WO2010052915A1

WO2010052915A1 - Connection control server, teleconferencing system, connection control method and connection control program

Info

Publication number: WO2010052915A1
Application number: PCT/JP2009/005902
Authority: WO
Inventors: 松田淳一
Original assignee: 日本電気株式会社
Priority date: 2008-11-07
Filing date: 2009-11-06
Publication date: 2010-05-14

Abstract

A connection control server (100) comprises a database (110) that stores telephone communication terminal information indicating those ones of a plurality of telephone terminals which are communicating with each other; a database (120) that stores terminal position area information for use in determining a particular area including the position where a conference terminal is placed; a database (130) that stores the current positions of a plurality of users; a user position updating unit (140) that updates the current positions of the plurality of users; and a to-be-connected terminal selecting unit (160) that selects first and second conference terminals as conference terminals that should be connected to each other, when the telephone communication terminal information indicates that the telephone terminal of a first user is telephone communicating with that of a second user, the current position of the first user is in a particular area that can be determined from the terminal position area information of the first conference terminal, and when the current position of the second user is in a particular area that can be determined from the terminal position area information of the second conference terminal.

Description

Connection control server, remote conference system, connection control method, and connection control program

The present invention relates to a connection control server, a remote conference system, a connection control method, and a connection control program.

A TV (television) conference system is widely used as a system in which a plurality of users conduct a conference at a remote location.

As a technique related to such a TV conference system, for example, there is a technique described in Patent Document 1. The TV conference support system described in Patent Document 1 is a conference reservation system that works in conjunction with user schedule data. To be specific, when a person who is scheduled to attend a conference is specified, the registered schedule and conference reservation status are referred to automatically search for a time zone in which the conference can be held, and the conference room is reserved to hold the conference date and time. Send emails to prospective participants.

JP 2005-223650 A

However, the TV conference support system described in Patent Document 1 has reserved a conference room based on a user's schedule. For this reason, even if the conference room is automatically reserved, the connection between the conference terminals used in the TV conference has to be performed by the user himself / herself participating in the TV conference.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a connection control server, a remote conference system, a connection control method, and a connection control program for automatically connecting between conference terminals to be connected. It is to provide.

According to the present invention, a connection control server that selects the conference terminals to be connected to each other from among a plurality of conference terminals arranged at different locations,
Call information storage means for storing call terminal information indicating two telephone terminals that are talking to each other among a plurality of telephone terminals possessed by each of a plurality of users;
Terminal location storage means for storing terminal location area information for specifying a predetermined area including a location where the conference terminal is arranged for each of the plurality of conference terminals;
User position storage means for storing the current position of each of the plurality of users;
User position update means for updating the current position of each of the plurality of users stored in the user position storage means;
The call terminal information indicates that the phone terminal of the first user and the phone terminal of a second user are in a call, and the current location of the first user is the first The current position of the second user exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the second conference terminal and exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the conference terminal. A connection terminal selection means for selecting the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal as a conference terminal to be connected to each other when present;
A connection control server is provided.

According to the present invention, a connection control system comprising a plurality of conference terminals and a connection control server for selecting the conference terminals to be connected to each other,
The connection control server
Call information storage means for storing call terminal information indicating two telephone terminals that are talking to each other among a plurality of telephone terminals possessed by each of a plurality of users;
Terminal location storage means for storing terminal location area information for specifying a predetermined area including a location where the conference terminal is arranged for each of the plurality of conference terminals;
User position storage means for storing the current position of each of the plurality of users;
User position update means for updating the current position of each of the plurality of users stored in the user position storage means;
The call terminal information indicates that the phone terminal of the first user and the phone terminal of a second user are in a call, and the current location of the first user is the first The current position of the second user exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the second conference terminal and exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the conference terminal. A connection terminal selection means for selecting the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal as a conference terminal to be connected to each other when present;
A teleconferencing system is provided.

According to the present invention, there is provided a connection control method for selecting the conference terminals to be connected to each other from among a plurality of conference terminals arranged at different locations,
For each of the plurality of conference terminals, a computer stores terminal position area information for specifying a predetermined area including a position where the conference terminal is arranged,
The computer stores a current position of each of a plurality of users,
A call information storage step in which the computer stores call terminal information indicating two telephone terminals that are talking to each other among a plurality of telephone terminals possessed by each of the plurality of users;
A user position update step in which the computer updates the current position of each of the plurality of users stored in the user position storage step;
The computer indicates that the call terminal information indicates that the phone terminal of the first user and the phone terminal of the second user are in a call, and the current location of the first user is It exists in the predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the first conference terminal, and the current position of the second user is specified from the terminal position area information of the second conference terminal. A connection terminal selection step of selecting the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal as a conference terminal to be connected to each other when existing in a predetermined area;
A connection control method is provided.

