JPH04233078A - Automatic reservation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To present the automatic reservation system to efficiently utilize resources and to improve the convenience of users by obligating the users to reconfirm reservation. CONSTITUTION:This automatic reservation system is composed of a host computer 10 and terminals 15 connected to the said host computer 10 by a network, and an auxiliary storage device 13 is provided to store reserved information together with information showing the existence of reconfirmation. Then, it is the feature of this system to cancel the reservation when the once accepted reservation is not reconfirmed within a prescribed period.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an automatic reservation system consisting of a host computer and a terminal connected to the host computer via a network, and in particular, the terminal is used to apply for reservations of conference rooms, etc., and to check the reservation status. This relates to a system that automatically manages reservations for conference rooms and the like.

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, in a reservation system for a conference room, etc., which consists of a host computer and a terminal connected to the host computer via a network, a person wishing to make a reservation first confirms availability with the host computer under the desired conditions. If a reservation is possible, proceed with the reservation procedure.

0003

However, in the conventional example described above, whether or not a reservation can be made is determined only based on temporary conditions at the time of applying for a reservation. Furthermore, conference rooms and the like are generally reserved early, and therefore, scheduling of participants and securing conference rooms are not necessarily linked. As a result, it is often the case that a conference room is reserved before adjusting the schedule of participants, and then the schedule of participants is adjusted. In this case, there are many cases in which more conference rooms than necessary are reserved, and then the reservations are not canceled and are ultimately only reserved and not used. Further, the conference room may become unnecessary due to the cancellation or change of the conference itself. In these cases, the normal procedure is for the conference organizer or secretariat to cancel the meeting, but this is often not done. Therefore, the problem was that conference rooms, etc., could not be used effectively.

The present invention provides an automatic reservation system that eliminates the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and improves the efficient use of resources and convenience for users by requiring reconfirmation of reservations.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to solve this problem, the automatic reservation system of the present invention is an automatic reservation system consisting of a host computer and a terminal connected to the host computer via a network. , comprising a storage means for storing reserved information together with information indicating whether or not reconfirmation is required, and is characterized in that if a reservation once approved is not confirmed again within a predetermined period, the reservation is canceled.

[0006] In the present invention, after applying for a reservation for a conference room, etc., the user is requested to reconfirm the use of the conference room under certain predetermined conditions, and the reservation without reconfirmation is canceled. Avoid cases where it goes unused as much as possible. This improves the efficient use of resources such as conference rooms and the convenience of reservation users.

[0007]

[Embodiment] In this embodiment, an automatic conference room reservation system will be described below, but the present invention is not limited to conference room reservations.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conference room reservation system according to this embodiment. 10 is a host computer, which connects a large number of terminals 15- through a communication control unit 14.
1 to 15-n are connected, and conference room reservations are made from each terminal. The host computer 10 has a CPU 11 for calculation and control, a main storage device 12 that stores control procedures for the CPU 11, and an auxiliary storage device 13. The auxiliary storage device 13 has a reservation information table 13 that stores reservation information.
a and a reservation condition setting table 13b that stores reservation conditions input from the terminal. Furthermore, the reservation information table 13a has a confirmation flag 13c for setting whether or not reconfirmation has been performed.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are examples of the configuration of tables 13a and 13b in the auxiliary storage device 13 used in the conference room reservation system.

FIG. 2 shows a reservation information table 13a consisting of a reserved information table 22 for each conference room, an unreserved information table 23, and an equipment information table 24 such as the equipment and size of each conference room. A table is prepared for each reservation unit, that is, for each conference room. Reserved information table 2
2 stores information on reservations and approvals for each room and for each reservation. In the unreserved information table 23, unreserved information for each room is stored and registered as one continuous time.

FIG. 3 is a reservation condition setting table 13b, in which reservation application conditions are set depending on the reservation applicant. To explain each item in the example of FIG. 3, month/day 1 and month/day 2 designate the beginning and end of the period for which the reservation is desired. Time 1 and time 2 similarly designate the start and end times of the desired reservation time slot in one day. The time item is
Specify the time during the above period when you would like to hold the meeting. The number of people is the number of conference participants, and the application ID is the ID of the person making the reservation. The equipment conditions set are the necessary equipment for the conference room, etc.

[0012] In this example, ``The person who wants to make a reservation with ID number 17883 makes reservations for two of the hours from 9:00 to 12:00 on any day from June 12th to 15th, 1990.''
I would like to set up a time and have a meeting with 6 people. Whiteboards are required in conference rooms. Of course, the table shown in this figure is for illustrative purposes only and does not strictly represent the actual configuration. Similarly, the format of internal data shown in the figure is also an example.

[0013] Hereinafter, the specific process flow will be explained step by step according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 to 6. Figure 4 shows
It is a processing flowchart at the time of reservation application of the reservation system for conference rooms, etc. according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of processing when applying for reconfirmation. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a confirmation process that is automatically performed at least once a day in the conference room reservation system.

