JPH07123380A - Image communication terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate a conference reservation and the collection of replies by determining the part common to the idle time of persons estimated to participate in a conference by a simple method. CONSTITUTION:The main control part 100 of an image communication terminal equipment controls a communication control means 113 and a communications network interface 114 according to the conference reservation request from an operation means 102, accesses to a line, retrieves the schedule stored in other image communication terminal equipment and enables the execution of the temporary reservation of a conference for other image communication terminal equipment. When the reply to the temporary reservation of the conference is performed by the operation part 102 when the reservation is performed from other image communication terminal equipment, the reply contents is automatically notified to another image communication terminal equipment which made the temporary reservation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for reserving a conference room and setting a conference using an image communication terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the procedure for setting a conference is as follows, for example.

(1) Search the vacancy of the conference room and consider some candidates.

(2) Inquire about the schedule of each person who is going to attend the conference by telephone, take an AND of the available times, and ask them to incorporate it into the schedule for the time being.

(3) When all the people who are going to attend the meeting have been confirmed, a formal meeting notice is created and sent.

As described above, conventionally, there is no special means for setting up a conference, and therefore a conference is set up by repeatedly making inquiries using a telephone or the like. Not only was it inconvenient to check, it was inefficient, and if even one of the conference attendees was absent, the conference could not be set up and the final decision could not be made forever.

[0007]

As described above, conventionally, a telephone is used to check the vacancy of the conference room and confirm the convenience of each person to set the conference. It took a lot of time to confirm the convenience of all attendees,
Not only is the efficiency inefficient, but there is also the inconvenience that the meeting cannot be set up when one of the attendees is absent.

The present invention has been made in order to solve this point, and it is possible to obtain a common part of the free time of the conference participants and the free time of the conference room by a simple method. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can relatively easily collect answers.

[0009]

Main control means for controlling the entire apparatus, storage means, communication control means for controlling communication under the control of the main control means, and communication network interface controlled by the communication control means Means, display control means, display means controlled by the display control means, and operation means. The main control means controls the communication control means and the communication network interface to access the communication network, In response to the search request, the stored contents stored in the storage means of the other image communication terminal device are searched, and in response to the conference reservation request from the operation means, the storage means of the other image communication terminal device is stored in the conference. Make sure to store the temporary reservation of.

Further, when a temporary reservation for a conference is stored in the storage means from another image communication terminal device and a reply to the temporary reservation for the conference is made by the operating means, the other temporary reservation is made. The image communication terminal device is automatically notified of the reply content.

[0011]

As a result, the common portion of the free time of the participants of the conference can be obtained by a simple method, and the conference reservation and the reply reply can be relatively easily realized.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an image communication terminal 10 used in the present invention. Each part of the image communication terminal 10 has its own function and is connected through a bus line.

In the figure, 100 is a main control unit, 101 is a bus line, 102 is an operation unit operated by an operator, 103 is a mouse connected to the operation unit 102, and 104.
Is a reading unit for reading the information of the document, 105 is a recording unit for recording an image, 106 is a display control unit for controlling the display of the image, and 107 is an LCD for displaying the image controlled by the display control unit 106. A display unit including a (liquid crystal) panel, 108 is a storage unit for storing image information, and 109 is an FD
D (floppy disk drive), 110 is a CD
A CD-ROM reader for reading the ROM, 11
1 is an image CODEC, 112 is an audio output unit, 113
Is a communication control unit that controls communication with a partner device, 114 is a network interface unit that is an interface with a telephone network, 115 is a telephone unit, and 116 is an answering machine that records the voice of the other party to realize an answering machine function. Reference numeral 117 is a clock unit that measures the current time, 118 is a translation unit that performs translation between Japanese and foreign languages, 119 is a character recognition unit that performs character recognition such as OCR, and 120 is information encryption and encryption. An encryption / decryption unit that decrypts the encrypted information, 121 is an external interface unit that is an interface to an external auxiliary device, and 122 is a scheduler unit that stores a personal schedule and the like. It should be noted that the functions of these respective units include functions other than those necessary for implementing the present invention.

The image communication terminals 10-1 to 10-n are
As shown in FIG. 2, the telephone network 40 and the exchanges 20-1 and 20-2.
It is connected to other image communication terminals 10-1 to 10-n via 0-3 so that they can communicate with each other.
The conference room reservation system 30 is also connected to the exchange 20-1 and can communicate with each of the image communication terminals 10-1 to 10-n.

Next, a specific operation of the image communication terminal 10 will be described.

The user of the image communication terminal 10 stores the personal schedule data in a predetermined area of the scheduler unit 122 through the operation unit 102 or the like. The personal schedule data is as shown in FIG.
It consists of schedules starting tomorrow, and each schedule includes "number", "month", "day", "start time", "end time", "item", etc. From 9:00 to 10:00 am, section meetings ”
If so, the data is stored as in the first line of FIG. 3, and if there is an instruction, it can be displayed on the display unit 107. Here, it is assumed that the time is managed in units of 30 minutes.

In another area, as shown in FIG.
Data indicating the intervals between the individual schedules calculated by the main control unit 100 from the individual schedule data shown in (1), that is, the free time on the schedule is stored as a table.