According to the present invention, there is provided a connection control program for selecting the conference terminals to be connected to each other from among a plurality of conference terminals arranged at different locations,
A call information storage procedure for storing call terminal information indicating two telephone terminals that are talking to each other among a plurality of telephone terminals possessed by each of a plurality of users;
A terminal location storage procedure for storing terminal location area information for specifying a predetermined area including a location where the conference terminal is arranged for each of the plurality of conference terminals;
A user position storage procedure for storing a current position of each of the plurality of users;
A user location update procedure for updating the current location of each of the plurality of users stored in the user location storage procedure;
The call terminal information indicates that the phone terminal of the first user and the phone terminal of a second user are in a call, and the current location of the first user is the first The current position of the second user exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the second conference terminal and exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the conference terminal. A connection terminal selection procedure for selecting, when present, the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal as a conference terminal to be connected to each other;
A connection control program characterized by causing a computer to execute is provided.

According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically connect between conference terminals to be connected.

It is a schematic block diagram which showed the structure of the outline of the remote conference system which concerns on this Embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the connection control server which concerns on this Embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the telephone terminal which concerns on this Embodiment. It is the figure which showed an example of the call terminal information table which the call information storage database which concerns on this Embodiment has. It is the figure which showed an example of the terminal arrangement position information table which the terminal position storage database which concerns on this Embodiment has. It is the figure which showed an example of the present position information table which the user position storage database which concerns on this Embodiment has. It is the flowchart which showed the connection control process of the connection control server which concerns on this Embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the connection control server which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the conference terminal which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the connection control process of the connection control server which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the connection control process of the connection control server which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the connection request rejection process of the connection control server which concerns on 4th Embodiment.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same components, and the description will be omitted as appropriate.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of a remote conference system 500 according to the present embodiment. A remote conference system 500 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a connection control server 100, a telephone terminal 210, a conference terminal 220, a telephone terminal 310, and a conference terminal 320. Note that a relay device 700 may be provided.

The connection control server 100 selects a conference terminal to be connected to one another from a plurality of conference terminals (for example, the conference terminal 220 and the conference terminal 320) arranged at different locations.

Specifically, the connection control server 100 first stores call terminal information indicating two telephone terminals that are communicating with each other among telephone terminals possessed by a plurality of users. If the user A possesses the telephone terminal 210, the user B possesses the telephone terminal 310, and the user A and the user B are in a call, the connection control server 100 includes the telephone terminal 210 and the telephone terminal. Call terminal information indicating that 310 is in a call is stored. The connection control server 100 is not particularly limited as means for acquiring the call terminal information, and may be acquired from the relay device 700 by, for example, wired and / or wireless communication.

The relay device 700 is a so-called telephone exchange, and connects two different telephone terminals. The relay device 700 may be a private branch exchange used for an extension telephone, for example. In the case where the connection control server 100 is configured to acquire information on two telephone terminals that are talking to each other from the relay apparatus 700, the relay apparatus 700, when two telephone terminals are interconnected, triggers it. Information indicating that two telephone terminals are interconnected and information identifying two interconnected telephone terminals (call terminal information) may be transmitted to the connection control server 100.

As another means for the connection control server 100 to acquire the call terminal information, the connection control server 100 may acquire the call terminal information from the telephone terminal by wireless communication. In such a case, when a connection for a call with another telephone terminal is made, each telephone terminal uses the information indicating that it has been interconnected with another telephone terminal and two interconnected telephone terminals as a trigger. Information for identifying (call terminal information) may be transmitted to the connection control server 100.

Further, the connection control server 100 stores terminal position area information for specifying a predetermined area including the position where the conference terminal is arranged for each of the plurality of conference terminals. The terminal position area information may be information indicating a position where each conference terminal is arranged, for example. The connection control server 100 also stores the current position information of each of a plurality of users such as the user A and the user B as the respective current positions. Then, the connection control server 100 updates the current location information of each stored user.

In the connection control server 100, the telephone terminal 210 of the user A and the telephone terminal 310 of the user B are talking, and the current position of the user A exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the conference terminal 220. When the current location of user B is within a predetermined area specified from the terminal location area information of conference terminal 320, conference terminal 220 and conference terminal 320 are selected as conference terminals to be connected to each other. To do. In the predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information, for example, when the terminal position area information is “information indicating the position where each conference terminal is arranged”, the position specified by the terminal position area information is It may be within a circle having a radius R (arbitrary design matter) as the center, or a square having a length L (arbitrary design matter) of one side centered on the position specified by the terminal position area information. There may be. The rules for calculating the enumerated predetermined regions are merely examples, and other rules determined according to these rules may be used.

