JP7841371B2 - Information processing device, browsing history display method, program, information processing system - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to an information processing device, a browsing history display method, a program, and an information processing system.

To acquire new customers (potential customers), the organizer holds information sessions and online seminars, introducing new products and services during the online seminars. Furthermore, after the online seminar, the organizer may provide participants with additional materials such as explanatory documents and catalogs via email or social networking services (SNS).

A technology is known that allows for understanding the level of interest of each prospective customer by recording their viewing history of materials provided via email, etc. (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses a method for managing information about prospective customers based on access logs obtained when a prospective customer accesses a URL provided in an email.

However, conventional technology has a problem in that it cannot change how browsing history is displayed depending on the method of sending messages for sharing electronic data. For example, there are two methods of sending messages: sending a mass message addressed only to prospective customers, and sending an email to prospective customers, including their associates in the CC (carbon copy) or BCC (blind carbon copy) fields. Therefore, when organizers or other viewers refer to the browsing history, they may want to view it in an appropriate manner depending on the method of sending the message (whether it is addressed to only one person or multiple people).

In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide an information processing device that can change the method of displaying browsing history according to the method of sending a message.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an information processing device that communicates with a terminal device operated by a first user, comprising: a message transmission unit that sends a message to the second user for viewing electronic data in response to a request from the terminal device; a transmission history management unit that records the transmission method of the message transmitted from the terminal device in association with the electronic data; a viewing information update unit that records the viewing history of the electronic data by the second user; a screen generation unit that generates a viewing history screen of the electronic data corresponding to the transmission method in response to a request from the terminal device; and a communication unit that transmits screen information of the viewing history screen generated by the screen generation unit to the terminal device.

This provides an information processing device that can change the display method of browsing history depending on how the message was sent.

This is a diagram illustrating an example of how browsing history is displayed. This diagram provides a schematic explanation of how an information processing system works. This diagram shows an example of the system configuration of an information processing system. This is a hardware configuration diagram of an example computer. This diagram shows an example of the functional configuration of a server-side document sharing application, a chat/video conferencing system, the organizer's terminal, and the participant's terminal. This figure shows an example of file information stored in the file storage unit. This figure shows an example of destination information stored in the destination memory unit. This figure shows an example of transmission history information stored in the transmission history storage unit. This figure shows an example of browsing history information stored in the browsing history memory unit. This figure shows an example of transfer information stored in the transfer information storage unit. This figure shows an example of destination information stored in the destination information storage unit. This is an example of a functional block diagram illustrating the functions of a document sharing server. This figure shows an example of information regarding shared electronic data stored in the shared electronic data storage unit. This is an example of a sequence diagram illustrating the process of holding a meeting and sharing electronic data. This figure shows an example of a meeting screen displayed on the organizer's terminal. This figure shows an example of a document sharing pop-up screen displayed on the organizer's terminal. This figure shows an example of the meeting screen displayed on the organizer's terminal after the send button is pressed. This figure shows an example of an email address input screen that appears on a participant's device when they click on a file name. This figure shows an example of the electronic data display screen that appears when email address authentication is successful. This figure shows an example of the electronic data transmission screen displayed on the organizer's terminal. This is an example of a diagram showing the CC and BCC fields that appear when the sending method setting button is set to the OFF state. This figure shows an example of a destination selection screen displayed on the organizer's terminal. This is an example of a sequence diagram illustrating the process by which the organizer shares electronic data with participants after a video conference ends, and how participants view that electronic data. This figure shows an example of the personal browsing history screen displayed on the organizer's terminal. This figure shows an example of a corporate browsing history screen displayed on the organizer's terminal. This is an example of a sequence diagram illustrating the process by which the organizer displays the transmission history screen on the organizer's terminal. This figure shows an example of the browsing history details screen displayed on the organizer's terminal when the details button is pressed. This is an example of a sequence diagram illustrating the process by which the organizer's terminal displays the browsing history details screen.

The following describes, with reference to the drawings, an example of an embodiment for carrying out the present invention: an information processing device and a method for displaying browsing history performed by the information processing device.

<Example of browsing history display>
After an online seminar introducing new products or services, the conversion rate improves when the organizer (an example of the first user) provides participants (an example of the second user) with additional materials such as explanatory documents and catalogs (hereinafter referred to as electronic data) via email (hereinafter simply referred to as email) or SNS (Social Networking Service). Participants who view the electronic data are particularly promising.

Therefore, by recording the viewing history of electronic data for each prospective customer, it is possible to understand the level of interest of each prospect. The organizer can then use this viewing history to conduct sales activities tailored to the potential of each prospective customer.

Here, when sending electronic data, the organizer sets only one recipient email address to prevent other participants from seeing the recipient's email address. In this case, the viewing history is also managed for each individual participant.

On the other hand, when the organizer conducts sales activities on a company-by-company basis rather than on an individual participant basis, the recipient list should include all parties related to the participant. For example, the CC and BCC functions available in the email sending screen are used. Since members unrelated to the participant (external parties) are not included in the recipient list, there is no risk of email address leakage.

However, in this case, the traditional method of managing browsing history for each individual makes it difficult for the organizer to easily grasp the browsing status at the company level. For example, if the organizer sends an email to 10 customers of Company A (Users 001 to 010), checking the browsing status of Company A requires individually checking the browsing status of Users 001 to 010. Since sales representatives often handle multiple companies, obtaining the browsing status of specific users from a large volume of browsing history is time-consuming and laborious.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the server-side document sharing application, described later, manages the method of sending communications to participants (prospective customers). The sending method refers to, for example, whether the recipient is a single person or multiple recipients due to the use of CC or BCC. This allows the organizer to check viewing history on an individual basis when there is only one recipient, and to check viewing history collectively at the organizational level (more specifically, on an email basis) when there are multiple recipients.

Figure 1 illustrates an example of how browsing history is displayed. Figure 1(a) shows the recipient field 282 when there is only one recipient, and Figure 1(b) shows an example of a case with multiple recipients, including the recipient field 282, CC field 285, and BCC field 286.

Figure 1(c) shows an example of the viewing history display when there is only one recipient. In Figure 1(c), viewing status and other information are displayed for each participant. This allows sales representatives to easily understand the viewing status of each individual, making it easier to narrow down the participants to whom sales efforts should be directed.

Figure 1(d) shows the viewing history when there are multiple recipients. Figure 1(d) displays the shared file name, the subject of the email sent, the number of recipients, the number of people who viewed the file, and the viewing rate. This allows sales representatives to easily understand the viewing status of electronic data sent to multiple recipients in a single email, enabling them to conduct subsequent sales activities more smoothly.

Thus, in this embodiment, since the method of transmitting electronic data is managed, the viewing history of electronic data can be displayed in a manner appropriate to the transmission method. Even if the preferred method for understanding viewing status differs depending on the transmission method, sales representatives can easily understand the viewing status.

<About Terminology>
Remote communication refers to communication with someone located at a physically distant location, using software and terminal devices to communicate via voice and video. An example of remote communication is a meeting, which can also be called a gathering, meeting, discussion, assembly, or meeting, while a seminar can be called a lecture, study group, seminar, or training session.

A base of operations refers to a place that serves as the foundation for activities. An example of a base of operations is a conference room. A conference room is a room primarily set up for the purpose of holding meetings.

Sharing refers to making information obtained by one user accessible to at least one other user. Access to the original information is not required. In this embodiment, sharing becomes possible when electronic data is transmitted to the document sharing server 80. Whether participants or related parties actually viewed the data is irrelevant.

Electronic data is data used for processing by electronic computers such as personal computers, and is an "electronic record" stored on an electromagnetic recording medium. Electronic data can also be called an electronic file. In this embodiment, the document is referred to as electronic data. The document is data viewed by users in a chat/video conferencing system and subsequent communication.

Browsing history refers to information used to indicate whether participants or related parties viewed electronic data, and if so, whether the viewing was likely to lead to a contract. Browsing history may include, for example, which materials were viewed, how many times, and which pages of the materials were viewed, and for how many times or for how long.

The transmission method refers to whether the recipient is a single person or multiple recipients. Specifically, it indicates whether a single transmission operation (e.g., one email) sends electronic data to only one recipient or to multiple recipients.

