JPH09233232A - Communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system capable of efficiently and quickly transmitting the request information of a user to a requested object person such as a service provider or the like suited to the location of the user and thus efficiently and quickly obtaining service or like for the request from the requested obejct person. SOLUTION: A request information receiver 5 such as the facsimile equipments or the like of the plural service providers capable of providing the service requested by the user are connected to an information management device 3 connected through a communication channel 4 to the terminal equipment 1 of the user through the communication channel 4. The information management device 3 receives the request information and the location information of the user from the terminal equipment 1 and finds the service provider close to the user from a database based on the location information. Then, the request information or the like of the user is informed to the request information receiver 5 of the found service provider.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a communication system using a communication line such as personal computer communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a user desires various services such as home delivery of meals, the user himself / herself
With reference to a plurality of service information such as magazines and advertisements, a service provider closest to the location of the user is found, and the desired service is requested from the found service provider.

However, in such a system, the user has to find out the service provider he or she desires from an extremely large amount of information with the enormous amount of information in recent years, which is efficient and quick. It is difficult to receive the desired service.

On the other hand, in recent years, communication networks such as personal computer communication have been rapidly developed, and it is considered possible to eliminate the above-mentioned inconveniences by using such a communication system.

[0005]

In view of such a background, the present invention is capable of efficiently and promptly transmitting the request information of the user to a requested person such as a service provider suitable for the location of the user, Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a communication system that can efficiently and promptly receive the service and the like for the request from the requested person.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a communication system in which a terminal device and an information management device for exchanging information with the terminal device are connected by a communication line. A location information acquisition unit that obtains location information of a user of the terminal apparatus while the terminal apparatus is connected to the information management apparatus, and a request to obtain request information of the user of the terminal apparatus from the terminal apparatus Based on the location information of the user acquired by the location information acquisition means, the information acquisition means, a database that holds in advance the position information of a plurality of requested persons who can realize the request information of the user, and the user Position information acquisition means for acquiring the position information of the requested person matching the location of the requested information from the database, and the positional information of the requested person acquired by the position information acquisition means. The basis, characterized in that the request information notification means requests information of the user acquired by the request information acquisition unit for notifying to said request subjects provided in the information management apparatus.

According to the present invention, when the user is provided with some service or the like, the terminal device of the user is connected to the information management device via a communication line. At this time, in the information management device, the location information acquisition means acquires the location information of the user (for example, a telephone number, an address, a postal code, etc.), and the request information acquisition means performs the utilization. The request information of the person is acquired from the terminal device of the user. Then, the information management device, based on the acquired location information of the user, the location information of the requested person who matches the location information from the database (for example, the nearest requested person of the location of the user. The position information) is acquired by the position information acquisition unit, and the requested information is notified to the requested person by the request information notification unit based on the acquired position information.

Therefore, the user only needs to give the location and request information to the information management device, and the request information can be efficiently and promptly sent to the requested person such as a service provider who is suitable for the location of the user. Can be told. As a result, it is possible to efficiently and promptly receive the service or the like in response to the user's request from the requested person.

In the present invention, various means such as mail, radio, telephone, and facsimile can be used to notify the requested person of the requested information from the information management device. The information management device is connected via a communication line to a request information receiving device such as a facsimile or a personal computer provided on the requested person side to receive the request information, and the request information is received by the request information receiving device. It is particularly preferable to notify the device via the communication line. As a result, it is possible to reliably notify the requested person of the request information.

In this case, when the notification of the request information to the request information receiving device by the request information notifying means is completed, the information management device is provided with means for transmitting a notification to that effect to the terminal device of the user. By doing so, the user can confirm that his / her request information is surely transmitted to the requested person.

Further preferably, the request information notifying means is means for notifying that there is a request from the user of the terminal device by a telephone possessed by the requested person, and the requested information for the telephone notification. And a means for transmitting the request information to the request information receiving device in response to a response operation of the request target person, and a means for transmitting the fact to the terminal device of the user when the telephone notification is not received. To do.

As a result, when the requested person to be notified of the request information is absent, the telephone notification is interrupted, so that the request information receiving device may be uselessly notified. The situation can be eliminated, and at the same time, the user can be made aware of that fact (the fact that the telephone notification is not communicated and the requested information of the user has not been notified to the requested person).

In this case, according to the present invention, the location information of the user of the terminal device acquired by the location information acquiring means includes at least the telephone number of the user, and the request information notifying means includes the received information. Acquired by the location information acquisition means when the terminal device is disconnected from the information management device when transmitting to the terminal device of the user that the telephone notification to the request target person is non-deliverable It is provided with means for notifying, by telephone of the user, that the telephone notification to the requested person is out of service, based on the telephone number given.