In addition, in the predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information, a plurality of pieces of information specifying the predetermined area with position information (latitude, longitude, etc.) are held in advance, and the terminal position area information in these predetermined areas It may be within a predetermined area including a position specified by (information indicating a position where each conference terminal is arranged). For example, a plurality of pieces of information for specifying a plurality of rooms (

conference rooms

200, 300, etc.) in a building with position information may be held in advance as information for specifying a predetermined area. In such a case, the inside of the predetermined area including the position specified by the terminal position area information (information indicating the position where each conference terminal is arranged) is in the room (

conference room

200, 300, etc.) where the terminal position exists. .

When the conference terminal 220 and the conference terminal 320 are selected as a conference terminal to be connected from among a plurality of conference terminals, each of the conference terminal 220 and the conference terminal 320 is connected to the connection control server 100. The conference terminal 220 and the conference terminal 320 are connected to each other via the connection control server 100 (relay).

The conference room 200 is a conference room (location) where the conference terminal 220 is arranged. In this conference room 200, a user A having a telephone terminal 210 and an employee ID card 240 is present. In the conference room 200, an infrared transmitter (arrangement position information transmitting means) 230 that performs infrared communication with the telephone terminal 210 or employee ID 240 of the user A is disposed on the ceiling. Further, in the conference room 200, an access point 232 that allows the telephone terminal 210 to communicate with the connection control server 100 via a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) is installed on the ceiling. The telephone terminal (user identification information storage means) 210 or the employee ID card (user identification information storage means) 240 stores user identification information for identifying the user A.

The infrared transmitter 230 transmits a position ID (arrangement position information) indicating a position for each area in the conference room 200. The telephone terminal 210 receives the position ID from the infrared transmitter 230, and transmits the received position ID and the stored user identification information to the access point 232. The access point 232 receives the transmitted position ID and user identification information, and transmits the position ID and user identification information to the connection control server 100.

In this way, the connection control server 100, if the user A is present in the conference room 200, transmits the infrared communication by the infrared transmitter 230 and the wireless LAN by the access point 232 from the telephone terminal 210 owned by the user A. Thus, the position ID and the user identification information can be received. Thereby, the connection control server 100 can acquire the position information of the user A from the received position ID and the user identification information, and can acquire the current position of the user A.

In acquiring the current location of the user A, the present embodiment is not limited to the acquisition of the location information described above. For example, by using only a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), Even if the location information and the user identification information of the user A are received from the terminal 210 or the location information of the access point 232 to which the telephone terminal 210 is connected are received, the current location of the user A is acquired. good.

Further, for example, when the entrance / exit of the conference room 200 is managed by the employee ID 240, the entrance / exit of the conference room 200 is managed by the user identification information for specifying the user having the employee ID 240, and the user identification information It is also possible to acquire the current position of the user A by detecting.

The conference room 300 is a conference room different from the conference room 200 and is a conference room (place) where the conference terminal 320 is arranged. In this conference room 300, a user B having a telephone terminal 310 and an employee ID card 340 is present. In the conference room 300, an infrared transmitter (arrangement position information transmitting means) 330 that performs infrared communication with the telephone terminal 310 or employee ID 340 of the user B is disposed on the ceiling. Further, in the conference room 300, an access point 332 that allows the telephone terminal 310 to communicate with the connection control server 100 via a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) is installed on the ceiling. The telephone terminal (user identifier storage means) 310 or the employee ID card (user identifier storage means) 340 stores user identification information for identifying the user B.

The infrared transmitter 330 transmits a position ID indicating the position of each area in the conference room 300. The telephone terminal 310 receives the position ID from the infrared transmitter 330 and transmits the received position ID and the stored user identification information to the access point 332. The access point 332 receives the transmitted position ID and user identification information, and transmits the position ID and user identification information to the connection control server 100.

As described above, as in the case of the user A, the connection control server 100 allows the infrared signal transmitted from the telephone terminal 310 owned by the user B to be transmitted by the infrared transmitter 330 if the user B is present in the conference room 300. The location ID and the user identification information can be received by communication and the wireless LAN by the access point 332. Thereby, the connection control server 100 can acquire the position information of the user B from the received position ID and the user identification information, and can acquire the current position of the user B.