A message is information transmitted through language or other symbols. In this embodiment, messages are transmitted via email or social networking services (SNS).

<Overview of the Information Processing System's Operation>
Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the information processing system 100. In Figure 2, the sales representative is replaced with the organizer, and the customer is replaced with the participant. The organizer conducts web marketing, such as online seminars, for customers and can send electronic data, which serves as the materials, to the customers.

The organizer's terminal device (hereinafter referred to as organizer terminal 11) and the participants' terminal devices (hereinafter referred to as participant terminals 12a and 12b, and if not distinguished, participant terminal 12) are communicating remotely using the chat/video conferencing system 50.

The chat/video conferencing system 50 can perform video conferencing, chat, and share electronic data. During a remote communication session, the chat/video conferencing system 50 can send electronic data (or links) to all participants using its functions.

Furthermore, the host's terminal 11 is running the terminal-side document sharing application 10. The terminal-side document sharing application 10 operates as an add-in program to the chat/video conferencing system client application 16 (described later), allowing the host to launch the terminal-side document sharing application 10 from the chat/video conferencing system client application 16.

Furthermore, the chat/video conferencing system 50 runs a server-side document sharing application 70 (an example program). The chat/video conferencing system 50 and the server-side document sharing application 70 (the document sharing system implemented by the server-side document sharing application 70) are independent systems. Independence means that they are provided by different companies and have different development processes.

The server-side document sharing application 70 integrates with the chat/video conferencing system 50 to obtain the email addresses and other information of meeting participants. When the terminal-side document sharing application 10 and the server-side document sharing application 70 are not distinguished, they are sometimes simply referred to as "document sharing applications."

The server-side document sharing application 70 can share electronic data with participants via email, etc. The server-side document sharing application 70 manages the transmission history of electronic data. Electronic data is shared in link format, and the link is attached to the email sent by the server-side document sharing application 70 to participants. Participants can view the electronic data in the web browser of their terminal 12 by clicking the link attached to the email.

Participants can transfer electronic data to relevant parties using the server-side document sharing application 70. These relevant parties are colleagues, supervisors, or other individuals within the same company who are likely to be interested in the electronic data. A participant transferring electronic data to relevant parties is one way in which a participant demonstrates their interest in the electronic data. The server-side document sharing application 70 shares the electronic data with relevant parties via email or other means upon request from the participant. The sharing method can be the same as when the organizer shares with participants. Relevant parties view the electronic data using their own terminal devices (hereinafter referred to as "relevant party terminals 13").

When participants or related parties view the electronic data sent by the server-side document sharing application 70, the server-side document sharing application 70 records the viewing history information. The organizer can then check who viewed the electronic data and when. However, even the organizer cannot download the electronic data using the terminal-side document sharing application 10.

Furthermore, although the organizers do not need to be aware of it, the actual email sending is handled by email system 8.

<System Configuration Example>
Figure 3 shows an example of the system configuration of the information processing system 100. In the information processing system 100, the organizer terminal 11 and one or more participant terminals 12, which are connected to the communication network N, communicate via the chat/video conferencing system 50. The related party terminal 13 does not need to communicate with the chat/video conferencing system 50, but it is possible to do so. The communication network N is connected to the document receiving mail system 90 and the document sharing server 80.

The communication network N may include, for example, a LAN within a facility where the organizer's terminal 11 and participant terminals 12 are located, and may also include the internet, which is constructed using a provider network, etc. The communication network N may also include a telephone network.

The chat/video conferencing system 50 consists of one or more information processing devices. The chat/video conferencing system 50 operates a server-side document sharing application 70. The server-side document sharing application 70, separate from the chat/video conferencing system 50, sends electronic data prepared by the organizer to participants via email, etc. Furthermore, the server-side document sharing application 70 manages the history of electronic data transmission to participants and the viewing history of electronic data by participants. The server-side document sharing application 70 provides this information to the organizer as an information provision service.

The document sharing server 80 is one or more information processing devices primarily used for sharing electronic data. In this embodiment, since the server-side document sharing application 70 shares electronic data (documents) using email, the document sharing server 80 also has an email system 8. Functionally, the server-side document sharing application 70 and the document sharing server 80 can be considered as a single unit. The server-side document sharing application 70 exists within the chat/video conferencing system 50 because the organizer and others use the server-side document sharing application 70 within the chat/video conferencing system 50. The server-side document sharing application 70 may receive operations from the chat/video conferencing system 50. The device on which the server-side document sharing application 70 operates can be any information processing device.

Furthermore, when participants receive emails, they connect their terminal 12 to the document-receiving email system 90. The document-receiving email system 90 can be the customer's email receiving server from the organizer's perspective.

The chat/video conferencing system 50 facilitates remote communication between users at multiple locations. The chat/video conferencing system 50 provides remote communication services for online seminars and video conferences between the organizer terminal 11 and participant terminals 12 located at each location. While online seminars may restrict participant speech, the mechanisms for online seminars and remote communication are largely the same. The chat/video conferencing system 50 transmits and receives video and audio to and from remote locations via the communication network N. At the organizer's location, the organizer terminal 11 captures images and collects audio such as speech, converts these into digital signals, and transmits them to the chat/video conferencing system 50. The chat/video conferencing system 50 transmits these digital signals to the participant terminals 12 communicating in the same session. The participant terminals 12 display images on a screen and output audio through speakers. Since the participant terminals 12 also transmit similar digital signals, the organizer and participants can communicate bidirectionally. The organizer can also restrict speech from participant terminals 12 or allow speech only from specific participant terminals 12.

Before the remote communication service begins, the organizer sends participants an invitation to the online seminar issued by the chat/video conferencing system 50 via email or other means. The email contains a link to the session, allowing the organizer's terminal 11 and the participant's terminal 12 to participate in the same session.

In Figure 3, a separate document sharing server 80 and a chat/video conferencing system 50 are provided to support the document sharing service and the remote communication service. However, the document sharing service and the remote communication service may also be provided by a single information processing device.

Furthermore, one or more of the document sharing server 80 or the chat/video conferencing system 50 may be distributed across multiple information processing devices.

The document sharing server 80 and the chat/video conferencing system 50 may be implemented using cloud computing or by a single information processing device. Cloud computing refers to a form of computing where network resources are utilized without being aware of specific hardware resources. The chat/video conferencing system 50 may reside on the internet or on-premises.

In Figure 3, the organizer's terminal 11, participant's terminal 12, and related party's terminal 13 are either PCs (Personal Computers) 8 or smart devices 9. While there is no clear definition of smart devices 9, it generally refers to smartphones, tablet devices, etc., that do not include existing computers such as PCs or servers. Both PCs 8 and smart devices 9 can connect to the chat/video conferencing system 50 using either a web browser 15 or a chat/video conferencing system client application 16. The chat/video conferencing system client application 16 has a terminal-side document sharing application 10 installed as an add-in program. The terminal-side document sharing application 10 communicates with the server-side document sharing application 70 to share electronic data.

When a web browser 15 is running on PC 8 or smart device 9, PC 8 or smart device 9 runs the web application provided by the chat/video conferencing system 50. This web application includes the functionality of the server-side document sharing application 70. Therefore, the organizer terminal 11 or participant terminal 12 conducts chat/video conferencing using the web application and also shares electronic data using the server-side document sharing application 70.

The organizer terminal 11, participant terminal 12, or related party terminal 13 are not limited to PCs 8 or smart devices 9, but may be any terminal device capable of running a web browser 15, a chat/video conferencing system client application 16, or a terminal-side document sharing application 10. The organizer terminal 11, participant terminal 12, or related party terminal 13 may be any device equipped with communication capabilities and capable of connecting to the communication network N. The organizer terminal 11, participant terminal 12, or related party terminal 13 may include game consoles, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), digital cameras, wearable PCs, MFPs (Multi-Function Peripherals), PJs (Projectors), electronic whiteboards (whiteboards with electronic blackboard functionality), etc. Furthermore, there may be multiple organizer terminals 11, participant terminals 12, and related party terminals 13.

