JPH11340976A - Electronic conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a conference smooth by outputting correspondent speech contents only to a participant designated by destination information stored in a speech storage part. SOLUTION: Attribute information containing the destination information for designating a participant A, who can read speech contents corresponding to speech information, which is inputted, prepared by a speech input part 101 and stored in a speech storage part 102, and content kind information expressing the kind of speech contents corresponding to that speech information is added to the speech information. Then, a speech output part 103 outputs the correspondent speech contents only to the participant A designated by the destination information stored in the speech storage part 102 while using a communication means 105 of the participant A. This speech output part 103 has an interface for issuing a read request to the speech information stored in the speech storage part 102.

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. More specifically, the present invention relates to an electronic conferencing system in which utterance information obtained by digitizing utterance contents of a participant is stored and other participants refer to the stored utterance information. The present invention relates to an electronic conferencing system that provides a virtual electronic conference room in which remarks can be exchanged between participants.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an electronic conferencing system in which the contents of participants' comments are digitized and managed by a computer has often been used as a means of alleviating the locational and time constraints in conducting a conference. . In the above electronic conference system, for example, utterance information of each participant input using a computer as a client is stored on a specific computer having a server function. On the other hand, the accumulated utterance information is timely output to an output device of a computer used by the participant when the participant makes a browsing request. That is, in the above electronic conference system, since the proceedings proceed as each participant transmits and receives utterance information via the computer, each participant does not necessarily need to gather at the same place at the same time. However, while the burden on each participant is reduced,
Due to computer-specific restrictions such as difficulty in understanding the user interface, there is a case where each participant does not speak actively and the proceedings do not progress. For this reason, for example, see
In the electronic conferencing system described in Japanese Patent No. 48603, it is determined whether or not the proceedings are in progress while the meeting is being held. If the proceedings are not in progress, the chairperson and the participants are notified by e-mail. By performing a process of automatically transmitting a warning message, the proceedings of the proceedings are facilitated.

[0003]

