JPH08163521A - Electronic conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To allow participants to simply grasp an elapsed time after an electronic conference participation request is made. CONSTITUTION: When a conference participation request notice means 101a is used to raise a notice of taking participation in an electronic conference to plural participants by a sponsor, an elapsed time notice means 101b provided to the system informs an elapsed time after the electronic conference participation request notice is made to the participants and displays the elapsed time from the occurrence of the electronic conference participation request notice onto a display device 101. Thus, each participant simply recognizes the elapsed time from the occurrence of the electronic conference participation request notice to a current time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic conference system, and is suitable for use in an electronic conference, for example, in which a plurality of computers existing in remote places are connected by a communication network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The following operations are performed in a conventional electronic conferencing system when a meeting is called. That is, a person who intends to start an electronic conference (hereinafter, called a convener) designates a person who wants to participate in the conference (hereinafter, called a convenee).

Then, when the conference starting device is started, FIG.
A window 80 is displayed on the display of each convenee's terminal requesting that the convener attend the conference, as shown in FIG.

Therefore, each convenee presses the button 81 or 82 on the window 80 to
Select participation / non-participation in the electronic conference. The conference activation device notifies the attendee of participation / non-participation in the electronic conference by displaying a window 90 as shown in FIG. 9 on the convener terminal display.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, the convenee cannot immediately grasp the elapsed time after the request for participation in the conference is issued. In addition, only information about whether or not to participate in the conference can be communicated to the convener, and there is a problem that the amount of information that can be communicated is extremely small.

Therefore, for example, when not attending a conference,
Tell the convener why you can't attend the meeting, or if you're currently busy doing work, but you'll be able to join the meeting in a few minutes, I couldn't make a request to call for participation on the way.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is a first object of the present invention to make it possible for the convenee to easily grasp the elapsed time after the request to participate in the conference is generated.
The purpose of.

Information that can be transmitted from the convenee to the convenor by allowing the convener to input information that is a message to the convener in addition to the information of "participation" or "non-participation" in the conference The second purpose is to be able to increase the amount.

[0009]

An electronic conferencing system of the present invention is an electronic conferencing system in which a plurality of terminals existing in a remote place are connected via a communication means to hold an electronic conference, and the electronic conference is convened. In this case, the meeting participation request notification means for notifying a plurality of convenees to participate in the electronic conference, and the elapsed time after the electronic conference participation request is generated is the convened person. Means for notifying the attendee, meeting attendance selection means for selecting whether or not the convenee participates in the electronic conference, and a conference for generating convenee attendance information It is provided with a participation information generating means and a meeting participation information notifying means for notifying the convener of the conferencing information of each convenee.

Further, according to another feature of the present invention, there is provided a system for conducting an electronic conference by connecting a plurality of terminals existing in a remote place through a communication means. A conference participation request notification means for notifying a convener to participate in an electronic conference; a conference participation selecting means for selecting whether or not the convenee participates in the electronic conference; Message input means for the convenee to input a message to be sent to the convener, conference participation information generating means for generating conferee conference participation information, and conferee conference participation information And a conference participation information notifying means for notifying the convener.

Another feature of the present invention is a system for conducting an electronic conference by connecting a plurality of terminals existing in a remote place through a communication means, and a system for receiving an electronic conference when the electronic conference is called. A conference participation request notification means for notifying a convener to participate in an electronic conference, and an elapsed time notification for notifying the convenee of the elapsed time after the electronic conference participation request is generated. Means, a conference participation selection means for selecting whether or not the convenee participates in the electronic conference, a message input means for inputting a message to be transmitted by the convenee to the convener, It comprises a conference participation information generating means for generating the conference participation information of the convenee, and a conference participation information notifying means for notifying the convener of the conference participation information of each convenee.

Another feature of the present invention is that the convened person's conference participation information is information indicating whether or not the convened person participates in the electronic conference, and the convened person at the time of convening. It is characterized by being composed of message information to the convener input by the person.

Another feature of the present invention is that the message input to the convener is performed by text input from a character input device including a keyboard.

Another feature of the present invention is that the message input to the convener is performed by voice input from a voice input device including a microphone.

Another feature of the present invention is that the color of the window frame displayed by the conference participation request notification means for notifying the electronic conference participation request indicates that the electronic conference participation request has occurred. The time elapsed since the electronic conference participation request was made is notified to the convenee by changing the time depending on the time elapsed since the request.

Another feature of the present invention is that the frame of the window displayed by the means for notifying the electronic conference participation request is made to blink at a time interval corresponding to the elapsed time so that the electronic conference can be performed. The above-mentioned convenees are notified of the elapsed time from the request for participation to the present.

[0017]

Since the present invention has the above technical means, the convenee visually recognizes the elapsed time from the electronic conference participation request generation by observing the window displayed by the conference participation request notification means. Will be able to.