The organizer terminal 11 is a terminal device operated by the organizer, and the participant terminal 12 is a terminal device operated by the participant. The related party terminal 13 is a terminal device operated by related parties. The organizer is, for example, a person who holds inter-company communications or online seminars, and in this embodiment, the person who distributes the electronic data. The organizer may be a sales representative, or the organizer and sales representative may be different people. The electronic data is provided on a website and contains descriptions of the products and services handled by the organizer. The distribution and transfer of the electronic data is mainly done via email or chat. Links to the electronic data are included in the emails and chats. However, the electronic data or the chat itself may be attached to the email.

Participants are, for example, invited participants in an online seminar. Participants have registered to attend the online seminar in advance. From the organizer's perspective, participants are employees of prospective customers (hereinafter simply referred to as "customers") who are expected to purchase products, etc. In this embodiment, participants are assumed to be employees belonging to an organization such as a company. An employee is defined as someone who has an employment relationship with the organization, and may include regular employees, part-time or temporary workers, dispatched workers, contract employees, etc. Related parties are individuals who do not participate in the online seminar but are recipients of electronic data, such as acquaintances of the participants. Participants and related parties may work at the same or different companies.

This embodiment uses an online seminar as an example, but the online seminar is merely one form; the method can also be applied to online meetings, including online business negotiations.

<Example Hardware Configuration>
The chat/video conferencing system 50, document sharing server 80, organizer terminal 11, and participant terminal 12 in Figure 3 are implemented by a computer with the hardware configuration shown in Figure 4. Figure 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of an example computer. As shown in Figure 4, the computer 500 includes a CPU 501, ROM 502, RAM 503, HD 504, HDD controller 505 (Hard Disk Drive), display 506, external device connection I/F 508 (Interface), network I/F 509, bus line 510, keyboard 511, pointing device 512, optical drive 514, and media I/F 516.

Of these components, the CPU 501 controls the operation of the entire computer. The ROM 502 stores programs used to drive the CPU 501, such as the IPL. The RAM 503 is used as the work area for the CPU 501. The HD 504 stores various data, such as programs. The HDD controller 505 controls the reading or writing of various data to the HD 504 according to the control of the CPU 501. The display 506 displays various information such as cursors, menus, windows, characters, or images. The external device connection I/F 508 is an interface for connecting various external devices. These external devices include, for example, USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory and printers. The network I/F 509 is an interface for data communication using a communication network. The bus line 510 is an address bus, data bus, etc., for electrically connecting the various components, such as the CPU 501 shown in Figure 4.

Furthermore, the keyboard 511 is a type of input means equipped with multiple keys for inputting characters, numbers, and various instructions. The pointing device 512 is a type of input means for selecting and executing various instructions, selecting processing targets, and moving the cursor. The optical drive 514 controls the reading or writing of various data to the optical storage medium 513, which is an example of a removable recording medium. The optical drive 514 is a CD, DVD, Blu-ray (registered trademark), etc. The media interface 516 controls the reading or writing (storage) of data to the recording medium 515, such as flash memory.

<Functional Block Diagram>
Next, referring to Figure 5, the functions of the server-side document sharing application 70, etc., will be explained. Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the server-side document sharing application 70, chat/video conferencing system 50, organizer terminal 11, participant terminal 12, and related party terminal 13.

<<Server-side document sharing application>>
The server-side document sharing application 70 includes a communication unit 71, a screen generation unit 72, a destination information management unit 73, a viewing information update unit 74, a transmission history management unit 75, a message transmission unit 76, a sharing request unit 77, a cooperation unit 78, an electronic data storage unit 79, a transfer information creation unit 83, a transfer destination information creation unit 84, and a transfer unit 85. Each of these functional units is a function or means realized by the CPU 501 shown in Figure 4 executing instructions included in the server-side document sharing application 70 installed in the chat/video conferencing system 50.

Furthermore, the storage unit 7000 is implemented using the HD 504, RAM 503, etc., shown in Figure 4, and includes a file storage unit 7001, a destination storage unit 7002, a transmission history storage unit 7003, a browsing history storage unit 7004, a transfer information storage unit 7006, and a transfer destination information storage unit 7007.

Furthermore, since the server-side document sharing application 70 and the document sharing server 80 can be considered functionally as a single unit, the document sharing server 80 may possess some or all of the functions of the server-side document sharing application 70 shown in Figure 5.

The communications unit 71 transmits and receives various types of information regarding the sharing of electronic data with the organizer's terminal 11 and the participant's terminal 12.

The screen generation unit 72 generates the screens to be displayed on the organizer terminal 11 and the participant terminal 12. When the organizer terminal 11 or participant terminal 12 runs a web application, the screen information is created using HTML, XML, CSS (Cascade Style Sheet), and JavaScript (registered trademark), etc. When the organizer terminal 11 or participant terminal 12 runs the terminal-side document sharing application 10, the screen information is held by the organizer terminal 11 or participant terminal 12, and the displayed information is transmitted using XML, etc.

The recipient information management unit 73 manages information about recipient users (e.g., participants) used for sharing electronic data, such as email, in the recipient storage unit 7002. Recipient information can be set by the organizer or obtained from the chat/video conferencing system 50.

The browsing information update unit 74 receives notification from the document sharing server 80 when a participant or a related party at the transfer destination views electronic data shared by the chat/video conferencing system 50 or the server-side document sharing application 70, and updates the browsing history information in the browsing history storage unit 7004.

The transmission history management unit 75 stores the transmission history of electronic data shared via the chat/video conferencing system 50 or the server-side document sharing application 70 in the transmission history storage unit 7003.

The message sending unit 76 sets the URL of the shared materials (electronic data) in an email to the recipient selected by the organizer and sends it to the material sharing server 80 (email system). The message sending unit 76 can accept settings for one recipient or multiple recipients, depending on the organizer's operation. The message sending unit 76 may also send messages via the chat system.

The sharing request unit 77 requests the chat/video conferencing system 50 to share electronic data during a meeting conducted by the chat/video conferencing system 50. Communication with the chat/video conferencing system 50 is conducted via the cooperation unit 78.

The integration unit 78 interacts with the chat/video conferencing system 50. The integration unit 78 sends and receives various types of information, for example, using the chat/video conferencing system 50's API (Application Interface) or HTTP communication.

The electronic data storage unit 79 stores the electronic data shared via the chat/video conferencing system 50 or the server-side document sharing application 70 on the document sharing server 80 and issues a URL. This URL is included in the email sent by the message sending unit 76.

When the participant terminal 12 requests the transfer of electronic data, the transfer information creation unit 83 obtains the transfer content from the participant terminal 12 and creates transfer information based on the transfer content (see Figure 10).

The transfer destination information creation unit 84 creates the transfer destination information described later based on the transfer information (see Figure 11).

The transfer unit 85, upon receiving the transfer content from the participant terminal 12 and receiving a request for electronic data transfer, sends an email containing a link to view the electronic data to the relevant parties. In addition to sending via email, the transfer unit 85 may also send the link to the document using a shared folder, SNS (Social Network System), or internal network.

<<Chat/Video Conferencing System>>
The chat/video conferencing system 50 has a chat/video conferencing processing unit 51 and a participant management unit 52. In Figure 5, general call control and other functions of the chat/video conferencing system 50 are omitted.

The chat/video conferencing processing unit 51 conducts chat/video conferencing between the organizer terminal 11 and the participant terminal 12. In other words, the chat/video conferencing processing unit 51 transmits video, audio, and chat data sent from the organizer terminal 11 to the participant terminal 12, and transmits video, audio, and chat data sent from the participant terminal 12 to the organizer terminal 11.

The participant management unit 52 manages all participants (including the organizer) in the meeting. The participant management unit 52 manages each participant's information, such as email address, company name, department, and name, and provides this information to the server-side document sharing application 70.

<<File Information>>
Next, I will explain the memory unit 7000.

Figure 6 shows an example of file information stored in the file storage unit 7001. The file storage unit 7001 stores information about electronic data shared between the organizer and participants. The organizer can register files for sharing in the server-side document sharing application 70.

• The file name field is where you set the name used to identify files stored in your computer's file system.

• The File ID field contains identification information to identify the file. The server-side document sharing application 70 assigns a File ID when registering a file.

- The "Send Date and Time" field will be set to the date and time the file was registered in the server-side document sharing application 70.

• The "Points" section on each page contains information that associates points with the pages in the file, used to calculate their potential.

