JPH0785145A - Whereabouts management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a whereabouts management system by which whereabouts of staff and visitors in an installation are accurately grasped. CONSTITUTION:A staff/visitor M in an installation carries in advance a card 1 incorporating an ID tag 11 returning prescribed information including ID information with respect to an external signal, a reader 41 of the ID tag 11 is provided in a telephone set 4 connecting to an extension telephone cable 3 of a private branch of exchange 2 and an exclusive terminal equipment incorporating the reader 51 is provided to proper locations and connected to the extension telephone cable 3. When the staff/visitor M is resident in the vicinity of the telephone set 4 or passes in the vicinity of the exclusive terminal equipment 5, the readers 41, 51 send an inquiry signal to the ID tag 11 and receives prescribed information to be returned. A whereabouts management section 22 provided in the private branch of exchange 2 or a personal computer connected thereto manages whereabouts of the staff/visitor M in the installation based on the information from each of the readers 41, 51 through the extension telephone cable 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a location management system for managing the location of staff and visitors in a company or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an environment in which a large number of people exist in each department, such as a company, there is a strong need to clarify the whereabouts of each person. Specifically, it is necessary to know whereabouts in the following cases. When an employee who is away from the desk receives a call When an employee who is away from the desk receives an urgent need (other than a telephone call)

In the past, for the above-mentioned purposes, a destination display board was used, a time recorder was used as the destination display board, and a magnetic ID card system was used as the destination display board.

[0004]

Conventionally, the location was managed as described above, but each had the following drawbacks. a. In general, the destination display board is not operated correctly, and the destination is often not listed, or even if it is listed, it is often not there, and it is not possible to transfer the telephone or handle the emergency. There were many cases. b. There is a problem that the time recorder forgets the set, and it can be set by anyone other than the person himself, and it cannot be managed accurately, and it is complicated. c. The security system using the magnetic ID card is complicated because the operation of inserting the card into the magnetic card reader must be performed each time the user goes in and out of a predetermined place.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a location management system capable of accurately ascertaining the locations of staff and visitors in a facility. .

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is incorporated in a card or the like carried by a staff member or a visitor in a facility, and predetermined information including ID information in response to an inquiry signal from the outside. Connected to the extension telephone cable, which is connected to the ID tag and the extension telephone cable, which sends a signal to the ID tag in the vicinity and which has a built-in reader for receiving the predetermined information returned, and the extension telephone cable,
It is provided in a private terminal with a built-in reader that sends inquiry signals to nearby ID tags and receives the specified information that is returned, and in a private branch telephone exchange or a personal computer connected to this, via an extension telephone cable. The location management section that manages the location of staff and visitors in the facility based on the information collected from each leader.

Further, the location management section may be provided with functions of inquiring of the location from the telephone and transferring the telephone to the nearest location. Furthermore, it is possible to connect an attendance management system or a security system to the location management section and use the location information of the staff / visitors for attendance management or security management.

[0008]

In the location management system of the present invention, IDs are provided to staff and visitors in the facility in response to inquiry signals from outside.
A card having an ID tag for returning predetermined information including information is held in advance. On the other hand, a private branch exchange (P
BX) ID in the telephone connected to the extension telephone cable
A reader for the tag will be installed, and a dedicated terminal with a built-in reader will be installed in an appropriate place and similarly connected to the extension telephone cable. Then, when the staff / customer is near the telephone or when passing the vicinity of the dedicated terminal, the reader transmits an inquiry signal to the ID tag and receives the predetermined information returned. The location management unit provided in the private branch telephone exchange or a personal computer connected to the private branch telephone exchange manages the location of staff and visitors in the facility from the information collected from each reader via an extension telephone cable. In addition, the location management unit has a function of inquiring the location from the telephone and transferring the call to the nearest location. Furthermore, it is possible to connect an attendance management system or a security system to the location management section and use the location information of the staff / visitors for attendance management or security management.

[0009]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the location management system of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, in the location management system of this embodiment, first, an employee / visitor M is allowed to carry the card 1 at a facility such as a company. For visitors, it is desirable to also use it as an entrance certificate. Here, the card 1 has a built-in ultra-small ID tag 11, and the ID tag 11 sends back predetermined information including ID information by a wireless signal in response to an inquiry signal (electromagnetic induction wave) from the outside. It has become.

On the other hand, as facilities in the facility, a private branch exchange (PBX) 2, an extension telephone cable 3 branching from the private branch exchange 2 and arranged in the facility, and connected to the extension telephone cable 3. There are provided a plurality of telephones 4 and a plurality of dedicated terminals 5 which are also connected to the extension telephone cable 3 and are installed at predetermined places such as entrances and passages.

The private branch exchange 2 has a basic function section 21 for carrying out basic functions (external call, internal call, etc.) as a private branch exchange, and staff and visitors M, which are the features of the present invention. Location Management Department 2 for managing the location of
2 and are provided. In this case, the location management unit 2
2 is realized by a program on the private branch exchange 2. Further, the location management unit 22, as shown in FIG. 4, has an application interface (AP) of the private branch exchange 2.
i) It may be realized as a program on the personal computer 6 connected via 23.