Note that, in the case of acquiring the current position of the user B, as in the case of the user A, the present embodiment is not limited to the acquisition of the position information described above. For example, by using only a wireless LAN, In the form of receiving the current position of the user B by receiving the position information and user identification information of the user B from the telephone terminal 310 in the middle, or receiving the position information of the access point 332 to which the telephone terminal 310 is connected There may be.

Further, for example, when the entrance / exit of the conference room 300 is managed by the employee ID 340, the entrance / exit of the conference room 300 is managed by the user identification information for identifying the user having the employee ID 340, and the user identification information It is also possible to acquire the current position of the user B by detecting.

The connection control server 100, the conference terminal 220, and the conference terminal 320 are connected to each other via the network 400.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the connection control server 100 according to the present embodiment. The connection control server 100 shown in FIG. 2 includes a call information storage database (call information storage means) 110, a terminal location storage database (terminal location storage means) 120, a user location storage database (user location storage means) 130, a user A location update unit 140, a call terminal information update unit 150, a connection terminal selection unit 160, and a connection processing unit 170 are provided.

The call information storage database 110 has a call terminal information table that stores call terminal information indicating two telephone terminals that are talking to each other among a plurality of telephone terminals possessed by a plurality of users.

The terminal location storage database 120 has a terminal location information table for storing terminal location area information for specifying a predetermined area including the location where the conference terminal is placed for each of a plurality of conference terminals.

The user position storage database 130 has a current position information table that stores current position information of each of a plurality of users.

The user position update unit 140 updates the current position information of each of the plurality of users stored in the user position storage database 130. Specifically, the user position update unit 140 acquires the current position information of each user's current position using, for example, the

infrared transmitters

230 and 330 and the

access points

232 and 332, and stores the current position information in the user position storage database 130. Update the current position information table.

The call terminal information update unit 150 updates the call terminal information in the call terminal information table included in the call information storage database 110.

The connection terminal selection unit 160 indicates that the telephone terminal of the first user and the telephone terminal of the second user among the plurality of users are talking in the telephone terminal information stored in the telephone call information storage database 110. The current position of the first user is within a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the first conference terminal, and the current position of the second user is the terminal of the second conference terminal. The first conference terminal and the second conference terminal are selected as conference terminals to be connected to each other when they exist within a predetermined area specified from the position area information.

The connection processing unit 170 connects to each of the selected first conference terminal and second conference terminal. The connection processing unit 170 connects the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal by relaying the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal.

Thereby, in this Embodiment, since the connection terminal selection part 160 can select the conference terminal which should be connected, the selected process terminal is relayed by the connection process part 170 via the network 400. Can be connected to each other.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the telephone terminal 210. The telephone terminal 210 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes an arrangement position information receiving unit 211, a user identification information storage unit 212, and a user identification transmission unit 213. The telephone terminal 310 has the same configuration as the telephone terminal 210.

The arrangement position information receiving unit 211 receives a position ID (that is, arrangement position information) corresponding to the conference terminal 220 transmitted from the infrared transmitter 230.

The user identification information storage unit 212 stores user identification information for identifying the user of the telephone terminal 210 from the users of other telephone terminals.

The user identification transmission unit 213 transmits the position ID received from the infrared transmitter 230 and the user identification information stored in the user identification information storage unit 212 to the user position update unit 140 of the connection control server 100.

As a result, the user position update unit 140 (FIG. 2) can receive the position ID and the user identification information from the user identification transmission unit 213, so that the current position information table included in the user position storage database 130 (FIG. 2). Can be updated for each user.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a call terminal information table included in the call information storage database 110. The call terminal information table shown in FIG. 4 includes items of a caller (user) and a callee (user), and describes the name of the user who is currently calling. For example, in FIG. 4, the user A makes a call to the user B and shows that the user B is in a call. Further, both the user C and the user D indicate that they are not talking to anyone. Further, the user E makes a call to the user F and indicates that the user F is in a call.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a terminal arrangement position information table included in the terminal position storage database 120. In the terminal arrangement position information table shown in FIG. 5, a place (arrangement place) where the conference terminal is arranged and the conference terminal arranged at that place are described. For example, in FIG. 5, a conference terminal O is arranged in the conference room H, a conference terminal P is arranged in the conference room I, a conference terminal Q is arranged in the reception room J, and a conference is held in the reception room K. It shows that the terminal R is arranged.