Further, according to another feature of the present invention, since the message input means is provided, the convenee can send an arbitrary message to the convener and the message can be transmitted. It will be possible to significantly increase the amount of information.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the electronic conference system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the components of the electronic conference system of this embodiment. Less than,
The components of FIG. 1 will be described.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a conference participation request notification means, which outputs a notification requesting the convenee to participate in the conference, and a conference participation request display for displaying that fact. It is a means.

Reference numeral 102 denotes a message input means for the convenee to input a message to the convener before selecting whether to participate in the conference or not. Reference numeral 103 is a conference participation selection means for selecting whether the convenee participates in the conference or not, and 104 is a conference participation information generating means for generating conferee attendance / non-attendance information and message information to the convener. is there.

Reference numeral 105 is a control means for controlling each component of the above-mentioned conference participation request display means 101 to conference participation information generating means 104. Reference numeral 106 is a conference starting means for starting an electronic conference by the electronic conference system of the present embodiment, and is provided with a conference participation information notifying means 106a. Reference numeral 107 is a data bus that connects the respective constituent elements.

In the electronic conferencing system of the present embodiment configured as described above, when a user (convener) wants to start an electronic conference, the conference starting means is activated to request the members (accounts) to participate in the conference. (Convener) and terminals used by each member are set, and a conference participation call is made via the data bus 107. The conference activation means makes a conference call to each of the convenees.

The above-mentioned conference participation request display means 101 to conference participation information generation means 104 perform various processing at each terminal of the convenee when the conference calling means of the convener calls the conference. The control means 105 is for controlling each of these means.

That is, when the conference activating means is activated in the convener's terminal in order to call the conference, the respective constituent means of the conference participation request display means 101 to the control means 105,
As shown in FIG. 6, it is activated for each terminal of the convenee.

In FIG. 6, the electronic conference starting means 600 started by the convener terminal corresponds to the conference starting means in FIG. 1, and the start request processing means started by the convenee (1 to n) terminal. 601. ． ． 60n also has each component of the conference participation request display means 101 to the control means 105 in FIG.

In this way, when the convener calls the conference by the conference starting means, each convenee terminal operates as follows. That is, first, the conference participation request display means 10
1, the convened person (one of these is a user A
, And that the convener has requested that you join the meeting.

At the same time, the elapsed time since the conference participation request is generated is visually displayed. When such a display is performed, a certain user A selects whether or not to participate in the conference by the conference participation selection means 103. Then, at that time, if it is desired to convey a message to the convener, any message may be input by the message input means 102 before selecting participation / non-participation.

A user A input in this way
The information on whether or not the user participates in the conference and the message input at that time are generated by the conference participation information generation means 104 as the conference participation information of the user A. The conference participation information of the user A generated by the conference participation information generating unit 104 is transmitted to the conference starting unit via the data bus 107.

The conference starting means is the conference participation information generating means 1
The convened person's meeting participation information generated by 04 is
The attendee conference participation information display window is displayed on the display (see FIG. 7) of the initiator terminal. That is, the conference activation means of this embodiment has a function of a conference participation information notifying means for notifying the convener of the conference participation information of each convenee.

FIG. 7 is a hardware configuration diagram showing an example for executing the electronic conference system of this embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 7, in the electronic conferencing system of this embodiment, the workstations 710 and 72 that serve as terminals.
0, 730 are connected by the communication network 700,
We try to hold electronic conferences while communicating with each other.

Each workstation 710, 720, 7
30 is a CPU 711, a memory 712, a communication control device 7
13, a keyboard 714 for receiving input for dialogue, a mouse 715 and a microphone 716, a display 717 serving as an output device, and a speaker 718.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the content of the participation request displayed by the meeting participation request display means 101. A window 201 is displayed on the display 717 of the attendee's terminal to indicate the participation request.

Here, the conference participation request display means 101 is
The elapsed time from the time when the meeting participation request is displayed to the present is recorded, and the elapsed time since the meeting participation request was made to the convenee by changing the color of the frame of the window 201 according to the elapsed time. I am trying to notify you.
That is, the conference participation request display means 101 of this embodiment is
It has an elapsed time notifying means 101b.

For example, assuming that the elapsed time is t, the following table is prepared and the color of the frame is changed.

Elapsed time t (second) Color of window frame 0 ≦ t <n1 black n1 ≦ t <n2 green n2 ≦ t <n3 blue n3 ≦ t <n4 purple n4 ≦ t <n5 pink n6 ≦ t red

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 202 denotes information related to convening a conference (name of convener, name of convener's terminal, convening time, participating convening members, etc.). Further, 203 and 204 are buttons for selecting whether to participate in the conference or not.
The display of the intention of the convened person to join or not to participate in the electronic conference is realized by selecting one of these buttons 203 or 204 with the mouse 715 and pressing it.