As a result, when the requested information of the user is not notified to the requested person due to the absence of the requested person, the user's terminal device and the information management device are disconnected for some reason. In the event of a failure, the user will be notified by telephone that the requested person has not been notified and the requested information has not been sent to the requested person. Can be reliably transmitted to the user. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a situation where the user's request information is not actually transmitted to the requested person, but the user is left without recognizing it.

The present invention further comprises means for notifying the terminal device of the position information of the requested person acquired by the position information acquiring means. With this, the user can recognize the position of the requested person to whom the request information should be transmitted, and can utilize it arbitrarily later.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a communication system according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main part of the communication system, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are explanatory diagrams showing files stored in a database provided in the communication system. 5 and 6 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the communication system.

Referring to FIG. 1, the communication system according to the present embodiment uses, for example, a home delivery order of a user's meal as user's request information to a restaurant (requestee) who should receive it. The terminal device 1 and the telephone 2 owned by the user are connected to the information management device 3 including a computer system owned by the business operator via the public line network 4. Further, in the information management device 3, a facsimile device 5 (hereinafter referred to as a fax device 5) as a request information receiving device and a telephone 6 which are respectively owned by a plurality of restaurants A, a user's terminal device 1 and the like. Similarly, they are connected via the public line network 4. In this embodiment, each restaurant A can provide the same type of food.

The terminal device 1 is composed of, for example, a personal computer, and has a main body 8 connected to the public line network 4 via a modem 7, and a display 8a (display device) provided in the main body 8. ) And the information management device 3 by a predetermined keyboard operation or mouse operation of the main body unit 8.
Can be freely accessed.

Although only a single terminal device 1 is shown in FIG. 1 for convenience of explanation, in reality, each of the terminal devices of a large number of users has an information management device 3 via the public line network 4. It is connected to the.

Further, the FAX device 5 and the telephone 6 possessed by each restaurant may be integrated with each other.

As shown in FIG. 2, the information management device 3 includes a computer device 9 that performs integrated management of the present system,
A voice response device 10 for making an automatic call to the telephones 2 and 6 of a user or a restaurant, a database 11 that holds information about each restaurant A in advance, and a notification to each restaurant A to be described later. And a switch 12 for switching between a telephone call by the voice response device 10 and a notification by FAX. Then, the computer device 9 is connected to the public line network 4 via the modem 13 to communicate with the user's terminal device 1, and the FAX modem 14 and the above-mentioned FAX modem 14 to perform the FAX transmission to each restaurant A. It is connected to the public line network 4 via the exchange 12. Further, the voice response device 10 and the exchange 12 are operated as will be described later in response to an instruction from the computer device 9.

The database 11 is, as shown in FIG.
The system is provided with a menu information file that holds information on a plurality of food menus that accept orders in this system, and a store information file that holds information on each restaurant A as shown in FIG. The number, name, and price of each cooking menu are held.
Further, the store information file holds a zip code indicating position information, a store name, a telephone number, and a fax number for each restaurant A.

The computer device 9 has, as its functional configuration, a serial driver 15 for exchanging data via the modem 13, a FAX driver 16 for exchanging data via the FAX modem 14, and a control section 17. It has and. In this case, the control unit 17
Includes a location information acquisition unit 18 and a request information acquisition unit 19 that respectively obtain the location information and order details (request information) of the user from the user's terminal device 1, and the database based on the information. A location information acquisition unit 20 that finds a restaurant A suitable for the location of the user from 11 and acquires the location information of the restaurant A, and a food delivery order of the restaurant A according to the acquired location information of the restaurant A. And a request information notifying section 21 for notifying. Details of each part of the control unit 17 will be described later.

Next, the operation of the system of this embodiment will be described.

Referring to FIG. 5, when the user uses this system to place an order for home delivery of food, after operating (logging in) the information management device 3 by operating the terminal device 1 (S).
TEP1), the order contents are input by the terminal device 1 (STEP2). In this case, the order details to be input are, for example, the menu number of the dish to be ordered and the number of orders for each menu. At this time, the order content input from the terminal device 1 is given from the terminal device 1 to the computer device 9 of the information management device 3 via the modem 7, the public line network 4, and the modem 13, and further, in the computer device 9,
It is fetched by the request information acquisition unit 19 of the control unit 17 via the serial driver 15. Then, the control unit 17 that fetches the order contents retrieves the menu information file (see FIG. 3) of the database 11 and extracts the name and price of the menu for which the order is placed, and retrieves them from the serial driver 15 and the modem 13. Then, it is transmitted to the terminal device 1 via the public line network 4 and the modem 7, and the received order contents (menu name and its number) and the amount of money are displayed on the display 8a of the terminal device 1. (ST
EP3).