In the terminal arrangement position information table shown in FIG. 5, the identification number of the infrared transmitter installed corresponding to each conference room is described. For example, infrared transmitters W01 to W03 are assigned to the conference room H, infrared transmitters X01 to X03 are assigned to the conference room I, and infrared transmitters Y01 to Y03 are assigned to the reception room J. The reception room K is assigned with infrared transmitters Z01 to Z03. Thereby, since each infrared transmitter (for example, infrared transmitter 230 and 330) according to the area in each meeting room can each transmit position ID, from each user identification information located in the area, User location information can be acquired.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the current position information table that the user position storage database 130 has. In the current position information table shown in FIG. 6, the user name, user identification information, and the current position of the user are stored in association with each other. For example, in FIG. 6, user A is present in conference room H, user B is present in conference room I, user C is present in reception room J, user D and user E. Indicates that the user F is present in the reception room K, and the user F is not present in any conference room.

Here, for example, when determining by integrating FIGS. 4 to 6, the user A (corresponding to the first user) is talking to the user B (corresponding to the second user) while talking to the conference room. The user B is present in H (first conference room), and the user B is present in the conference room I (second conference room) while talking with the user A. On the other hand, the user C is present in the reception room J, and the user D is present in the reception room K, but is not talking. On the other hand, the user E is in the reception room K in the same room as the user D while talking with the user F. User F is talking to user E, but is not in any conference room.

Therefore, according to the example illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6, the connection terminal selection unit 160 includes the conference terminal O in the conference room H in which the user A is present and the conference terminal P in the conference room I in which the user B is present. As a conference terminal to be connected. The connection processing unit 170 connects the conference terminal O and the conference terminal P by connecting and relaying to each of the conference terminal O and the conference terminal P.

The connection control server 100 reads a computer program and executes corresponding data processing, so that a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), I / F (Interface) It can be realized by hardware constructed by a general-purpose device such as a unit, a dedicated logic circuit constructed so as to execute predetermined data processing, or a combination thereof.

In the present embodiment, causing the connection control server 100 to execute various operations corresponding to the computer program also means causing the connection control server 100 to perform operation control.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing connection control processing of the connection control server 100 according to the present embodiment. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 7, the connection control server 100 stores in advance in the terminal arrangement position information table of the terminal position storage database 120 information (terminal position area information) indicating the position where the conference terminal is arranged for each conference terminal. ing. Further, the connection control server 100 stores current position information of a plurality of users.

First, the call terminal information updating unit 150 updates the call terminal information indicating the phone terminals that are talking to each other among the plurality of phone terminals possessed by each of the plurality of users (step S010). This update may be realized, for example, by acquiring information indicating that two telephone terminals are interconnected and information (call terminal information) identifying two interconnected telephone terminals from the relay device 700. Here, when a call is started by two telephone terminals, the call terminal information includes two corresponding pieces of information such as user A and user B or user E and user F as shown in FIG. Indicates that the telephone terminal is busy.

When two telephone terminals are in a call by the updated call terminal information (YES in step S020), the call terminal information update unit 150 displays the call terminal information including the call in the connected terminal selection unit. 160. When the connection terminal selection unit 160 receives the call terminal information from the call terminal information update unit 150, the current position of the user who owns the telephone terminal in the call is stored in any terminal position stored in the terminal arrangement position information table It is determined whether or not it exists within a predetermined area specified by the area information (step S030).

On the other hand, when the two telephone terminals are not in a call (NO in step S020), the call terminal information update unit 150 returns to step S010 and continues to update the call terminal information.

If the current position of the user who owns the telephone terminal that is talking is within the predetermined area specified by any of the terminal position area information (YES in step S030), the connection terminal selection unit 160 determines that terminal. The conference terminal corresponding to the position area information is selected as a terminal to be connected (step S040). In this case, for example, the conference terminal O in the conference room H and the conference terminal P in the conference room I described with reference to FIGS.

On the other hand, when the current position of the user who owns the telephone terminal in a call does not exist in the predetermined area specified by any terminal position area information (NO in step S030), the user position update unit 140 The user's current position information is updated (step S050), and the process returns to step S030. Then, the connected terminal selection unit 160 determines whether or not the current position of the user who owns the telephone terminal in a call exists within a predetermined area specified by the terminal position area information stored in the terminal arrangement position information table. Then, repeated determination is performed (step S030).

When a conference terminal to be connected is selected in step S030, the connection processing unit 170 connects to the selected conference terminal via the network 400 (step S060). For example, in the example of the remote conference system 500 of FIG. 1, the connection processing unit 170 is connected to the conference terminal 220 via the network 400, and the connection processing unit 170 is connected to the conference terminal 320 via the network 400.

Thereby, the conference terminal 220 and the conference terminal 320 can be connected to each other via the network 400 by the connection processing unit 170 relaying.