Item numbers "N" and "N + 1" in FIG.
Corresponds to the number of the personal schedule data shown in FIG. 3, “N end” and “(N + 1) start” indicate the end time of the schedule “N” and the start time of the schedule “N + 1”, and “vacant” Time is the difference between the start time of schedule “N + 1” and the end time of schedule “N”, that is,
It shows the free time length from the end of “N” to the start of “N + 1”. Here, "N", "N"
In "+1", "00" is the start time, "A0" is the lunch break start time, "AA" is the lunch break end time, and "FF" is the finish time.Therefore, "N" and "N + 1" in the first line are "0
0 ”and“ 01 ”are the start time 8:30
The figure shows the free time from 0 minutes to the start time of the intra-section meeting with the number “01”.

At the time of setting a conference, it is necessary to perform a search operation for finding a continuous free time of a certain specific number of times or more among the free time of each of these individuals. This search operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the vacant time length X desired to be searched is input from the operation unit 102 (step 51). Next, the variable n is set to 1 (step 52), and the "vacant time" of the row of serial number 1 is compared with the vacant time length X (step 53).
If the "vacant time" is longer than the vacant time length X, as shown in FIG. 6, that line of the schedule table is picked up and shown, and displayed on the display unit 107 (step 54). Then, 1 is added to the variable n (step 55), after adding 1, it is checked whether or not the variable n has reached the final row number Z in FIG. 4 (step 56), and steps are taken until the variable n reaches Z. Repeat steps 53-56. If the step 53 "free time" is shorter than the free time length X, the step 54 is skipped and the step 55 is executed. And then
When the variable n reaches Z in step 56, it is assumed that the vacant time search is completed, and the vacant time of X hours or more and its position are displayed. In this way, it is possible to easily execute a free time search for a predetermined time or longer in the personal schedule.

Next, a case where the image communication terminal 10 is linked to the conference room reservation system 30 will be described. The conference room reservation system 30 is the image communication terminal 1 shown in FIG.
The configuration is almost the same as 0. However, the scheduler unit 122 stores reservation data for each conference room instead of personal schedule data.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the reservation status of a conference room stored in the conference room reservation system 30 is retrieved and displayed from the image communication terminal 10-1. For each reservation, "reservation reception number", "month", "day", "use start time", "use end time", "item", and "reservation person" are displayed. For example, with the reservation reception number "01", "in-section meeting from 9 am to 10 am on May 20" is reserved, and the reservation person is "A section Inoue".

The user temporarily fetches the reservation status data into the scheduler section 122 of the self-portrait communication terminal 10-1 through the exchange 20 by operating the operation section 102. Then, the main control unit 100 calculates from this reservation status data to create a table showing the intervals between reservations, that is, the free time of the conference room, and displays it on the LCD 107 of the display unit as shown in FIG. .

Item numbers "N" and "N + 1" in FIG.
Corresponds to the reservation acceptance number shown in FIG. 7, “End of N” is the end time of using the meeting room of the meeting room reservation schedule “N”, and “Start of (N + 1)” is the meeting room reservation schedule “N + 1”. Shows the conference room use start time of, and "vacant time" is the difference between the conference room use start time of "N + 1" and the conference room use end time of "N", that is, after "N" ends,
It shows the free time length of the conference room before the start of "N + 1". Note that here, "N" and "N + 1" in the first row
However, "00" and "01" indicate the free time from the start time 8:30 to the use start time of the conference room with the reservation number "01".

Next, the setting method of the conference will be described. The personal schedule data stored in the scheduler unit 122 of the image communication terminal 10 described above can also be accessed from another image communication terminal 10 connected through the telephone network 40 and the exchange 20.

The conference organizer (secretary) uses the operation unit 102 of his own image communication terminal (tentatively 10-1) to select an appropriate conference number and the image communication terminal of each prospective attendee (tentatively 10).
-1 to 10-k), the conference content corresponding to the "item" of the personal schedule data, and the designation that the conference is set. Thereby, the image communication terminal 10-
1 stores the conference number, the terminal number, and the content of the conference, and the image communication terminals 10-1 to 10-
Then, the “free time” information of the personal schedule of each person who will attend the conference is collected and temporarily stored in the scheduler unit 122 of the own image communication terminal 10-1.

Furthermore, the conference organizer (secretary) accesses the conference room reservation system 30 from his / her image communication terminal 10-1 to specify the number k of scheduled conference participants and the scheduled time length X of the conference to schedule participation. A pair of meeting room numbers that meet the conditions and have a vacancy of a specified time or more corresponding to the number of persons and free time information of the meeting room are searched for.
It is once stored in the scheduler unit 122 of 0-1.

Then, the main control unit 100 is selected from the vacant time information of the personal schedule and the vacant time information of the conference room of each meeting attendee who is temporarily stored in the scheduler unit 122.
The calculation is performed to search for a match between the free time of a predetermined time or more and the free time information of a predetermined time or more in the conference room, that is, the meeting candidate information, which is common to all the attendees of the meeting. The result is LC of the display unit of the image communication terminal 10-1.
It is displayed on D107. FIG. 9 is a display example of the meeting time candidate information thus obtained.