<<Recipient Information>>
Figure 7 shows an example of recipient information stored in the recipient storage unit 7002. The recipient information is a list of recipients for email. Using this recipient information, the organizer can share electronic data with participants via email after the chat/video conference ends.

• The ID field will contain unique identification information assigned individually to each participant to whom the email will be sent.

• The email address field will be set to the participant's email address. The recipient information is not limited to email addresses; any information that can identify the recipient associated with the user when sending information to access electronic data, including URLs, is acceptable.

- The "Customer Name" field will, for example, display the participant's name.

• The "Customer Company Name" field will display, for example, the name of the company or local government to which the participant belongs.

- The "Customer Department Name" field will, for example, display the name of the department to which the participant belongs.

* The "Additional Information" field is for storing additional user information from the chat/video conferencing system 50. To avoid the need for additional registration when displaying IDs, addresses, phone numbers, etc., from the chat/video conferencing system 50 in the document sharing application, the "Additional Information" field retains various types of information. The server-side document sharing application 70 cannot directly access this additional information.

<<Transmission History Information>>
Figure 8 shows an example of transmission history information stored in the transmission history storage unit 7003. The transmission history information is the transmission history of electronic data shared by the chat/video conferencing system 50 or the server-side document sharing application 70. The transmission history information is added regardless of whether a chat/video conference is in progress or not. Even if multiple electronic data are attached to an email, one record is registered for each electronic data.

• The Sender ID field will contain the identification information of the organizer who sent the electronic data.

• The "Sender Email ID" field contains identification information for the email sending process. If multiple electronic data files are attached to a single email, the same Sender Email ID will be assigned to different electronic data files. For example, in Figure 8, the first record (one line) and the second record have multiple electronic data files attached to a single email, while the third and fourth records have only one electronic data file attached to a single email.

• The "Sent File ID" field will contain the unique identification information set for the electronic data.

• The "Sent File Name" field will be set to the file name of the transmitted electronic data.

The "Number of Recipients" field indicates the number of recipients to whom the organizer sent the electronic data. The email addresses and names of the participants are linked to this field. If the "Number of Recipients" field is multiple, it indicates that multiple recipients were set when the email was sent. If the "Number of Recipients" field is one, it indicates that only one recipient was set when the email was sent (this indicates the status of the "Sending Method Setting Button 287," described later). For example, the first and second records in Figure 8 show multiple recipients in a single email, while the third record shows only one recipient in a single email.

The "Number of Viewers" field indicates the number of recipients who viewed the electronic data. The "Number of Viewers" field is linked to the email addresses and names of the participants who viewed the data.

* The email subject field displays the subject of the email set when sharing the electronic data. If the chat/video conferencing system 50 sends the electronic data, there is no email subject (it is not sent via email), so the name of the meeting held at the time of the meeting is recorded.

* The email body field contains the email text set when sharing electronic data. If the chat/video conferencing system 50 sends the electronic data, there is no email body, so the sender's system name is recorded.

* The "Sending Method" setting indicates the status of the "Sending Method Setting Button 287". "Multiple" indicates that the Sending Method Setting Button 287 is off, while "Single" indicates that the Sending Method Setting Button 287 was on and the email was sent.

<<Browsing History Information>>
Figure 9 shows an example of browsing history information stored in the browsing history storage unit 7004. The browsing history information is the browsing history of electronic data shared by participants or related parties via the chat/video conferencing system 50 or the server-side document sharing application 70.

The "Sender Email ID" field contains identification information that identifies the email containing the viewed electronic data. The Sender Email ID is included in the URL indicating the location where the electronic data is stored. In Figure 9, there are six records associated with the "050yyy…" Sender Email ID, where two electronic data files were sent to three recipients in a single email. The number of times each participant viewed each electronic data file can be determined. Similarly, in Figure 9, there is one record associated with the "060yyy…" Sender Email ID, where one electronic data file was sent to one recipient in a single email. The number of times that participant viewed the electronic data file can be determined. The same applies to records with the "070yyy…" Sender Email ID.

• The "Sent File ID" field will contain the identification information of the electronic data shared with participants.

• The recipient field will be set to the email address of the participant or related party to whom the electronic data was sent.

• The "View Count" item displays the cumulative number of times participants or related parties have viewed the electronic data, set for each pair of transmitted file ID and recipient. For example, the view count increases by one if a participant views the file again after a certain period of time has elapsed since their last viewing.

• The "Viewing Date and Time" field should show the date and time when participants or related parties viewed the electronic data. The date and time can be that of the last person to view the data, or it can be a list of all viewers.

<<Transfer Information>>
Figure 10 shows an example of transfer information stored in the transfer information storage unit 7006. Transfer information is generated based on the transfer details when a participant transfers materials to relevant parties. The following describes each item of the transfer information.

• The user ID of a seminar participant is the identification information of the participant who participated in the online seminar. The server-side document sharing application 70 assigns unique user IDs to avoid duplication.

• The email addresses of seminar participants are those of participants who attended the online seminar. These email addresses were registered during the seminar registration process.

• The email addresses of the relevant parties are those to which the materials are forwarded, as entered by the participants on the forwarding screen.

The date and time are the date and time when the server-side document sharing application 70 received a document transfer request from the relevant terminal 13.

- The email information used for forwarding is the subject line and body of the email entered by the participant on the forwarding screen and then reprinted by the forwarding unit 85 to the relevant parties.

• The number of forwarding destinations within the same company is the number of email addresses of related parties whose email addresses and domains match those of the participant. In the example in Figure 10, the domain "example.com" matches between the participant's and related party's email addresses, so the number is 1.

* The number of forwarding destinations to other companies represents the number of email addresses of related parties whose domains do not match those of the participants. In the example in Figure 10, the number of forwarding destinations to other companies is 0.

<<Forwarding Destination Information>>
Figure 11 shows an example of destination information stored in the destination information storage unit 7007. Destination information includes information about the participant who forwarded the document and the relevant parties at the destination. The following describes each item of the destination information.

• The user IDs and email addresses of seminar participants can be the same as in Figure 10.

• The email addresses of those involved are those to whom the documents were forwarded. The email addresses of those involved are transcribed from the forwarding information.

- The same domain check returns True if the domain of the participant's email address matches that of the related party's email address, and False otherwise.

• The file ID is the file ID of the document if a participant forwards the link to the document to the relevant party.

<<Organizer's device, Participant's device>>
Let's return to Figure 5 for explanation. The organizer terminal 11 and participant terminal 12 each have a communication unit 21a, 21b, a display control unit 22a, 22b, an operation reception unit 23a, 23b, and a chat/video conferencing processing unit 24a, 24b, respectively. Each of these functional units is a function or means realized by the CPU 501 shown in Figure 4 executing instructions contained in one or more programs installed on the organizer terminal 11 and participant terminal 12. This program may be a web browser 15 or a dedicated application. For example, if a web browser 15 is used on the organizer terminal 11 or participant terminal 12, the program is the web browser 15, and the web browser 15 executes the server-side document sharing application 70. If a chat/video conferencing system client application 16 is used on the organizer terminal 11 or participant terminal 12, the program is the chat/video conferencing system client application 16 and the terminal-side document sharing application 10.

The communication units 21a and 21b send and receive various types of information to and from the server-side document sharing application 70. In this embodiment, the communication units 21a and 21b receive various screen information, etc., from the server-side document sharing application 70 and transmit the input content of the organizer and participants to the server-side document sharing application 70.

The display control units 22a and 22b interpret screen information from various screens and display it on the display 506. The operation reception units 23a and 23b receive various operations from the organizer and participants on the various screens displayed on the display 506.

The chat/video conferencing processing units 24a and 24b send and receive video and audio to and from the chat/video conferencing system 50. The chat/video conferencing processing units 24a and 24b display the video received from the chat/video conferencing system 50 on the display 506 and output the audio through the speaker. They also transmit the video captured by the camera and the audio collected by the microphone to the chat/video conferencing system 50. Similarly, the chat/video conferencing processing units 24a and 24b send and receive chat data.

