing environments for implementing the embodiments disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the conference management server 30 includes a plurality of computing devices, such as a server cluster. The plurality of computing devices are configured to communicate with each other via any type of communication link, including a network, shared memory, etc., and perform the processes disclosed herein.

The facility reservation system 100 of this embodiment can also be called a Web service. Web services are various services provided by applying Internet-related technologies. Examples include conference room rental services and various rental services. A system that uses a Web service is called a utilization system.

The configuration examples shown in Figures 6 and 7 in the above embodiments are divided according to the main functions in order to make it easier to understand the processing of the reservation system 100. However, the present invention is not limited by the manner in which each processing unit is divided or the names of each processing unit. The reservation system 100 can also be divided into even more processing units depending on the processing content. It can also be divided so that one processing unit includes even more processes.

Each function of the embodiments described above can be realized by one or more processing circuits. Here, the term "processing circuit" in this specification includes a processor programmed to execute each function by software, such as a processor implemented by an electronic circuit, and devices such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), DSP (digital signal processor), FPGA (field programmable gate array), and conventional circuit modules designed to execute each function described above.

Reference Signs List 10 Chat server 20 Reservation management server 30 Conference management server 60 Terminal device 100 Resource reservation system

JP 2013-171527 A

Claims (15)

A reservation system having one or more information processing devices that manage the use of reserved resources, and an information processing terminal that accepts an operation to start using the resources from a user of the resources ,
The one or more information processing devices include
a first communication unit that, when a terminal device designates identification information of the user and requests reservation information for the resource, transmits to the terminal device the most recent reservation information with respect to a current time, the reservation information including the identification information of the user;
a second communication unit that, when receiving a request to transmit a message for the reservation information from the terminal device, transmits the message to the information processing terminal;
The information processing terminal includes:
A reservation system comprising a display control unit that displays the message transmitted from the one or more information processing devices. When a message transmission request is received from the terminal device, the second communication unit transmits the message associated with the most recent reservation information to the information processing terminal;
2. The reservation system according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit of the information processing terminal displays a message transmitted from the one or more information processing devices together with at least a part of the most recent reservation information. The reservation system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the display control unit displays the message together with at least a part of the most recent reservation information when it is time to accept the start of use of the resource reserved in the most recent reservation information associated with the message. The reservation system according to claim 3, characterized in that the display control unit displays a display component that accepts the start of use of the resource together with the most recent reservation information to which the message is associated, and erases the message when the display component is pressed. the display control unit displays a display component for accepting a start of use of the resource together with the latest reservation information associated with the message;
4. The reservation system according to claim 3, wherein the message is not erased even when the display component is pressed, and the message is erased when a certain time has elapsed from the start time included in the reservation information. Further, the terminal device includes a program that operates on the terminal device,
The program is
a display unit that displays the latest reservation information transmitted from the one or more information processing devices on the terminal device;
an operation reception unit that receives a selection of the reservation information;
a third communication unit that transmits a request to transmit the message to the one or more information processing devices by designating identification information of the reservation information accepted by the operation acceptance unit;
6. The reservation system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device functions as a reservation reservation system. The reservation system according to claim 6, characterized in that the request for the resource reservation information is sent to the information processing device in response to an operation to display the operation reception section in the program. The operation reception unit receives any of the messages input by a user,
7. The reservation system according to claim 6, wherein the third communication unit transmits a request to send the arbitrary message accepted by the operation acceptance unit to the one or more information processing devices. The reservation system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the first communication unit transmits to the terminal device the reservation information including the user's identification information and whose reservation start time is within a threshold value from the current time. The one or more information processing devices include
a reservation information storage unit that stores reservation information of the resource;
a reservation information acquisition unit that stores the message in the reservation information storage unit as a part of the reservation information;
a reservation information transmitting unit that transmits the reservation information stored in the reservation information storage unit together with the message to the information processing terminal when a request for the reservation information is received from the information processing terminal;
The reservation system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising: The one or more information processing devices include a first information processing device in which a chatbot operates and a second information processing device that communicates with the information processing terminal;
the first information processing device transmits to the terminal device the latest reservation information with respect to a current time received from the second information processing device;
11. The reservation system according to claim 1, wherein the second information processing device transmits the message received from the first information processing device to the information processing terminal. When the first information processing device receives a request to transmit the message from the terminal device, the first information processing device transmits a message stored in a message storage unit to the second information processing device;
The reservation system described in claim 11, characterized in that the second information processing device sets a user name identified by the user's identification information transmitted from the first information processing device in the message and transmits the message to the information processing terminal. When a request to send a message is received from the terminal device,
13. The reservation system according to claim 11, wherein the first information processing device transmits the message to another terminal device, the message being addressed to a user included in the latest reservation information. 1. A message display method performed by a reservation system having one or more information processing devices that manages the use of reserved resources, and an information processing terminal that accepts an operation to start using the resources from a user of the resources, comprising:
The one or more information processing devices include
a step of transmitting, when a terminal device designates identification information of the user and requests reservation information of the resource, the reservation information including the identification information of the user and most recent with respect to a current time to the terminal device;
When a request for transmitting a message for the reservation information is received from the terminal device, the message is transmitted to the information processing terminal.
A message display method, comprising: displaying the message transmitted from the one or more information processing devices. A reservation system having a first information processing device on which a chatbot operates, a second information processing device that manages the use of reserved resources, and an information processing terminal that accepts an operation to start using the resources from a user of the resources ,
The first information processing device,
a reservation request unit that, when receiving a request for reservation information of the resource together with the identification information of the user from a terminal device, acquires the reservation information including the identification information of the user from the second information processing device;
a first communication unit configured to transmit, to the terminal device, the most recent reservation information with respect to a current time among the reservation information acquired by the reservation request unit;
when receiving a request to transmit a message for the reservation information from the terminal device, the first communication unit transmits the message associated with the latest reservation information to the second information processing device;
The second information processing device,
a second communication unit that transmits the message associated with the latest reservation information to the information processing terminal;
The information processing terminal includes:
a display control unit that displays the message transmitted from the second information processing device together with at least a part of the most recent reservation information;

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