After the user confirms it on the display 8a of the terminal device 1 (STEP 4), the user inputs his / her address, name, postal code and telephone number with the terminal device 1 (STEP 5). ). At this time, the input user information is given to the computer device 9 of the information management device 3 and is taken into the location information acquisition part 18 of the control part 17 in the computer device 9 in the same manner as the order contents. Note that such location information of the user can be fetched, for example, by storing the location information of the user in a database in advance and connecting the terminal device 1 to the information management device 3 when the user of the terminal device 1 is connected. The location information of the user may be retrieved from the database based on the identification number of the above.

Next, the control unit 17 of the computer device 9 causes the location information acquisition unit 20 to store information in the database 11 based on the location information (postal code or telephone number) of the user captured in the location information acquisition unit 18. The nearest restaurant A of the user is searched from the file (see FIG. 4), and the positional information of the searched restaurant A (name, telephone number, FAX number of the restaurant A) is stored in the positional information acquisition unit 20. Take in (STEP6). In this case, for each restaurant A,
If the types of food menus that can be provided are different, for example, the types of food menus that can be provided for each restaurant A are stored in the database 11 and stored in the location information acquisition unit 18. Based on the location information of the user and the order details (request information) fetched by the request information acquisition unit 19, the nearest restaurant A of the user who satisfies the order details may be searched. .

Then, the control unit 17 sends the retrieved name and telephone number (positional information) of the restaurant A to the terminal device 1 in the same manner as the order contents described above, and displays it on the display 8a of the terminal device 1. Display it (STEP 7).

As a result, the user of the terminal device 1 can recognize the position information of the nearest restaurant A and utilize it for the next order or the like.

Next, the control unit 17 of the computer device 9 of the information management device 3 creates order form data for FAX-transmitting the user's order contents and the location thereof to the searched restaurant A (( In STEP 8), the request information notifying unit 21 instructs the voice response device 10 and the exchange 12 to make a phone call to the effect that there is an order for the restaurant A. At this time, the exchange 12 is switched to the side of the voice response device 10, and the voice response device 10 operates via the exchange 12 and the public network 4 according to the telephone number of the restaurant A fetched by the position information acquisition unit 20. Call the telephone 6 of the restaurant A (STEP 9).

In this case, the control section 17 of the computer 9 recognizes the number of telephone calls to the restaurant A or the calling time via the exchange 12,
Whether or not the telephone call to the restaurant A is cut off is grasped based on whether the number of times of calling exceeds a predetermined number of times or whether the calling time exceeds a predetermined time (STEP 10).

Then, when the telephone is not disconnected (the processing in the case of no communication will be described later) and the telephone call to the restaurant A is received by the clerk or the like of the restaurant A (N in STEP 10).
O), the voice response device 10 notifies the clerk of the restaurant A that there is an order by automatic voice, and when the restaurant A accepts the order, the telephone 6 of the telephone 6 is received within a certain time. A predetermined response operation is performed (STEP 11). Then, when a response operation for accepting the order is performed, the response is performed by the information management device 3
At this time, the request information notification unit 21 of the control unit 17 switches the exchange 12 to the FAX modem 14, and the order data created in advance is sent to the FAX driver 16, the FAX modem 14, and the exchange. 12 and the public network 4 to the FAX machine 5 of the restaurant A (STEP 12). As a result, restaurant A
On the side, the user can surely recognize the order contents and the location of the user, and the food can be delivered to the user accordingly. The processing when the response operation for accepting the order is not performed at the restaurant A will be described later.

After the FAX transmission to the restaurant A is completed as described above (STEP 13), the request information notification unit 21 of the control unit 17 causes the terminal device 1 of the user to inform the information management device 3 next. If it is not disconnected (if it is connected), the user is notified via the public network 4 etc. that the order to the restaurant A has been completed. To the terminal device 1 of the terminal device 1 and display it on the display 8a of the terminal device 1 (STE
P15). As a result, the user can recognize that his or her own order was certainly placed in the restaurant A. Then, after this, if the user disconnects the terminal device 1 from the information providing device 3 (STEP 16), the process ends.

Further, in STEP 14, the terminal device 1
If the call is disconnected, the request information notifying unit 21 instructs the voice response device 10 and the exchange 12 to make a phone call to the effect that the order to the restaurant A has been completed. At this time,
The exchange 12 is switched to the voice response device 10 side, and the voice response device 10 calls the user's telephone via the exchange 12 and the public line network 4 in accordance with the user's telephone number taken into the location information acquisition unit 18. Call device 2 (S
TEP17). At this time, when the user receives the call, the voice response device 10 notifies the user of the completion of the order by automatic voice. Thereby, the user can recognize that the order is certainly placed in the restaurant A even after the terminal device 1 is disconnected.