<<Related personnel terminals>>
The participant terminal 13 has a communication unit 21c, a display control unit 22c, and an operation reception unit 23c. Each of these functional units may be the same as those of the organizer terminal 11 and the participant terminal 12. However, since the participant terminal 13 receives an email containing a URL and communicates with the document sharing server 80, it does not need to communicate directly with the server-side document sharing application 70 (although it can).

<<Document Sharing Server>>
Figure 12 is a functional block diagram illustrating the functions of the document sharing server 80. The document sharing server 80 includes a communication unit 91, a viewing status monitoring unit 92, and an authentication unit 93. Each functional unit of the document sharing server 80 is a function or means realized by the CPU 501 shown in Figure 4 executing instructions included in the program installed on the document sharing server 80.

Furthermore, the storage unit 8000 is implemented using the HD 504, RAM 503, etc., as shown in Figure 4, and the storage unit 8000 includes a shared electronic data storage unit 8001.

The communication unit 91 receives electronic data shared between the organizer and participants and stores it in the shared electronic data storage unit 8001. Furthermore, in response to a request from a participant terminal 12 or a related party terminal 13 to view electronic data identified by a URL, the communication unit 91 transmits the screen of each page of the electronic data to the participant terminal 12 or related party terminal 13.

The authentication unit 93 grants access to the electronic data if the email address of the recipient (participant) or transfer destination (related party) of the electronic data stored in the shared electronic data storage unit 8001 matches the email address included in the access request. This is to prevent unspecified persons other than seminar participants or related parties from accessing the electronic data. The authentication unit 93 may also authenticate based on the matching of the password and email address, in addition to the email address.

The browsing status monitoring unit 92 monitors the browsing status of participants or related parties. The browsing status is stored as browsing history information in the browsing history storage unit 7004.

Figure 13 shows information regarding shared electronic data stored in the shared electronic data storage unit 8001. The shared electronic data includes the following items: the transmitted file ID, file name, the email address of the sender (organizer or participant), the email address of the recipient (participant or related party), and the viewing period. Figure 13 records that the organizer sent two electronic data files to three participants. The authentication unit 93 can authenticate who viewed the electronic data based on the organizer's or participant's email address and the recipient's email address. The viewing period is the deadline set by the organizer.

<Outline of the electronic data sharing process>
Next, with reference to Figure 14, the overall processing flow of the information processing system 100 will be explained. Figure 14 is an example of a sequence diagram illustrating the process of holding a meeting and sharing electronic data. In Figure 14, the premise is that XA, a user of Company X, and YA and YB, users of Company Y, conduct a remote meeting using the chat/video conferencing system 50. The chat/video conferencing system 50 is contracted by Company X, and YA and YB participate as guests. Therefore, XA is the host, and YA and YB are participants. Information on YA and YB is not registered with Company X.

S1: The organizer connects the organizer's terminal 11 to the chat/video conferencing system 50 and holds a meeting. The method of holding the meeting can be anything, but for example, the organizer's terminal 11 connects to a URL issued by the chat/video conferencing system 50.

S2, S3: Similarly, participants YA and YB connect participant terminal 12 to the chat/video conferencing system 50 and join the meeting. Participant terminal 12 connects to the URL issued by the chat/video conferencing system 50, which was received from the organizer via email or other means. The chat/video conferencing processing units 24a and 24b of the organizer terminal 11 and participant terminal 12 conduct the remote meeting.

S4: To share electronic data, the organizer presses the document sharing application launch button 235 on the meeting screen 230 (described later). The operation reception unit 23a receives the press. In response to this operation, if the chat/video conferencing system client application 16 is running on the organizer's terminal 11, the terminal-side document sharing application 10 starts and begins communication with the server-side document sharing application 70. If the web browser 15 is running on the organizer's terminal 11, the web browser 15 begins communication with the server-side document sharing application 70.

The server-side document sharing application 70's integration unit 78 obtains information on all participants (including the organizer) from the chat/video conferencing system 50. The screen generation unit 72 generates the document sharing popup screen 240, excluding the organizer whose information is already known. The communication unit 71 transmits the screen information of the document sharing popup screen 240 to the organizer's terminal 11. The communication unit 21a of the organizer's terminal 11 receives the screen information of the document sharing popup screen 240, and the display control unit 22a displays it. The organizer enters necessary information, such as the file name of the electronic data, into the document sharing popup screen 240.

When the organizer presses the send button 244, the operation reception unit 23a registers the press. The communication unit 21a of the organizer's terminal 11 sends the destination, viewing period, etc., of the electronic data to the server-side document sharing application 70. Preferably, the electronic data to be sent is registered in the file storage unit 7001, because points are assigned to each page of the electronic data. However, if electronic data not registered in the file storage unit 7001 is transferred, the points for each page do not need to be used in calculating the likelihood of success; therefore, the electronic data to be sent is not limited to that registered in the file storage unit 7001.

S5: The communication unit 71 of the server-side document sharing application 70 receives these messages, and the electronic data storage unit 79 assigns a file ID to the electronic data and sends it to the document sharing server 80 along with the file ID. The electronic data storage unit 79 obtains (issues) the URL of the storage location (an example of storage location information). Furthermore, the electronic data storage unit 79 sets the email addresses of participants YA and YB on the document sharing server 80 for viewer verification (authentication). The document sharing server 80 stores the email addresses of participants YA and YB in the shared electronic data storage unit 8001.

S6: The sharing request unit 77 also requests the chat/video conferencing system 50, via the linking unit 78, to display the filename of the electronic data containing the URL of the storage location in the chat.

S7-S9: The chat/video conferencing processing unit 51 then sends the file name and other information to the organizer terminal 11 and the participant terminal 12. The chat/video conferencing processing units 24a and 24b on the organizer terminal 11 and the participant terminal 12 receive the file name and other information and display it in the chat field 234. The server-side document sharing application 70, which shared the electronic data, updates the recipient information and transmission history information.

S10: The participant presses the file name displayed on the meeting screen 230 on the participant terminal 12. The operation reception unit 23b receives the press.

S11: The communication unit 21b of participant terminal 12 connects to the URL (document sharing server 80) embedded in the file name and requests the electronic data.

S12: The authentication unit 93 of the document sharing server 80 prompts participants to enter their email addresses. If an email address registered in the shared electronic data storage unit 8001 is entered, authentication is deemed successful. The communication unit 91 creates screen information for each page of the electronic data and transmits it to the participant terminal 12. The communication unit 21b of the participant terminal 12 receives the screen information of the electronic data, and the display control unit 22b displays it. The viewing status monitoring unit 92 monitors the viewing status (which pages were viewed, and the viewing time for each page).

Furthermore, the document sharing server 80 may either display a viewing screen on the participant terminal 12's application or web browser without allowing the electronic data itself to be downloaded, or it may be configured to allow the files themselves to be downloaded. If the document sharing server 80 allows the files themselves to be downloaded, they can be viewed offline.

S13: The communication unit 91 of the document sharing server 80 sends a viewing notification to the server-side document sharing application 70, specifying the email address of the participant who viewed the document, the file ID of the viewed electronic data, and the viewing status.

S14: The communication unit 71 of the server-side document sharing application 70 receives the email address of the participant who viewed the document, the file ID of the viewed electronic data, and the viewing status. The viewing information update unit 74 then adds the viewing history information to the viewing history storage unit 7004.

This concludes the meeting conducted using the chat/video conferencing system 50. After the meeting, if the organizer wishes to share additional electronic data, they can do so via email using the recipient information. For example, the organizer might recognize from the viewing history information that a participant viewed the electronic data and attempt to send additional detailed electronic data to Company Y.

S15: The organizer selects the transmission method on the electronic data transmission screen 280 (described later) and displays the recipient selection screen 220 (described later) on the organizer's terminal 11. The organizer selects recipients added during the chat/video conference from the recipient list 214 and inputs the operation to send the electronic data as an email attachment. The communication unit 21a of the organizer's terminal 11 specifies the electronic data, recipients, etc., and sends a transmission request via email to the server-side document sharing application 70.

S16: The communication unit 71 of the server-side document sharing application 70 receives a transmission request, and the electronic data storage unit 79 sends the electronic data and file ID to the document sharing server 80 and obtains the URL of the storage location. The message sending unit 76 sets the URL, file name, etc., in the body of the message and sends it to the mail system (document sharing server 80).