However, in the conventional electronic conference system, it is assumed that conference participants voluntarily participate in the electronic conference system. Even if the progress is delayed, it is not possible to notify that the proceedings of the proceedings are delayed unless the participant is connected to the electronic conference system. Also, as in a real meeting where participants exchange opinions verbally using documents, etc., they cannot be held in a system in which participants have a personal conversation with each other. Was visible to all participants. For this reason, there was a risk that the proceedings of the proceedings were delayed, and that there was no lively exchange of opinions, and the meeting could not be run smoothly. In order to solve the problems in the conventional technology, the present invention improves an electronic conference system, realizes a personal conversation between participants in the same electronic conference system, and provides an electronic conference system. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic conference system capable of performing a conference more smoothly by allowing a participant to be notified when a response is necessary even when the terminal is not connected.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a statement input for inputting and creating statement information in which the statement contents of participants participating in a conference are converted into electronic information. An electronic conference, comprising: a statement storage unit for storing statement information input and created by the statement input unit; and a statement output unit for reading the statement information stored in the statement storage unit and outputting the statement contents. In the system, attribute information including destination information for designating a participant who can view a statement corresponding to the statement information is included in statement information input and created by the statement input unit and stored in the statement storage unit. Is added, and only the participant specified by the destination information stored in the utterance storage unit
The electronic conference system is configured to output the contents of the corresponding remarks. Further, the invention according to claim 2 provides a statement input section for inputting and creating statement information in which the statement contents of the participants participating in the conference are converted into electronic information, and a statement input section for creating the statement information input by the statement input section. A teleconference network having a utterance accumulating unit for accumulating, a utterance output unit for reading utterance information accumulated in the utterance accumulating unit and outputting utterance contents; In an electronic conference system including communication means for sending and receiving, in the comment information input and created by the comment input unit and stored in the comment storage unit, it is possible to browse the comment content corresponding to the comment information. Attribute information including destination information for designating a participant is added, and the utterance output unit is only used for the participant specified by the destination information stored in the utterance storage unit. It is configured as an electronic conference system, characterized in that the speech content of response and outputs by using the communication means of the participants. According to the electronic conference system according to claim 1 or 2, in a system in which participants have a personal conversation with each other, such as a real conference where participants exchange opinions verbally using documents and the like. Since the conference can be performed in the electronic conference network, it is not necessary to use another means for conducting a private conversation, and the proceedings of the proceedings in the virtual electronic conference room provided by the electronic conference system are facilitated. be able to.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic conference system according to the second aspect, the attribute information includes content type information indicating a type of statement content corresponding to the statement information. A contact information storage unit for storing, for each participant, contact information for designating another communication means used by each participant for exchanging information outside the electronic conference network; The content type information stored in the section is read out at a predetermined time, and utterance information requiring a response is extracted. If there is no response to the extracted utterance information by the readout time, a participant who needs to make a response is required. For the participant, it is necessary to read out the contact information stored in the contact information storage unit and use the other communication means specified by the read contact information to respond to the participant. By comprising a contact information transmitting unit for transmitting the contact information indicating that the gist thereof. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a statement input unit for inputting and creating statement information in which the statement contents of the participants participating in the conference are converted into electronic information, and the statement information input and created by the statement input unit. A teleconference network having a utterance accumulating unit for accumulating, a utterance output unit for reading utterance information accumulated in the utterance accumulating unit and outputting utterance contents; In a teleconference system comprising communication means for transmitting and receiving, in the speech information input and created by the speech input unit and stored in the speech accumulation unit, a content representing a type of speech content corresponding to the speech information Attribute information including type information is added, and a communication for each participant to specify another communication means used for exchanging information outside the electronic conference network. A communication information storage unit for storing information corresponding to each participant, and content type information stored in the utterance storage unit are read out at a predetermined time to extract utterance information that requires a response, and the extracted utterance If there is no response to the information by the read time, for the participant who needs to respond, the contact information stored in the contact information storage section is read, and the read contact information is used. A contact information transmitting unit that transmits contact information indicating that a response is required to the participant by using another designated communication means. .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic conference system according to the third or fourth aspect, the another communication means can use an electronic mail, and The main point is that the contact information is transmitted to the participant by e-mail.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic conference system according to any one of the third to fifth aspects, the contact information transmitting unit includes a statement to which content type information indicating a question or an agenda presentation is added. The point is to extract information. The invention according to claim 7 is the same as the above-mentioned claim 3.
7. The electronic conference system according to any one of items 1 to 6, wherein the contact information transmitting unit repeatedly transmits the contact information until a predetermined number of times or a response is made to the extracted statement information. And Claim 3
According to the electronic conferencing system described in any one of the above-described items 7, although a participant is required to respond to a comment such as a question or an agenda presentation, the participant connects to the electronic conferencing network. If not, another means of communication used to send and receive information outside of the teleconference network, such as e-mail to a commonly used address, informs the participant that a response is needed. And, if necessary, the communication is repeated, so that the contents of remarks can be exchanged more quickly, and the proceedings of the proceedings in a virtual electronic conference room provided by the electronic conference system can be facilitated. Can be.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to provide an understanding of the present invention.
The following embodiment is a specific example of the present invention and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. First, FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an electronic conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic conference system according to one embodiment of the present invention is for inputting and creating statement information in which the statement contents of participants A (A1, A2,...) Participating in the conference are converted into electronic information. Utterance input unit 101
A comment accumulation unit 102 for accumulating comment information input and created by the comment input unit 101;
2. An electronic conference network 10 having a statement output unit 103 for reading the statement information stored in the statement 2 and outputting the statement contents.
And communication means 105 for each participant A to send and receive remarks from each other via the electronic conference network 104.
This is almost the same as the conventional one in that it is provided with The electronic conference system according to the present embodiment is particularly different from the conventional electronic conference system in that the statement information input and created by the statement input unit 101 and stored in the statement storage unit 102 includes the statement contents corresponding to the statement information. Attribute information including destination information for designating the participant A who can view the message and content type information indicating the type of statement content corresponding to the comment information is added. Only the participant A specified by the destination information stored in the storage unit 102 outputs the corresponding remark content using the communication means 105 of the participant A, and each participant A A contact information storage unit 107 for storing, for each participant A, contact information for designating another communication means 106 used for exchanging information outside the electronic conference network 104; The content type information stored in the utterance storage unit 102 is read at a predetermined time to extract utterance information requiring a response, and if there is no response to the extracted utterance information by the read time, a response is made. For the required participant A, the contact information stored in the contact information storage unit 107 is read, and the other participant A is designated using another communication means 106 specified by the read contact information. And a contact information transmitting unit 108 for transmitting contact information indicating that a response is required.