Returning to FIG. 1, the telephone 4 is provided with a reader 41 for reading the ID information and the like from the ID tag 11 of the card 1 carried by the staff / visitor M, in addition to the functions of the ordinary telephone. FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the telephone 4, in which the extension telephone cable 3 is connected to the call system circuit 44, the handset 45 and the control system circuit 46, the display device 47, and the keyboard 48 via the line interface 43. At the same time, the reader 41 is connected via the reader interface 42. The reader 41 radiates an inquiry signal by electromagnetic induction waves to the vicinity (several meters) at all times or at a minute interval, and in response to this, I
The radio waves returned from the D tag 11 are received.

Returning to FIG. 1, the dedicated terminal 5 is provided with a reader 51 like the telephone 4, so that the ID information and the like can be read out from the ID tag 11 of the card 1 carried by the staff / visitor M. FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of the dedicated terminal 5, in which the extension telephone cable 3 is connected to the line interface 53.
The reader interface 52 and the reader 51 are connected via the.

Next, a typical operation of the above embodiment will be described.

(1) Location Management In FIG. 1, when the staff / visitor M passes near either the telephone 4 or the dedicated terminal 5, the readers 41, 5
1 transmits an inquiry signal to the ID tag 11 of the card 1 owned by the staff member / visitor M, and receives the predetermined information returned from the ID tag 11. This predetermined information includes the ID information of the staff and the visitor M who are the owners of the card 1.

This information is collected in the location management unit 22 of the private branch exchange 2 via the extension telephone cable 3. In addition,
Since the telephone 4 generally has a data exchange function with the private branch exchange 2, it is easy to add the above-mentioned function to the conventional model.

Based on the information collected from the readers 41 and 51, the location management unit 22 of the private branch exchange 2 registers the current location in the facility in association with the owner / employee M of the owner and manages it. .

(2) Location inquiry When it is desired to know the location of a specific staff member / visitor M from any telephone 4 or a terminal (not shown) connected to this system, a predetermined ten-key or function key (not shown) The location can be inquired by operating (No.) or inputting a command. When the location management unit 22 of the private branch exchange 2 receives a location inquiry from the telephone set 4 or the like, it returns the location information managed by itself to the requesting telephone set 4 or the like, and the display device 47 of the telephone set 4 (see FIG. 2). ) Etc.

(3) Telephone transfer When a telephone call is made to a specific staff member / visitor M through an outside line or an extension line, but the person leaves the seat and is in another place in the facility, the other party is called. After the call is interrupted, automatic telephone transfer can be performed by operating a predetermined numeric keypad, a function key (not shown) or the like. When the location management unit 22 of the private branch exchange 2 receives a call transfer request from the telephone 4, after determining the telephone 4 closest to the location of the designated staff member / visitor M based on the location management information, the telephone Transfer to 4.

(4) Attendance management When performing attendance management, another system 7 shown in FIG.
Connect the attendance management system.

Since the location of the staff / visitor M in the facility is always known, it is possible to accurately manage attendance by recording the change over time.
This is especially useful in workplaces that employ flextime or free time.

(5) Security Management When performing security management, the other system 7 shown in FIG.
As a security system connected.

Since the location of the staff / visitor M in the facility is always known, the authority of the person is checked at the entrance / exit of the area where entry is restricted, and the opening / closing of the door is performed in conjunction with each other.

[0026]

As described above, the location management system of the present invention has the following effects. Since the exact location can be automatically grasped within the area covered by the extension telephone, it is possible to appropriately deal with the telephone transfer or emergency. By linking with the attendance management system, accurate attendance can be automatically grasped without burdening the user, and the quality of attendance management can be improved. In particular, it is highly useful in workplaces where flextime and free time are introduced. Permission to enter and leave a specific area can be automatically controlled without burdening the user, and the quality of the security system can be improved. The system can be constructed at low cost because it can be easily applied to existing premises phones and does not require new wiring.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a location management system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of the telephone in FIG.

3 is a diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of a dedicated terminal in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Card 11 ... ID tag 2 ... Private telephone exchange (PBX) 21 ... Basic function unit 22 ... Location management unit 23 ... Application interface (APi) 3 ... Extension telephone cable 4 ... Telephone 41 ... Reader 42 ... Reader Interface 43 ... Line interface 44 ... Call system circuit 45 ... Handset 46 ... Control system circuit 47 ... Display device 48 ... Keyboard 5 ... Dedicated terminal 51 ... Reader 52 ... Reader interface 53 ... Line interface 6 ... Personal computer 7 ... Other system M …… Staff / Visitors

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ID tag which is built in a card or the like carried by a staff member or a visitor in the facility and which returns predetermined information including ID information in response to an inquiry signal from the outside, and which is connected to an extension telephone cable and in the vicinity. A telephone with a built-in reader that receives an inquiry signal from the ID tag and receives the specified information that is returned, and an extension telephone cable are connected, and an inquiry signal is transmitted to an ID tag in the vicinity and returned. A dedicated terminal with a built-in reader for receiving the specified information and a private branch telephone exchange or a personal computer connected to it are installed in the facility staff and visitors from the information collected from each reader via an extension telephone cable. A location management system comprising: a location management unit that manages the location of the. 2. The location management system according to claim 1, wherein the location management unit has a function of inquiring of a location from a telephone and a function of transferring a call to the nearest location. 3. The location management system according to claim 1, wherein an attendance management system or a security system is connected to the location management unit, and the location information of the staff / visitors is used for attendance management or security management.