In this way, the organizer can send electronic data without manually registering the recipients on the recipient selection screen 220.

Please note that sharing via email is merely one example. Links can also be shared by forwarding them to the recipient via messaging services including SMS, social networking services (SNS) such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, or specific communication services (Teams, Slack, and LINE). In such cases, if the email addresses identifying the source and recipient are pre-registered as part of the user's account information for each service, the user can be identified regardless of the sharing method.

<Screen example>
Figure 15 shows an example of a meeting screen 230 displayed by the organizer terminal 11 (displayed by the chat/video conferencing system 50). The meeting screen 230 has video fields 231-233 for each location and a chat field 234. Video fields 231-233 display video transmitted by the organizer terminal 11 and participant terminals 12 in real time. The chat field 234 displays chat data (text data, image data, audio data, etc.) entered by the organizer or participants in chronological order.

Below the chat field 234, a button 235 for launching the document sharing application is displayed. Since the document sharing application was purchased by Company X, only users of Company X can operate the document sharing application launch button 235. In other words, the organizer has a license to use the server-side document sharing application 70, while participants do not. Participants cannot share their own electronic data with the organizer.

Since the organizer's identity is confirmed by logging into the server-side document sharing application 70, the server-side document sharing application 70 allows the display of the document sharing application launch button 235 only on the organizer's terminal 11. Alternatively, the participant's terminal 12 may also display the document sharing application launch button 235, but the server-side document sharing application 70 will not accept any input from it.

During a meeting using the chat/video conferencing system 50, if the host has electronic data they wish to share, they press the document sharing application launch button 235. This displays the document sharing pop-up screen 240.

Figure 16 shows an example of a document sharing pop-up screen 240 displayed by the organizer's terminal 11 (displayed by the document sharing application). The document sharing pop-up screen 240 includes a file input field 241, a recipient field 242, a viewing expiration date setting field 243, and a send button 244.

• The file input field 241 is for the organizer to select the electronic data to be sent from the organizer's terminal 11 and to display the file name.

- The recipient field 242 displays all participants except the organizer currently in the meeting. The server-side document sharing application 70, knowing the organizer's email address, identifies all participants except the organizer from the total number of meeting participants retrieved from the chat/video conferencing system 50.

- The viewing period setting field 243 sets the deadline by which participants or related parties can view the electronic data.

The send button 244 is a button used by the server-side document sharing application 70 to request the sharing of electronic data from the chat/video conferencing system 50.

Thus, before the chat/video conferencing system 50 shares electronic data, the server-side document sharing application 70 is launched to obtain the recipient, allowing the recipient to be saved in the recipient storage unit 7002.

Figure 17 shows an example of the meeting screen 230 displayed on the organizer terminal 11 after the send button 244 is pressed (displayed by the chat/video conferencing system 50). Figure 17 primarily explains the differences from Figure 15. In Figure 17, the chat field 234 displays the file name 237 of the shared electronic data and the message 236, "Document has been shared." The file name 237 contains an embedded URL (link) to where the electronic data is stored. This URL was issued by the server-side document sharing application 70. When electronic data is shared in this way, the recipient information and transmission history information are updated. Note that the URL may also be a file path. This URL is an example of information for accessing electronic data managed by the document sharing application; any information that can identify the access destination is acceptable.

Figure 18 shows an example of the email address input screen 110 displayed on the participant terminal 12 when a participant clicks on file name 237. The email address input screen 110 has an email address input field 111. Since the participant enters their email address, the authentication unit 93 of the document sharing server 80 can authenticate (identify) the participant based on the email address of the participant who viewed the electronic data.

Figure 19 shows the electronic data display screen 250 displayed when authentication via email address is successful (displayed by the document sharing application). The electronic data display screen 250 displays the electronic data stored at the URL. The viewing status monitoring unit 92 of the document sharing server 80 can monitor whether each page has been viewed, the viewing time, etc. The viewing time can be, for example, the time from when the screen generation unit 72 sends the electronic data display screen 250 for one page until it sends the electronic data display screen 250 for the next page. If page switching is performed on the organizer terminal 11 side, the organizer terminal 11 notifies the server-side document sharing application 70 of the viewing time for each page each time the page switches.

<Transmission of electronic data>
Next, referring to Figures 20 to 23, we will explain how to send electronic data shared via email or other means after a video conference. First, Figure 20 shows the electronic data transmission screen 280 displayed on the organizer's terminal 11 (displayed by the document sharing application). The electronic data transmission screen 280 is displayed, for example, when the organizer sends additional electronic data after the meeting has ended. The configuration of the electronic data transmission screen 280 will now be explained.

• The electronic data selection field 281 displays the file name of the electronic data selected by the organizer to send to the participants.

The sending method setting button 287 is a component for switching between the first and second sending methods. The sending method setting button 287 allows the organizer to set whether the recipient is a single person (first sending method) or multiple recipients (second sending method). When "Send as direct mail" is ON, the recipient is set to a single person; when "Send as direct mail" is OFF, the recipient is set to multiple recipients. Figure 20 shows the ON state.

• The recipient field 282 is where the email address of the recipient of the electronic data is set. The email address can be selected from the recipient selection screen 220, described below. If multiple email addresses can be set in the recipient field 282, the sending method in this embodiment is treated as having "multiple recipients." Alternatively, the recipient field 282 may be restricted to allowing only one email address.

• The subject line field (283) is where the email subject is set, and the body line field (284) is where the email body is set.

Figure 21 shows the CC field 285 and BCC field 286 that appear when the sending method setting button 287 is set to the OFF state. That is, when the organizer sets the sending method setting button 287 to the OFF state, the CC field 285 and BCC field 286 are additionally displayed. The organizer can include multiple email addresses set in the CC field 285 and BCC field 286 as recipients in a single email. Since the email addresses in the CC field 285 are disclosed to the recipients (in this case, participants), this is primarily used for sales activities at the corporate level.

Furthermore, instead of the CC field 285 and BCC field 286 being displayed additionally depending on whether the transmission method setting button 287 is turned on or off, the recipient field 282, CC field 285, and BCC field 286 may always be displayed. In this case, when the transmission method setting button 287 is on, only the recipient field 282 is editable, and the CC field 285 and BCC field 286 are displayed at low brightness. When the transmission method setting button 287 is off, the CC field 285 and BCC field 286 become normal brightness, and the recipient field 282, CC field 285, and BCC field 286 become editable. The address management button 288 is a button used by the organizer to display the recipient selection screen 220 shown in Figure 22.

Furthermore, if the CC field 285 and BCC field 286 are displayed as shown in Figure 21, the server-side document sharing application 70 may allow or accept only email addresses from the same domain for the entire recipient field 282, CC field 285, and BCC field 286. Alternatively, if an email address from a different domain is entered in any of the recipient field 282, CC field 285, or BCC field 286, the server-side document sharing application 70 may display an error message and, after confirmation by the organizer, allow or accept the input of an email address from a different domain.

Figure 22 shows an example of the recipient selection screen 220 displayed on the organizer's terminal 11 (displayed by the document sharing application). The recipient selection screen 220 appears, for example, when the organizer presses the address management button 288 on the electronic data transmission screen 280 in Figure 20 or 21. The organizer can manually register participants' email addresses, etc., on the recipient selection screen 220. Additionally, participants who have shared electronic data during a meeting using the chat/video conferencing system 50 (e.g., YA, YB) are added to the recipient list 214 on the recipient selection screen 220. The organizer can select the recipient to whom they wish to send the electronic data from the recipient selection screen 220.

In this way, since the recipients of electronic data shared by the chat/video conferencing system 50 are automatically added to the recipient storage unit 7002, the organizer does not need to manually enter email addresses when sending additional electronic data after the meeting.

Figure 23 is a sequence diagram illustrating the process by which the organizer shares electronic data with participants and the participants view the electronic data after the end of a video conference.

S21: The organizer operates the screens shown in Figures 20-23 and sends an email with the attached electronic data to the server-side document sharing application 70.

S22: The communication unit 71 of the server-side document sharing application 70 receives an email with attached electronic data, and the transmission history management unit 75 extracts information from the email to be stored in the transmission history storage unit 7003 (see Figure 8). The transmission history management unit 75 can extract whether the recipient is a single person or multiple people (the status of the "transmission method setting button 287").