Here, the electronic conference network 104
Are connected, for example, to a plurality of locations separated from each other, and one or a plurality of client terminals C are connected to each location, and a server machine S having a server function at a specific location is connected to the electronic conference network 104. . The utterance input unit 101, the utterance accumulation unit 102, and the utterance output unit 103
Of these, the comment input unit 101 and the comment output unit 103 that do not require relatively heavy processing are provided in the client terminal C. The comment accumulation unit 102 requiring relatively heavy processing is provided in the server machine S. Also,
The communication means 105 includes the utterance input unit 101 and the utterance output unit 103 provided in the client terminal C.
Manages various data processed by each client terminal C in the electronic conference network 104.
The communication is realized by a program or the like for controlling the communication. Then, each participant A participating in the electronic conference provided by the electronic conference system activates a client terminal C connected to the electronic conference network 104 and uses the communication means 105 to execute the electronic conference network. By logging in to 104, it becomes possible to participate in the electronic conference. Note that the comment input unit 101 and the comment output unit 103 provided in the client terminal C are basically provided whether or not each participant A has logged in to the electronic conference network 104 or not. Can be used.

Next, details of the electronic conference system will be described. In the electronic conference system, the comment input unit 101 includes a statement content of each participant, destination information for designating a participant who can browse the statement content, and a question, an answer, a proceedings presentation, a final It has an interface that uses attribute information, including content type information indicating the type of statement content, such as reports, as input items, and converts the input statement content into electronic information using a keyboard, voice recognition device, etc. And attribute information is added to the comment information. The utterance information and its attribute information input and created by the utterance input unit 101 are transmitted to the communication unit 10.
5 is output to the comment accumulation unit 102 provided in the server machine S via the electronic conference network 104. The utterance information and its attribute information input to the utterance storage unit 102 are stored in a high-speed magnetic storage device or the like, for example, as a database in which a predetermined search key is set. The utterance output unit 103 includes the utterance accumulation unit 10
2 has an interface for issuing a browsing request for the comment information stored in the second. For example, it is possible to issue a browsing request by selecting each statement information displayed on the display with an input means such as a mouse. The utterance output unit 103 has an output unit such as a display for outputting utterance information input from the utterance accumulation unit 102 or a synthesized speech generator. With this output means, each participant A can browse the contents of statements of other participants A.

Here, the operation when the comment output unit 103 makes a browse request and browses the contents of a comment will be described.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation. The browsing request issued by the comment output unit 103 is controlled by the communication unit 105 and is controlled by the electronic conference network 10.
4, a comment accumulation unit 10 provided in the server machine S
2 (S1031). The utterance accumulation unit 102
In response to the browsing request, the utterance information and the attribute information corresponding to the request are output to the utterance output unit 103 provided in the client terminal C, and the utterance information and the target The attribute information is obtained (S1032). The attribute information includes destination information for designating the participant A who can browse the comment content corresponding to the comment information.
The server compares and refers to the login information of the participant A requesting the browsing and the above-mentioned destination information, and determines whether or not the browsing of the participant A is permitted (S1033). If it is determined in step S1033 that the participant A is permitted to browse, the utterance output unit 103 uses the output unit to output utterance information. The attribute information is also output (S103
4). On the other hand, if it is determined in the processing S1033 that the participant A is not permitted to browse, the utterance output unit 103 does not output the utterance information transmitted from the utterance accumulation unit 102 ( In step S1035, for example, a message indicating that browsing is not permitted is output by the output unit. In the above electronic conferencing system, it is possible to specify the participant to be browsed as described above. Therefore, as in an actual conference where participants exchange opinions verbally while using documents, etc. This can be performed in a system for conducting a personal conversation or in an electronic conference network, and the proceedings of the proceedings in a virtual electronic conference room provided by the electronic conference system can be facilitated.