The connection terminal selection unit 160 continuously updates the current location information of the user, and the updated current location of the user continues within the predetermined area specified by the terminal location area information of the conference terminal selected in step S040. (Step S070). Here, when the updated current position of the user does not exist within the predetermined area specified by the terminal position area information of the conference terminal selected in step S040 (NO in step S070), the connected terminal selection unit 160 Determines that this conference terminal is not a conference terminal to be connected, and causes the connection processing unit 170 to disconnect each of the connected conference terminals (step S080).

On the other hand, when the updated current position of the user is continuously present in the predetermined area specified by the terminal position area information of the conference terminal selected in step S040 (YES in step S070), the connected terminal selection unit 160 continuously updates the current location information of the user (step S090), and continues whether the current location of the user exists in a predetermined area specified by the terminal location area information of the conference terminal selected in step S040. It is determined whether or not (step S070).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the connection terminal selection unit 160 determines whether the current position of one of the users is the terminal position area of the conference terminal selected in step S040 regardless of whether or not the users are on a call. If it does not exist within the predetermined area specified by the information, it is determined that the connection of the connected conference terminal should not be maintained.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the connection terminal selection unit 160 uses the updated call terminal information and the user's current position information to indicate that each other's telephone terminals are talking and the current position of each user. Are present in a predetermined area specified by the terminal position area information of each conference terminal, the respective conference terminals can be selected as conference terminals to be connected to each other.

Thereby, according to the present embodiment, the connection control server 100 can connect the conference terminals corresponding to the current positions of the users who are talking to each other.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment described above, in step S060, the connection processing unit 170 connects to the conference terminal 220 via the network 400, and the connection processing unit 170 connects to the conference terminal 320 via the network 400. However, the present embodiment is not limited to this, and instead of the connection processing unit 170, a connection instruction unit 180 that transmits a connection instruction so as to connect directly to the selected conference terminal may be provided. good.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the connection control server 600 according to the second embodiment. The connection control server 600 shown in FIG. 8 is characterized in that a connection instruction unit 180 is provided instead of the connection processing unit 170 in contrast to the connection control server 100 shown in FIG. The other configuration of the connection control server 600 shown in FIG. 8 is the same as that of the connection control server 100 shown in FIG.

The connection instruction unit 180 has a connection instruction indicating that one of the selected first conference terminal and second conference terminal should be directly connected to the other conference terminal, and a terminal indicating the other conference terminal. Send the identifier.

The one conference terminal (for example, the conference terminal 220) that has received the connection instruction performs direct connection with the other conference terminal based on the terminal identifier of the other conference terminal (for example, the conference terminal 320).

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the conference terminal 220 according to the second embodiment. The conference terminal 220 illustrated in FIG. 9 includes a connection instruction receiving unit 221 and a direct connection unit 222.

The connection instruction receiving unit 221 receives the connection instruction and the terminal identifier transmitted from the connection instruction unit 180 of the connection control server 600.

The direct connection unit 222 directly connects to the conference terminal (for example, the conference terminal 320) corresponding to the terminal identifier according to the connection instruction received by the connection instruction reception unit 221.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart in which the connection method in the connection control process shown in the first embodiment is changed as the second embodiment. The flowchart in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 10 differs from the flowchart in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 7 in the processing contents of step S200, and the other processes are the same as those in the first embodiment. It is the same as the form. Therefore, only step S200 will be described.

In step S200 of FIG. 10, the connection instruction unit 180 connects to one of the selected conference terminals via the network 400 and indicates that the other conference terminal should be directly connected to the other conference terminal. A terminal identifier indicating the terminal is transmitted. The conference terminal that has received this connection instruction receives the terminal identifier to be directly connected, and thus can directly connect to the other conference terminal corresponding to the terminal identifier.

Specifically, the connection instruction unit 180 transmits a connection instruction to the conference terminal 220 and a terminal identifier of the conference terminal 320 that is another conference terminal. The conference terminal 220 can directly connect to the conference terminal 320 by receiving the connection instruction and the terminal identifier of the conference terminal 320.
(Third embodiment)

In the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, the processing in step S020 and step S030 is processed according to the processing procedure shown in FIG. 7, but the present embodiment is not limited to this. Not limited to this, the processing procedures of step S020 and step S030 may be interchanged.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart in which step S020 and step S030 shown in the first embodiment are exchanged as the third embodiment. In the flowchart in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 11, compared with the flowchart in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 7, from step S <b> 010 to step S <b> 050 with the replacement of step S <b> 020 and step S <b> 030. The other processing procedures are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the same effects as those in the first embodiment and the second embodiment can be obtained.