S23: The transmission history management unit 75 saves the information extracted from the email to the transmission history storage unit 7003.

S24: The message sending unit 76 sends an email to the relevant parties. Specifically, the electronic data storage unit 79 stores the electronic data on the document sharing server 80 and issues a URL. This URL is associated with the sending email ID, and when a participant terminal 12 connects to the URL, the sending email ID is identified. The electronic data storage unit 79 stores the electronic data in the file storage unit 7001. The message sending unit 76 sends an email containing the URL using the email system 8, but the details are omitted in Figure 23.

S25: The communication unit 21b of participant terminal 12 receives the email, and the participant clicks the URL. This connects the communication unit 21b of participant terminal 12 to the document sharing server 80, allowing the participant to view the electronic data. Before viewing, the participant enters their email address into the document sharing server 80 for authentication. This identifies the participant who viewed the data from among the recipients of the email (the destination of the shared electronic data).

S26: The viewing status monitoring unit 92 of the document sharing server 80 sends the viewing status (sender's email ID, participant's email address) to the server-side document sharing application 70.

S27: The communication unit 71 of the server-side document sharing application 70 receives the viewing status, and the viewing information update unit 74 saves the viewing history information to the viewing history storage unit 7004.

S28: The communication unit 71 of the server-side document sharing application 70, upon receiving updated browsing history information, uses the message sending unit 76 to identify the sender ID (organizer) based on the email ID of the browsing history information in the transmission history storage unit 7003. It then sends an email or other message indicating that the electronic data has been viewed and provides information about the participants who viewed it.

<View browsing history>
Next, an example of displaying transmission history information will be described with reference to Figures 24 to 28. In this embodiment, the server-side document sharing application 70 can change the display method of the transmission history depending on whether there is only one recipient or multiple recipients.

<<Example of displaying a single recipient>>
Figure 24 shows an example of the personal browsing history screen 260 displayed on the organizer's terminal 11 (displayed by the document sharing application). The personal browsing history screen 260 (an example of the first browsing history screen) is displayed when the organizer selects the "Sent Files" tab 261 and presses the individual button 263 (an example of an input component). The personal browsing history screen 260 displays electronic data shared by each company name. The personal browsing history screen 260 displays a list of electronic data that the organizer has previously sent with only one recipient set. In Figure 24, electronic data was shared with customers named "DE" and "YA".

The personal browsing history screen 260 displays the file name 267, customer name 268, email address 269, subject 270, sending date and time 271, and whether or not it was viewed 272, based on the transmission history information stored in the transmission history storage unit 7003. If it was viewed, the organizer can view detailed viewing status (viewing date and time, number of views, etc.) obtained from the browsing history storage unit 7004.

In Figure 24, the personal browsing history screen 260 displays the browsing history of electronic data sent via email to a single recipient. However, the personal browsing history screen 260 may also display the browsing history of electronic data sent via email to multiple recipients, for each individual user.

Figure 25 shows an example of the corporate browsing history screen 290 displayed on the organizer's terminal 11 (displayed by the document sharing application). The corporate browsing history screen 290 (an example of the second browsing history screen) is displayed when the organizer selects the "Sent Files" tab 261 and presses the Sending Unit button 262 (an example of an input component). The corporate browsing history screen 290 is displayed when electronic data is shared with multiple participants within the same organization in a single email; therefore, the shared electronic data is displayed for each sending date and time.

The file name 267 and subject 270 are the same as in Figure 24, but the corporate viewing history screen 290 in Figure 25 displays the number of recipients, the number of viewers, and the viewing rate. By viewing the number of viewers and the viewing rate, the organizer can more easily judge the overall potential of the company.

Furthermore, a details button 294 is displayed for each electronic data item. This details button 294 displays information such as the number of times each individual viewed the electronic data sent at the specified transmission date and time.

Figure 26 is a sequence diagram illustrating the process by which the organizer displays the personal browsing history screen 260 or the corporate browsing history screen 290 on the organizer terminal 11.

S31: The organizer presses the individual unit button 263 or the transmission unit button 262. The operation reception unit 23a of the organizer terminal 11 receives the operation. The communication unit 21a sends a message to the server-side document sharing application 70 indicating that the individual unit button 263 or the transmission unit button 262 has been pressed.

S32: The communication unit 71 of the server-side document sharing application 70 receives notification that the individual unit button 263 or the transmission unit button 262 has been pressed. As a result, the screen generation unit 72 retrieves transmission history information from the transmission history storage unit 7003 and browsing history from the browsing history storage unit 7004.

S33: When the individual button 263 is pressed, the screen generation unit 72 extracts only the transmission history for emails addressed to a single recipient. That is, the screen generation unit 72 identifies the sent email ID of records with only one recipient (for example, those where the sending method field is "Single") from the transmission history information, and extracts the record containing this sent email ID from the transmission history information. Alternatively, the screen generation unit 72 may simply extract all records from the transmission history storage unit 7003 without considering whether they were sent to a single recipient.

S34: The screen generation unit 72 uses only the transmission history for a single recipient and, for example, groups them by the same company name to generate a personal browsing history screen that shows whether each individual has viewed the document or not.

S35: The communication unit 71 of the server-side document sharing application 70 transmits the screen information of the personal browsing history screen 260 to the organizer terminal 11. The communication unit 21a of the organizer terminal 11 receives the screen information of the personal browsing history screen 260, and the display control unit 22a displays the personal browsing history screen 260.

S36: When the transmission unit button 262 is pressed, the screen generation unit 72 extracts only the transmission history with multiple recipients. That is, the screen generation unit 72 identifies records with multiple recipients (for example, those where the transmission method field is "multiple") from the transmission history information and extracts the number of recipients and the number of viewers.

S37: The screen generation unit 72 calculates the viewing rate by dividing the number of viewers by the number of recipients.

S38: The screen generation unit 72 generates a corporate browsing history screen 290 using the transmission history with multiple recipients and the viewing rate.

S39: The communication unit 71 of the server-side document sharing application 70 transmits the screen information of the corporate browsing history screen 290 to the organizer terminal 11. The communication unit 21a of the organizer terminal 11 receives the screen information of the corporate browsing history screen 290, and the display control unit 22a displays the corporate browsing history screen 290.

<Show detailed information>
The organizer can also click the details button 294 to display detailed information such as whether the participant set as the recipient has viewed the content and the number of views.

Figure 27 shows the browsing history details screen 310 displayed on the organizer terminal 11 when the details button 294 is pressed. In Figure 27, the browsing history details screen 310 is displayed as a pop-up on the corporate browsing history screen 290. The browsing history details screen 310 shows the browsing history of each participant included in the multiple recipients when a single electronic data file is sent to multiple recipients. In Figure 27, for each of the five recipients 311 to whom the electronic data file "○△'s Latest Case Studies.pdf" was sent in a single email, the viewing status 312 and the number of views 313 are displayed.

The organizer can understand which participants viewed the content most frequently within their company and use this information to improve future sales activities.

Figure 28 is a sequence diagram illustrating the process by which the organizer's terminal 11 displays the browsing history details screen 310.

S41: The organizer presses the details button 294. The operation reception unit 23a of the organizer's terminal 11 receives the operation. The communication unit 21a sends a message to the server-side document sharing application 70 indicating that the details button 294 has been pressed. For example, information to identify the electronic data, such as the transmission file ID displayed on the pressed details button 294, is transmitted.

S42: The communication unit 71 of the server-side document sharing application 70 receives notification that the details button 294 has been pressed. If the individual button 263 is pressed, the screen generation unit 72 determines to display the viewing history of the participant associated with the transmitted file ID of the electronic data for which the details button 294 was pressed.

S43: The screen generation unit 72 retrieves the destination and number of views associated with the transmitted file ID from the browsing history storage unit 7004.

S44: The screen generation unit 72 generates the browsing history details screen 310 by converting the recipient to the participant's name, etc.

S45: The communication unit 71 of the server-side document sharing application 70 transmits the screen information of the browsing history details screen 310 to the organizer terminal 11. The communication unit 21a of the organizer terminal 11 receives the screen information of the browsing history details screen 310, and the display control unit 22a displays the browsing history details screen 310.