[0011] Further, in the contact information storage unit 107,
Contact information for designating another communication means 106 used by each participant A for exchanging information outside the electronic conference network 104 is stored in a magnetic storage device or the like corresponding to each participant. The other communication means 106 is, for example, the electronic conference network 104 capable of using e-mail.
An external network or a telephone line. It is desirable that these are used frequently by each participant A on a daily basis. The contact information is, for example, the electronic conference network 10.
E-mail addresses assigned to the outside networks, and telephone numbers of telephones placed on desks used daily by each participant. Also, the contact information transmitting unit 108
Reads out the content type information from the attribute information stored in the utterance storage unit 102 at a predetermined time, extracts utterance information that requires a response, and responds to the extracted utterance information by the read time. For example, for the participant A who needs to make a response, the contact information stored in the contact information storage unit 107 is read, and another communication unit 106 specified by the read contact information is used. Then, a process of transmitting contact information indicating that a response is necessary to the participant A is performed.

More specifically, the contact information transmitting unit 10
At 8, the operation as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 is performed according to a predetermined schedule. When a predetermined maintenance time comes, the contact information transmitting unit 108
The utterance information and its attribute information stored in the utterance storage unit 102 are acquired (S1081). Next, the content type information is read from the acquired attribute information, and it is determined whether or not there is utterance information requiring a response such as a question / agenda presentation (S1082). In the above processing S1082,
If it is determined that there is utterance information that requires a response,
The utterance information and its attribute information stored in the utterance storage unit 102 are acquired again (S1083), and is there any utterance information to which content type information such as a response to the question or a final report to the proceedings is added? It is determined whether or not it is (S1084). If it is determined in step S1084 that there is utterance information about the answer or the final report corresponding to the question or the presentation of the proceedings, the current process is terminated, and the process is started from step S1081 after a certain period of time has elapsed. (S1085). If it is determined in the above processing S1084 that there is no utterance information on the answer or the final report corresponding to the question or the presentation of the proceedings, the communication transmission completed flag (initial value False) included in the attribute information is read. In the above, it is False whether the above-mentioned communication dispatched flag is True
It is determined whether it is e (S1086). The above processing S1
In step 086, when it is determined that the notification transmission completed flag is False, the communication transmission unit 108 reads the communication information such as an electronic mail address from the communication information storage unit 107, and An e-mail (106) notifying that a response is required is transmitted via a network or the like outside the electronic conference network (S10).
87). Here, the above-mentioned communication completion flag indicates whether the participant A who needs to respond to the question or the presentation of the proceedings is once contacted using another communication means 107 (True).
This flag is for recording whether or not (False), and is incremented each time the participant A is contacted using another contact means 107. If it is determined in the processing S106 that the contacted flag is True and that the notification e-mail has already been transmitted once,
An e-mail (106) alerting you to remind you
The message is transmitted to the participant A (S1088). Then, in the above-mentioned processing S1082, when it is determined that there is no utterance information requiring a response, or when the above-described processing S1087 and S10
After the end of S88, the above processing S1085 is performed.
In other words, if no response is made in spite of the necessity of a response, the above processes S1081 to S1 are performed until there is a response.
088 is performed. Therefore, according to the above electronic conference system, even if a participant is required to respond to a comment such as a question or an agenda presentation, the electronic conference network 104 is not connected to the participant. It is possible to notify the participant that a response is necessary to another participant by e-mail to another communication means 106 used for exchanging information outside the electronic conference network 104, for example, an e-mail to a commonly used address. If necessary, the communication is repeated, so that the contents of remarks can be exchanged more quickly and the proceedings of the proceedings in a virtual electronic conference room provided by the electronic conference system can be facilitated.

[0013]

[Embodiment] In the above-described embodiment, a message indicating that a response is required is sent using the separate communication means 106 until a response is received. , The communication may be terminated.
And, even if the above-mentioned communication transmission completed flag exceeds a predetermined number, if there is no response from the participant to the question or the like,
For example, a participant who has made a question or the like may be notified to that effect, and may confirm whether or not to continue the communication by the another communication means 106. Such an electronic conference system is also an example of the electronic conference system in the present invention. In the above embodiment, the comment input unit 101 and the comment output unit 103 are provided in the client terminal C. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the comment accumulation unit 102 is also distributed to each client terminal C. It may be provided.
Such an electronic conference system is also an example of the electronic conference system in the present invention.