Specifically, in the third embodiment, first, the current position information of the user is updated (step S50), and any terminal in which the current positions of the plurality of users are stored in the terminal arrangement position information table. It is determined whether or not it exists within a predetermined area specified by the position area information (step S030). When there is a user whose current position is within a predetermined area specified by any terminal position area information among a plurality of users (YES in step S030), the call terminal information updating unit 150 With reference to the call terminal information in the call terminal information table held in the call information storage database 110, it is determined whether or not the user existing in the predetermined area is in a call (step S020). The connection terminal selection unit 160 selects a conference terminal to be connected based on the determination result in step S020 (step S040), or the call terminal information update unit 150 updates the call terminal information during the call (step S010).
(Fourth embodiment)

In the first to third embodiments described above, the conference terminal to be connected is selected according to the correspondence between the telephone terminal in a call and the current location of the user. The form is not limited to this, and when there is a connection request from the arbitrary conference terminal to the connection control server 100 for the connected conference terminal, the call terminal information table stored in the call information storage database 110 is stored. With reference to the past history, if there is no call history with the corresponding telephone terminal for a predetermined period, the connection request from the conference terminal may be rejected.

FIG. 12 shows a processing procedure when there is a connection request from a conference terminal in which the current position of a user not described in the call history is in a predetermined area specified by the terminal position area information as the fourth embodiment It is the flowchart which showed. First, the connection control server 100 receives a connection request from an arbitrary conference terminal via the network 400 (step S310).

The connection control server 100 detects a user existing in a predetermined area specified by the terminal position area information of an arbitrary conference terminal based on the user identification information, and from the call terminal information about the telephone terminal possessed by the user, The past call history is searched (step S320). Specifically, the call terminal information update unit 150 refers to the call terminal information table included in the call information storage database 110 and searches the user's past call history.

The call terminal information update unit 150 determines whether or not connection is possible in response to the connection request from the call history of the phone terminal possessed by the user (step S330). The call terminal information update unit 150 is specified by the user's telephone terminal existing in a predetermined area specified by the terminal position area information of the conference terminal that is the connection request source, and the terminal position area information of the conference terminal that is the connection request destination. If there is no call history for a predetermined period (for example, within 2 minutes) with the user's telephone terminal existing in the predetermined area, the conference terminal that transmitted the connection request is sent to the conference terminal that has transmitted the connection request. On the other hand, the connection request is rejected (step S340).

On the other hand, within the predetermined area specified by the terminal position area information of the conference terminal that is the connection request destination and the user's telephone terminal that exists in the predetermined area specified by the terminal position area information of the conference terminal that is the connection request source If there is a call history for a predetermined period with a telephone terminal of an existing user (YES in step S330), the conference terminal that transmitted the connection request is selected as a terminal to be connected (step S040). Since the subsequent processing is the same as described above, description thereof is omitted.

Thereby, in 4th Embodiment, since the call terminal information update part 150 can determine whether it should connect with a conference terminal by a user's call history for a predetermined period, it connects with the conference terminal to connect. Security can be improved.

As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings. However, these are exemplifications of the present invention, and various configurations other than the above can be adopted.

For example, in the first to fourth embodiments described above, the telephone terminal is assumed to be an extension telephone that can be carried by a user. However, the present embodiment is not limited to this, and a fixed telephone. Or an outside line telephone. In the case of an extension telephone, the private branch exchange performs a process for exchanging a plurality of telephone terminals. In the case of an external telephone, a telephone terminal connected via a public switched telephone network as a user terminal. It can be realized by providing telephone number acquisition means for acquiring the telephone number of the telephone terminal that is making a call.

This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-287056 filed on Nov. 7, 2008, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein.

100 connection control server 110 call information storage database 120 terminal location storage database 130 user location storage database 140 user location update unit 150 call terminal information update unit 160 connection terminal selection unit 170 connection processing unit 180 connection instruction unit 200 conference room 210 telephone terminal 211 Arrangement position information reception unit 212 User identification information storage unit 213 User identification transmission unit 220 Conference terminal 221 Connection instruction reception unit 222 Direct connection unit 230 Infrared transmitter 232 Access point 240 Employee ID 300 Conference room 310 Telephone terminal 320 Conference terminal 330 Infrared transmission Device 332 access point 340 employee ID 400 network 500 remote conference system 600 connection control server 700 relay device