On the other hand, in STEP 10, if the telephone of the restaurant A is not available, or in STEP 11, the restaurant A does not perform a predetermined response operation for receiving an order within a fixed time, or the order is not accepted. If you operate that you can not,
As shown in FIG. 6, the request information notification unit 21 of the control unit 17 determines whether or not the terminal device 1 of the user is disconnected from the information management device 3 (STEP 18),
If it is disconnected, the voice response device 10 and the exchange 12 are instructed to make a telephone call that the order to the restaurant A could not be made due to the absence of the restaurant A. At this time, the exchange 12 is switched to the side of the voice response device 10, and the voice response device 10 is connected to the location information acquisition unit 18
According to the telephone number of the user taken in by the telephone number, the telephone of the user's telephone 2 is called through the exchange 12 and the public line network 4 (STEP 19), and the process ends. At this time, when the user receives the call, the voice response device 10 notifies the user by an automatic voice that the order to the restaurant A could not be made due to the absence of the restaurant A.

Further, in STEP 17, the terminal device 1
Is not disconnected (if connected),
The request information notifying unit 21 transmits the fact that the order to the restaurant A could not be made due to the absence of the restaurant A to the terminal device 1 of the user via the public line network 4 or the like, and the terminal device 1 Is displayed on the display 8a (STEP 20). After that, if the user disconnects the terminal device 1 from the information providing device 3 (STEP 21), the process ends.

As described above, due to the absence of the restaurant A, etc.
If you cannot place an order at Restaurant A, please let us know.
By notifying by telephone to the user or transmission to the terminal device 1, it is possible to confirm that the order to the restaurant A could not be placed regardless of the connection / disconnection of the terminal device 1 to / from the information providing device 3. Can be notified to the user. Then, with this notification, it is possible to surely avoid a situation in which the user is left unrecognized even though the restaurant A is not actually ordered.

As described above, according to the communication system of the present embodiment, the user simply inputs his / her location, order details, etc. into the terminal device 1 to provide the desired service from the nearest restaurant A ( You can receive the food delivery service) efficiently and quickly.

In the present embodiment, the system for delivering food to the home has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to other various service provisions according to the user's request. is there.

In this embodiment, the facsimile device 5 is used as the request information receiving device, but the terminal device 1
The same personal computer or the like may be used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main part of the communication system of FIG.

3 is an explanatory diagram showing files stored in a database provided in the communication system of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing files stored in a database provided in the communication system of FIG.

5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the communication system of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the communication system of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Terminal device, 2, 6 ... Telephone, 3 ... Information management device, 4
... Public line network (communication line), 5 ... Facsimile device (request information receiving device), 11 ... Database, 18 ... Location information acquisition unit, 19 ... Request information acquisition unit, 20 ... Position information acquisition unit, 21 ... Request information notification Department.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A communication system in which a terminal device and an information management device for exchanging information with the terminal device are connected by a communication line, wherein the terminal device is connected to the information management device, Location information acquisition means for obtaining location information of the user of the terminal device, request information acquisition means for obtaining request information of the user of the terminal device from the terminal device,
A database that holds in advance the position information of a plurality of requested persons that can realize the request information of the user and the location information of the user acquired by the location information acquisition means, and conforms to the location of the user Position information acquisition means for acquiring the position information of the requested person from the database, and the user acquired by the request information acquisition means based on the position information of the requested person acquired by the position information acquisition means And a request information notifying means for notifying the requestee of the request information of 1. in the information management device. 2. The information management device is connected via a communication line to a request information receiving device provided on the requested person side to receive the request information, and the request information notifying means,
2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the request information receiving device is notified of the request information via the communication line. 3. The information management device comprises means for, when notification of the request information to the request information receiving device by the request information notifying device is completed, transmitting to that effect to the terminal device of the user. The communication system according to claim 2, wherein: 4. The request information notifying means for notifying that a request has been made by a user of the terminal device by a telephone possessed by the requested person, and the requested person for the telephone notification. It is characterized by comprising means for transmitting the request information to the receiving device in response to a response operation, and means for transmitting to that effect to the user's terminal device when the telephone notification is unreachable. The communication system according to claim 2 or 3. 5. The location information of the user of the terminal device obtained by the location information obtaining means includes at least the telephone number of the user, and the request information notifying means makes the telephone call to the requested person. When transmitting to the terminal device of the user that the notification is non-deliverable, when the terminal device is disconnected from the information management device, based on the telephone number acquired by the location information acquisition means, The communication system according to claim 4, further comprising means for notifying by telephone of the user that the telephone notification to the requested person is out of service. 6. The communication according to claim 1, further comprising means for notifying the terminal device of the position information of the requested person acquired by the position information acquisition means. system.