[0014]

As described above, according to the electronic conferencing system according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, as in a real conference in which participants exchange opinions verbally while using documents and the like, mutual participation between participants is achieved. Can be held in a system for conducting personal conversations or in an electronic conference network, so that there is no need to use another means for conducting personal conversations, and the virtual electronic The proceedings of the proceedings in the conference hall can be facilitated. According to the electronic conferencing system according to any one of claims 3 to 7, for example, regarding a comment such as a question or a presentation of an agenda, a response of a participant is required, but the electronic conferencing is required. Even if the participant is not connected to the network, the participant needs to respond to other communication means used to exchange information outside the teleconference network, for example, by e-mail to a commonly used address Can be notified, and if necessary, the communication is repeated. Therefore, the exchange of remarks can be performed more quickly, and the proceedings of the proceedings in the virtual electronic conference room provided by the above electronic conference system can be performed. Can be facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electronic conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of a comment output unit of the electronic conference system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of a contact information transmitting unit of the electronic conference system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 utterance input unit 102 utterance storage unit 103 utterance output unit 104 electronic conference network 105 communication means 106 another communication means 107 contact information storage unit 108 contact information transmission unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] An utterance input unit for inputting and creating utterance information in which utterance contents of a participant participating in a conference are converted into electronic information, and a utterance storage unit for storing utterance information input and created by the utterance input unit. And an utterance output unit for reading utterance information stored in the utterance storage unit and outputting utterance contents, wherein the utterance input created by the utterance input unit and stored in the utterance storage unit Attribute information including destination information for designating a participant who can view the content of the statement corresponding to the statement information is added to the information, and the statement output unit outputs the destination stored in the statement storage unit. An electronic conference system characterized in that a corresponding comment is output only to the participant specified by the information. 2. A utterance input unit for inputting and generating utterance information in which utterance contents of a participant participating in a conference are converted into electronic information, and a utterance storage unit for storing utterance information input and generated by the utterance input unit. And a teleconference network having a statement output unit for reading the statement information accumulated in the statement accumulating unit and outputting the statement contents, and a communication for allowing each participant to exchange the statement contents with each other via the electronic conference network. In the electronic conference system comprising means, the participant capable of browsing the statement content corresponding to the statement information is specified in the statement information input and created by the statement input unit and stored in the statement storage unit. Attribute information including destination information is added, and the utterance output unit outputs the utterance content corresponding to only the participant specified by the destination information stored in the utterance storage unit. Is output using the communication means of the participant. 3. The attribute information also includes content type information indicating a type of statement content corresponding to the statement information, and another attribute used by each participant for exchanging information outside the electronic conference network. A contact information storage unit that stores contact information for designating communication means corresponding to each participant, and a content type information stored in the message storage unit that is read out at a predetermined time, and a message that requires a response is read out. Information is extracted, and if there is no response to the extracted utterance information by the readout time, the contact information stored in the contact information storage unit is read and read for the participant who needs to respond. 3. A communication information transmitting unit for transmitting communication information indicating that a response is required to the participant using another communication means specified by the issued communication information. Stated Electronic conferencing system. 4. A utterance input unit for inputting and generating utterance information in which utterance contents of a participant participating in a conference are converted into electronic information, and a utterance storage unit for storing the utterance information input and generated by the utterance input unit. And a teleconference network having a statement output unit for reading the statement information accumulated in the statement accumulating unit and outputting the statement contents, and a communication for allowing each participant to exchange the statement contents with each other via the electronic conference network. Means, wherein the comment information input and created by the comment input unit and stored in the comment storage unit includes content type information indicating the type of the comment content corresponding to the comment information. The information is added, and each participant provides contact information for designating another communication means used for exchanging information outside the electronic conference network. The communication information storage unit and the content type information stored in the utterance storage unit are read out at a predetermined time to extract the utterance information that needs a response, and the extracted utterance information is If there is no response by the reading time, for the participant who needs to respond, the contact information stored in the contact information storage section is read, and another part specified by the read contact information is read. An electronic conference system comprising: a communication information transmitting unit that transmits, using communication means, communication information indicating that the participant needs a response. 5. The communication means according to claim 3, wherein said another communication means is capable of using an electronic mail, and said contact information transmitting section transmits said contact information to said participant by electronic mail. Or the electronic conference system according to 4. 6. The electronic conference system according to claim 3, wherein the contact information transmitting unit extracts statement information to which content type information indicating a question or an agenda presentation is added. 7. The communication information transmitting unit according to claim 3, wherein the communication information transmitting unit repeatedly transmits the communication information until a predetermined number of times or a response is received for the extracted utterance information.
Electronic conferencing system according to the section.