The conference organizer (secretary) selects and designates one of the conference time candidate information, and designates the conference number set previously and the designation that the temporary reservation for the conference setting is made. This is performed from the operation unit 102 of the own image communication terminal 10-1. The image communication terminal 10-1 searches the conference numbers for the terminal numbers of the image communication terminals 10-1 to 10-k of prospective attendees of the conference, and broadcasts them to the image communication terminals 10-2 to 10-k. By accessing, the scheduler unit 122 of each of the image communication terminals 10-2 to 10-k and its own scheduler unit 122
Temporary reservation is specified in the personal schedule data in. The temporary reservation designation information is stored and displayed with a temporary reservation index, as in the third line of the personal schedule data shown in FIG.

Each image communication terminal 10-for which a temporary reservation has been designated
In 2 to 10-k, a display indicating that there is an inquiry requiring a reply is displayed in the corner of the LCD 107 of the display unit. When a person who is planning to attend the conference instructs this display with the operation unit 102 or the mouse 103 connected to the operation unit 102, the personal schedule data is displayed centering on the portion with the provisional reservation index. In addition, YES (attendance), PASS (attendance is undecided, but it is not necessary to change the schedule or can not attend), NO (want to attend, but please change at another time) will be displayed. Or
Operation unit 102 or mouse 10 connected to the operation unit 102
If you specify in 3, this will be the answer as it is. The result of this reply is automatically collected from each image communication terminal 10-2 to 10-k to the image communication terminal 10-1 of the conference organizer (secretary) via the telephone network 40 and the exchange.

When the answers from the prospective participants are all YES or PASS and not NO, the image communication terminal 10-1 automatically confirms the tentative reservation, and each image communication terminal 10-2 to 10-. The provisional reservation index of the personal schedule data of the person who is going to attend the meeting of k is deleted. If NO is returned, it will be inquired to the conference participants and it will be decided whether to set a new date and time again, but since the availability of the personal schedule is checked and a tentative reservation is made, There are few cases where a NO answer is returned.

In the case of the conference setting as described above, it is possible to set an approximate date and time range in advance and collect the vacant time information of the personal schedule and the vacant time information of the conference room. As a result, the processing speed of the main control unit 100 can be increased and the storage capacity required by the scheduler unit 122 can be saved.

[0034]

As described above, from the image communication terminal, the conference organizer (secretary) accesses the scheduler unit and the conference room reservation system of another image communication terminal, and the conference attendees and the conference room Since a common vacant time is sought, and a tentative reservation is made for that time zone to set the conference, the conference can be easily set. In addition, the provisionally reserved conference settings are automatically sent to the image communication terminal of each prospective attendee, and the response to the provisional reservation is automatically returned to the image communication terminal of the conference organizer (secretary). Easy to operate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image communication terminal used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration of a communication system for connecting the image communication terminals shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a display example of personal schedule data stored in a scheduler.

FIG. 4 is a display example of personal free time data derived from the personal schedule data of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for searching for individual free time data for a predetermined time or more.

FIG. 6 is a display example of a result of searching for data of a predetermined time or more from personal free time data.

FIG. 7 is a display example of a reservation status of a conference room stored in the conference room reservation system.

8 is a display example of conference room free time data derived from the reservation status of the conference room in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a display example of meeting time candidate information derived from personal free time data and meeting room free time data.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10-1 to 10-n Image communication terminal 20-1 to 20-3 Switch 30 Conference reservation system 40 Telephone network 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 57 Processing 53, 56 Judgment 100 Main control unit 101 Bus line 102 Operation Part 103 Mouse 104 Reading part 105 Recording part 106 Display control part 107 Display part 108 Storage part 109 FDD (Floppy disk drive device) 110 CD-ROM reader 111 Image CODEC 112 Voice output part 113 Communication control part 114 Network interface part 115 Telephone part 116 Answering machine 117 Clock part 118 Translation part 119 Character recognition part 120 Encryption / decryption part 121 External interface part 122 Scheduler part

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Tetsuji Matsuo 1-share company at Toshiba Hino Plant, 3-chome, Asahigaoka, Hino City, Tokyo (72) Inventor Toshiro Nose 1-share company at 3-chome, Asahigaoka, Hino City, Tokyo Toshiba Hino Factory

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A main control unit for controlling the entire apparatus, a storage unit, a communication control unit for controlling communication under the control of the main control unit, and a communication network interface unit controlled by the communication control unit. A display control unit, a display unit controlled by the display control unit, and an operation unit, wherein the main control unit controls the communication control unit and the communication network interface to access a communication network, In response to a search request from the operating means, the stored contents stored in the storage means of the other image communication terminal apparatus are searched, and in response to a conference reservation request from the operating means, another image communication terminal apparatus An image communication terminal device, characterized in that the temporary reservation of a conference is stored in the storage means. 2. When a temporary reservation for a conference is stored in the storage means from another image communication terminal device and a reply is made to the temporary reservation for the conference from the operation means, the temporary reservation is made. The image communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the other image communication terminal device is automatically notified of the reply content.