Reference numeral 205 is a message input field,
The message transmitted by the convenee to the convener is realized by moving the mouse 715 onto the input field 205 and inputting characters from the keyboard 714.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the flow of operations in each convenee terminal, which is carried out by each component of the conference participation request display means 101 to control means 105 of FIG.

That is, when the operation is started, the window 201 shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on each terminal, and the mouse 715 and the keyboard 7 on the window 201 are displayed.
Inputs made via 14 operate as follows.

First, the participation request panel 201 is displayed by the meeting participation request display means 101 (step S30).
1). Next, the process advances to step S302 to wait for input from the user. Then, the mouse 715 and the keyboard 71
When the input from the user through the operation of 4 or the like is detected, the process proceeds to step S303.

In step S303, it is detected whether the conference participation button 203 or the non-participation button 204 has been pressed. When it is detected that these buttons have been pressed, the process proceeds to step S306, the conference participation information is output via the conference participation information generation unit 104, and the process ends.

If it is determined in step S303 that the input in step S302 is not the pressing of the conference participation / non-participation button, the flow advances to step S304 to detect whether a character is input to the message input field 205 by keyboard operation. If it is a message input, step S
In step 305, a message is input, and when the message is input, the process returns to step S302 and returns to the input waiting state.

On the other hand, if the input is neither the button operation nor the keyboard input, the process returns to step S302 and waits again.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the flow of operation of the conference participation information generating means 104. The conference participation information generation means 104 uses the participation request window 20 shown in FIG.
When the participation button 203 or the non-participation button 204 is pressed in the step 1, it is activated.

When activated, first, in step S401, it is determined whether or not a message is input. Then, when it is determined that the message is input, that is, when the character is input in the message input field 205, the process proceeds to step S402.

In step S402, the character information and the participation / non-participation information in the message input field 205 are generated as the conference participation information. If no message is input as a result of the determination in step S401, the process proceeds to step S403 and only participation / non-participation information is generated.

The above-mentioned participation / non-participation information is, for example, the following conference participation information of a conference convening member A.

User: A Join / Reject: Disjoined Message: call again 5 minu
tes later!

This is because Member A did not participate in the conference and called "call again5 minutes."
s later! It means that you have entered the message ".

On the other hand, when there is no message input, Mes
sage: (Null). FIG. 5 is an example of a convenee meeting participation information display window displayed by the meeting starting means. This display is updated each time the output of the conference participation information generating means 104 activated by the terminal of each member who has been called up is received.

In this example, the conference participation information is returned from the users A and B. The contents are as follows: the user A does not participate in the conference (Disjoined), and the message is "call."
again 5 minutes later. It is.

Further, the user B participates in the conference, but no message is input, and the conference participation information from the user C has not been received yet, and “Not Responsein” is received.
The state "g" is displayed.

Next, a second embodiment of the electronic conference system of the present invention will be described. In the above-described first embodiment, the message information is displayed by the conference participation request notification means as the message input means 102 from the convenee.
An example was shown in which a message input field was provided in the conference participation request window, and the convenees performed text input using a character input device such as a keyboard. It is also possible for the person to speak to the convener what he / she wants to convey and input it as a voice.

In this case, the convenee's conference participation information generating means sends the convener's conference participation / non-participation information and the message information converted into a voice signal using the voice encoding encoder to the conference activation device. When the conference activation device receives the conference participation information, the voice as the message information may be reproduced by using the voice reproduction decoder.

Next, the third embodiment will be described. In the above-described first embodiment, the attendee is notified of the elapsed time since the conference participation request was generated by changing the color of the window frame in accordance with the elapsed time.

However, the method of notifying the convenee of the elapsed time since the conference participation request is issued can be realized by blinking the window frame at regular time intervals according to the elapsed time. That is, the elapsed time is t
Then, the following table may be prepared, and the window frame may be made to blink at predetermined time intervals.

Elapsed time t Blinking time interval of window frame (second) (second) 0 ≦ t <n1 10 n1 ≦ t <n2 5 n2 ≦ t <n3 2.5 n3 ≦ t <n4 1 n4 ≦ t <n5 0 .5 n6 ≦ t 0.25

[0059]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the elapsed time notifying means is provided, the attendee can determine the elapsed time after the electronic conference participation request is generated. It can be grasped easily. This makes it possible, for example, to send a message apologizing to the convener that the response to the electronic conference participation request has been delayed if the elapsed time has passed considerably. It becomes possible to operate more flexibly.