<Main effects>
As explained above, in this embodiment, the method of transmitting electronic data is managed, so the viewing history of electronic data can be displayed in a manner appropriate to the transmission method. Even if the preferred method of understanding the viewing status differs depending on the transmission method, sales representatives can easily understand the viewing status.

<Other application examples>
Although the best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described above using examples, the present invention is not limited in any way to these examples, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, in this embodiment, it was explained that the URL of the electronic data is sent via email, but the URL of the electronic data may also be sent via social networking services (SNS). In the case of SNS, the off state of the button corresponding to the sending method setting button 287 allows selection of groups with multiple users. The on state of the button corresponding to the sending method setting button 287 allows selection of groups with only one user. Furthermore, the URL of the electronic data may also be sent via SMS (Short Message Service).

Furthermore, while this embodiment describes an example where a link to a document is transferred as electronic data, the electronic data at the destination of the transferred link is not limited to documents. The electronic data may also include, for example, gift certificates, coupons, electronic money, various points usable online, announcements and application forms for upcoming seminars, and discount vouchers for participation.

Furthermore, the shared electronic data may include, for example, the same materials used in the seminar, supplementary materials related to the seminar content, etc., but may also include electronic data not directly related to the seminar. The electronic data may also be in any format, such as video, still images, or audio data.

Furthermore, while this embodiment describes an example where the link destination of the electronic data is shared, the electronic data itself may also be shared.

Furthermore, the configuration examples shown in Figure 5 and other figures are divided according to their main functions to facilitate understanding of the processing performed by the server-side document sharing application 70, the organizer terminal 11, and the participant terminal 12. The present invention is not limited by the way the processing units are divided or their names. The processing of the server-side document sharing application 70, the organizer terminal 11, and the participant terminal 12 can be further divided into more processing units depending on the processing content. It is also possible to divide the processing units so that each unit includes even more processing.

Furthermore, the apparatus described in the examples represents only one of several computing environments for carrying out the embodiments disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the apparatus running the server-side data sharing application 70 includes multiple computing devices, such as a server cluster. These computing devices are configured to communicate with each other via any type of communication link, including networks and shared memory, and perform the processing disclosed herein.

Furthermore, the server-side document sharing application 70 can be configured to share the processing steps disclosed in this embodiment, such as those shown in Figure 23, in various combinations. The server-side document sharing application 70 may be integrated into a single server device or distributed across multiple devices.

Each function of the embodiments described above can be implemented by one or more processing circuits. Here, "processing circuit" as used herein includes processors programmed to execute each function by software, such as processors implemented by electronic circuits, as well as devices such as ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), DSPs (Digital Signal Processors), FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), and conventional circuit modules designed to execute the functions described above.

11 Organizer's terminal 12 Participant's terminal 13 Related party's terminal 50 Chat/video conferencing system 70 Server-side document sharing application 80 Document sharing server 100 Information processing system

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-78291

Claims (13)

An information processing device that communicates with a terminal device operated by a first user,
A message transmission unit that sends a message to the second user in response to a request from the terminal device, allowing the second user to view electronic data.
A transmission history management unit records the transmission method of the message transmitted from the terminal device in association with the electronic data,
A browsing information update unit that records the browsing history of the electronic data by the second user,
A screen generation unit generates a screen of the electronic data viewing history corresponding to the transmission method in response to a request from the terminal device,
A communication unit that transmits the screen information of the browsing history screen generated by the screen generation unit to the terminal device,
An information processing device characterized by having the following features. The screen generation unit generates a screen for transmitting electronic data that accepts the selection of the transmission method,
The communication unit transmits the screen information of the electronic data transmission screen generated by the screen generation unit to the terminal device.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the message transmission unit records the transmission method received by the terminal device in association with the electronic data. The screen generation unit generates a browsing history screen having input components for switching to the browsing history screen corresponding to the transmission method,
The communication unit transmits the screen information of the browsing history screen having the input component to the terminal device.
Depending on whether the communication unit receives a notification that the input component corresponding to the first transmission method has been pressed, or that the input component corresponding to the second transmission method has been pressed, the screen generation unit generates different electronic data browsing history screens.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the communication unit transmits screen information of the browsing history screen corresponding to the pressed input component to the terminal device. The first transmission method is a transmission method that has only one recipient,
When the communication unit receives a notification that the input component corresponding to the first transmission method has been pressed,
The screen generation unit generates a first browsing history screen for each individual to whom the electronic data was transmitted by the first transmission method,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the communication unit transmits screen information of the first browsing history screen to the terminal device. The second transmission method is a transmission method that has multiple destinations,
When the communication unit receives a notification that the input component corresponding to the second transmission method has been pressed,
The screen generation unit generates a second browsing history screen for each of the multiple destinations to which the electronic data was transmitted by the second transmission method.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the communication unit transmits screen information of the second browsing history screen to the terminal device. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the screen generation unit generates the browsing history screen which includes the number of second users, who are the multiple destinations, who viewed the electronic data, or the viewing rate of the number of viewers relative to the number of destinations. When the terminal device receives a request from the terminal device to specify the identification information of the electronic data and to request the status of viewing the electronic data,
The screen generation unit generates a detailed screen that includes the number of times the electronic data has been viewed by multiple second users included in the multiple destinations.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the communication unit transmits screen information of the detailed screen, including the number of times the electronic data has been viewed by multiple second users, to the terminal device. The information processing device according to claim 6, characterized in that the second transmission method accepts multiple recipients via CC or BCC. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the electronic data transmission screen displays only one recipient field when the selection of the first transmission method is received, and displays CC and BCC fields in addition to the recipient field when the selection of the second transmission method is received. A method for displaying browsing history performed by an information processing device that communicates with a terminal device operated by a first user,
The message transmission unit sends a message to a second user in response to a request from the terminal device, allowing the second user to view electronic data.
The transmission history management unit records the transmission method of the message transmitted from the terminal device in association with the electronic data,
The browsing information update unit records the browsing history of the electronic data by the second user,
The screen generation unit generates a screen showing the browsing history of the electronic data corresponding to the transmission method in response to a request from the terminal device.
The communication unit transmits the screen information of the browsing history screen generated by the screen generation unit to the terminal device.
A method for displaying browsing history, characterized by having the following features. The information processing device that communicates with the terminal device operated by the first user,
A message transmission unit that sends a message to the second user in response to a request from the terminal device, allowing the second user to view electronic data.
A transmission history management unit records the transmission method of the message transmitted from the terminal device in association with the electronic data,
A browsing information update unit that records the browsing history of the electronic data by the second user,
A screen generation unit generates a screen of the electronic data viewing history corresponding to the transmission method in response to a request from the terminal device,
A communication unit transmits the screen information of the browsing history screen generated by the screen generation unit to the terminal device.
A program designed to function as such. An information processing system comprising an information processing device that communicates with a terminal device operated by a first user, and the terminal device,
The aforementioned information processing device is
A message transmission unit that sends a message to the second user in response to a request from the terminal device, allowing the second user to view electronic data.
A transmission history management unit records the transmission method of the message transmitted from the terminal device in association with the electronic data,
A browsing information update unit that records the browsing history of the electronic data by the second user,
A screen generation unit generates a screen of the electronic data viewing history corresponding to the transmission method in response to a request from the terminal device,
The system includes a communication unit that transmits screen information of the browsing history screen generated by the screen generation unit to the terminal device,
The aforementioned terminal device is
An information processing system characterized by displaying the browsing history screen based on the screen information of the browsing history screen received from the information processing device. A method for displaying browsing history performed by an information processing system having a terminal device operated by a first user and an information processing device that communicates with the terminal device,
The aforementioned information processing device is
The steps include sending a message to the second user in response to a request from the terminal device, allowing the second user to view electronic data,
A step of recording the method of sending the message transmitted from the terminal device in association with the electronic data,
The steps include recording the browsing history of the electronic data by the second user,
The steps include generating a viewing history screen for the electronic data corresponding to the transmission method in response to a request from the terminal device,
The process includes the step of transmitting the screen information of the generated browsing history screen to the terminal device,
The aforementioned terminal device is
A method for displaying a browsing history, characterized by displaying the browsing history screen based on the screen information of the browsing history screen received from the information processing device.