In the flowchart of FIG. 4, when a person desiring a reservation makes a reservation from a terminal connected to the network, reservation conditions are set interactively in step S1. In this example, the reservation conditions are the desired date, time slot, number of conference participants, ID of the applicant, and required equipment. Based on the conditions set here, a search is made to see if there is a conference room that can be allocated from step S2 onwards. The search is performed by searching the unreserved information table 23 and the equipment information table 24 in the reservation information table 13a of FIG. 2 using the reservation condition as the search condition.

[0015] In step S2, it is checked whether there is unreserved data that has not yet been searched. If there is a conference room that has not been searched,
In step S3, a ranking search is performed based on a separately determined priority ranking. In this example, equipment conditions are checked in step S4, and time conditions are checked in step S5. Step S5
The time condition is checked by checking whether or not the time slot set in the reservation condition setting is valid among the data in the unreserved information table 23. The reservation will be approved if each condition falls within the pre-allowed range.

When the reservation is approved, in step S6 reserved information data is created and registered in the reserved information table 22, and at the same time, information on the currently reserved portion is removed from the unreserved information data, and the unreserved information is Update information. For example, for unreserved information data from 10:00 to 16:00,
If a reservation from 13:00 to 15:00 is approved, the unreserved information data is divided into one data item from 10:00 to 13:00 and one data item from 15:00 to 16:00, and the unreserved information data is divided into one data item from 10:00 to 13:00 and one data item from 15:00 to 16:00. It will be registered in the table.

In step S7, the confirmation status item in the table 22 is set to "unconfirmed", and in step S8, the confirmation date item is set to a date one week before the date of use in this example. If the confirmation date has already passed in step S9,
In step S10, the confirmation status is set to "confirmed". With the above steps, the reservation is accepted, a message to that effect is displayed in step S11, and the process ends.

[0018] As a result of searching all the rooms in step S2, if there are no rooms that meet the conditions, the process goes to step S1.
In step 2, a message indicating that reservation is not possible is displayed on the terminal screen of the person wishing to make a reservation, and the process ends.

The flowchart in FIG. 5 shows the procedure for reconfirmation processing when a reservation holder applies for reconfirmation from a terminal. When reconfirming, matching reserved information is searched from the reservation information specified by the user in step S21. If there is matching information, the process advances from step S22 to S23 to check its confirmation status. If the confirmation status is "waiting for confirmation", the confirmation status is changed to "confirmed" in step S24. If the confirmation status is "unconfirmed" or "confirmed", nothing is done.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a confirmation process that is activated by the system at least once a day. Step S31,
In step S32, reserved information whose confirmation date has passed is extracted, and in step S33, the confirmation status is checked. If the confirmation status is "unconfirmed", an e-mail is sent to the reservation applicant to reconfirm in step S34, and in step S35, the confirmation date is set three days before the reservation date in this example. , change the confirmation status to “Waiting for confirmation”. On the other hand, for information whose confirmation status is "waiting for confirmation" in step S33, the process proceeds to step S37.
In step S38, an e-mail is sent to the applicant to the effect that the request has been canceled, and in step S38, the reserved information is deleted, and in step S39, the unreserved information is updated.

[0021] According to the above, in this example, if the confirmation status is "waiting for confirmation" and the reservation is not reconfirmed from one week to three days before the date of use, the reservation will be canceled three days before the date of use. become.

Note that the reservation information table 13a in FIG. 2 may be sorted in advance by time information. Furthermore, the configurations of the tables in FIGS. 2 and 3 do not need to be exactly as shown, as long as they satisfy the requirements of each function. Furthermore, in FIGS. 4 to 6, the order of checking conditions, etc. does not affect the basic effects and functions of the present proposal. Also, Figure 6
The notification method in steps S34 and S37 is not limited to e-mail. Furthermore, the conditions for setting the confirmation date in step S8 in FIG. 4 and step S35 in FIG. 6 are just examples. Further, conditions for reconfirmation can be set other than time conditions.

[0023]

As described above, the present invention makes it possible to provide an automatic reservation system that improves the efficient use of resources and the convenience of users by requiring reconfirmation of reservations. In other words, when a predetermined condition (time condition in this example) is met at the time of reservation, reconfirmation is made using e-mail or other means, so that a conference room that remains unnecessarily reserved remains unused. Resources can be released in advance. Therefore, effective use of resources to be reserved, such as conference rooms, and rational reservation processing can be realized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an automatic conference room reservation system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a reservation information table registered in an auxiliary storage device of the automatic conference room reservation system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a reservation condition setting table registered in the auxiliary storage device of the automatic conference room reservation system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart during reservation processing of the automatic conference room reservation system of this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of reconfirmation processing of the automatic conference room reservation system of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of confirmation processing of the automatic conference room reservation system of this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10...Host computer, 11...CPU, 12...Main storage device, 13...Auxiliary storage device, 13a...Reservation information table, 13b...Reservation condition setting table, 13c...Confirmation flag, 14...Communication control unit, 15-1 to 15 -n...Terminal, 2
2...Reserved information table, 23...Unreserved information table,
24...Equipment information table

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic reservation system comprising a host computer and a terminal connected to the host computer via a network, the system comprising a storage means for storing reservation information together with information indicating whether reconfirmation is required. , an automatic reservation system characterized in that if a reservation, once approved, is not confirmed again within a predetermined period, the reservation is canceled.