According to the invention as set forth in claim 2, since the message input means is provided for the convenee to input a message to be sent to the convener, the convened person can access the electronic conference. It becomes possible to input a message to the convener before choosing whether or not to participate, and it is possible to significantly increase the amount of information that can be transmitted to the convener.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the convenee can easily grasp the elapsed time from the electronic conference participation request generation time to the present time, and the attendee can call the electronic conference. Since it is possible to both enter a message to the convener and notify the convener of the information before or not to participate, the effect corresponding to claim 1 and claim 2 Both effects corresponding to can be obtained.

According to the invention as set forth in claim 4, information on whether or not the convenee participates in the electronic conference and message information to the convener input by the convenee at the time of convocation are provided. Since the conference attendance information of the convener is transmitted via the conference attendance information notifying means, various messages can be transmitted from the convenee to the convener in addition to the participation / non-participation information.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the message input from the convenee to the convener can be realized by the text input from the character input device including the keyboard.

According to the invention of claim 6, a message can be input from the convenee to the convener by voice input from a voice input device including a microphone.

According to the invention of claim 7, the color of the frame of the window for notifying the electronic conference participation request is changed according to the elapsed time from the generation of the electronic conference participation request. The convener can visually recognize the elapsed time, and thus can easily know the elapsed time.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 8, the window frame for notifying the electronic conference participation request is made to blink at a time interval according to the elapsed time from the generation of the electronic conference participation request. The called person can visually recognize the elapsed time, and thus can easily know the elapsed time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an example of an electronic conference system according to the present invention,
It is a functional block diagram which shows each component.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a window for notifying a conference participation request displayed by a conference participation request display means.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations performed by each convenee terminal.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations of a conference participation information generating means.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a convened person conference participation information display window displayed to the convener by the conference activation means.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a starting state when the components of the electronic conference system according to the present invention are in operation.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an electronic conference system for carrying out the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional example of a window for notifying each convenee of a conference participation request.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a conventional example in which a convener is notified of attendance / non-attendance information of each convenee.

[Description of Reference Signs] 101 conference participation request display unit 101a conference participation request notification unit 101b elapsed time notification unit 102 message input unit 103 conference participation selection unit 104 conference participation information output unit 105 control unit 106 conference activation unit 106a conference participation information notification unit

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An electronic conferencing system for performing an electronic conference by connecting a plurality of terminals existing at remote locations via a communication means, wherein when conducting the electronic conference, the electronic conference is conducted to a plurality of convenees. A conference participation request notifying means for making a notification requesting to participate in a conference, and an elapsed time notifying means for notifying the convenee of the elapsed time from the occurrence of the electronic conference participation request, A conference participation selecting means for selecting whether or not the convenee participates in the electronic conference, a conference participation information generating means for generating conference attendance information of the convenee, and An electronic conferencing system comprising: a conference participation information notifying means for notifying the convener of the conference participation information. 2. A system for conducting an electronic conference by connecting a plurality of terminals existing in remote locations via a communication means, wherein when convening the electronic conference, attendees participate in the electronic conference. A conference participation request notification means for making a request for requesting, a conference participation selection means for selecting whether or not the convenee participates in the electronic conference, and the convenee transmits to the convener A message input means for inputting a message, a conference participation information generation means for generating conference attendance information of the convenee, and a conference for notifying the convener of the conference attendance information of each convenee An electronic conference system comprising: participation information notifying means. 3. A system for conducting an electronic conference by connecting a plurality of terminals existing in remote locations via a communication means, wherein the convenee is allowed to participate in the electronic conference when the electronic conference is called. A conference participation request notifying means for making a request to request, and an elapsed time notifying means for notifying the convenee of the elapsed time from the occurrence of the electronic conference participation request, and the convenee of the electronic conference. Conference participation selection means for selecting whether or not to participate in, a message input means for inputting a message sent by the convenee to the convener, and generating conference attendance information of the convenee. An electronic conferencing system comprising: a conference participation information generation unit for notifying the convener of the conference attendance information of each convenee. 4. The meeting attendance information of the convenee is information indicating whether or not the convenee participates in the electronic conference, and message information to the convener input by the convener at the time of convening. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 2, wherein the electronic conferencing system comprises: 5. The electronic conference system according to claim 2, wherein the message is input to the convener by text input from a character input device including a keyboard. 6. The electronic conference system according to claim 2, wherein the message is input to the convener by voice input from a voice input device including a microphone. 7. The color of the window frame displayed by the conference participation request notification means for notifying the electronic conference participation request is changed according to the elapsed time after the electronic conference participation request is generated. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the convenee is notified of the elapsed time from when the electronic conference participation request is made to the present.
The electronic conferencing system described in. 8. The progress from the time when the electronic conference participation request is made to the present by making the frame of the window displayed by the means for notifying the electronic conference participation request blink at a time interval according to the elapsed time. The electronic conference system according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the time is notified to the convenee.