Claims

A connection control server that selects the conference terminals to be connected to each other among a plurality of conference terminals arranged at different locations,
Call information storage means for storing call terminal information indicating two telephone terminals that are talking to each other among a plurality of telephone terminals possessed by each of a plurality of users;
Terminal location storage means for storing terminal location area information for specifying a predetermined area including a location where the conference terminal is arranged for each of the plurality of conference terminals;
User position storage means for storing the current position of each of the plurality of users;
User position update means for updating the current position of each of the plurality of users stored in the user position storage means;
The call terminal information indicates that the phone terminal of the first user and the phone terminal of a second user are in a call, and the current location of the first user is the first The current position of the second user exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the second conference terminal and exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the conference terminal. A connection terminal selection means for selecting the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal as a conference terminal to be connected to each other when present;
A connection control server comprising:
The connection terminal selection means includes
When the current position of the first user no longer exists within a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the first conference terminal, or the current position of the second user is the second The first conference terminal and the second conference terminal connected to each other are disconnected when they no longer exist in the predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the conference terminal of the first conference terminal. Item 4. The connection control server according to Item 1.
The connection terminal selection means includes
Of the plurality of conference terminals, there is a connection request from the third conference terminal, and the third user exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal location area information of the third conference terminal. The connection request from the third conference terminal is rejected when a call history with the first user or the second user is not described in the call terminal information. The connection control server described.
By connecting to each of the selected first conference terminal and the second conference terminal and relaying the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal, the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal The connection control server according to claim 1, further comprising connection processing means for connecting the two conference terminals.
A connection instruction indicating that the other conference terminal should be directly connected to one of the selected first conference terminal and the second conference terminal and a terminal identifier indicating the other conference terminal are transmitted. The connection control server according to claim 1, further comprising a connection instructing unit.
The plurality of telephone terminals are:
The connection control server according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the connection control server is an extension telephone in which a private branch exchange performs an exchange process of the plurality of telephone terminals.
Phone number acquisition means for acquiring the phone number of the telephone terminal that is making a call,
The telephone terminal
The connection control server according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the connection control server is an external line telephone connected through a public switched telephone network.
Provided for each conference terminal, comprising arrangement position information transmitting means for transmitting different arrangement position information,
The telephone terminal
Arrangement position information receiving means for receiving the arrangement position information from the arrangement position information transmitting means;
User identification information storage means for storing user identification information for identifying each of the plurality of users;
User identification transmission means for transmitting the received arrangement position information and the user identification information to the user position update means,
The user position storage means stores the current position in association with the user identification information,
The user position updating means includes
The arrangement position information and the user identification information are received from the user identification transmitting means, and the current position stored in the user position storage means in association with the received user identification information is received. The connection control server according to claim 1, wherein the connection control server is updated based on information.
A connection control system comprising a plurality of conference terminals and a connection control server for selecting the conference terminals to be connected to each other,
The connection control server
Call information storage means for storing call terminal information indicating two telephone terminals that are talking to each other among a plurality of telephone terminals possessed by each of a plurality of users;
Terminal location storage means for storing terminal location area information for specifying a predetermined area including a location where the conference terminal is arranged for each of the plurality of conference terminals;
User position storage means for storing the current position of each of the plurality of users;
User position update means for updating the current position of each of the plurality of users stored in the user position storage means;
The call terminal information indicates that the phone terminal of the first user and the phone terminal of a second user are in a call, and the current location of the first user is the first The current position of the second user exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the second conference terminal and exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the conference terminal. A connection terminal selection means for selecting the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal as a conference terminal to be connected to each other when present;
A teleconferencing system comprising:
A connection control method for selecting the conference terminals to be connected to each other from among a plurality of conference terminals arranged at different locations,
For each of the plurality of conference terminals, a computer stores terminal position area information for specifying a predetermined area including a position where the conference terminal is arranged,
The computer stores a current position of each of a plurality of users,
A call information storage step in which the computer stores call terminal information indicating two telephone terminals that are talking to each other among a plurality of telephone terminals possessed by each of the plurality of users;
A user position update step in which the computer updates the current position of each of the plurality of users stored in the user position storage step;
The computer indicates that the call terminal information indicates that the phone terminal of the first user and the phone terminal of the second user are in a call, and the current location of the first user is It exists in the predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the first conference terminal, and the current position of the second user is specified from the terminal position area information of the second conference terminal. A connection terminal selection step of selecting the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal as a conference terminal to be connected to each other when existing in a predetermined area;
The connection control method characterized by including.
A connection control program for selecting the conference terminals to be connected to each other from among a plurality of conference terminals arranged at different locations,
A call information storage procedure for storing call terminal information indicating two telephone terminals that are talking to each other among a plurality of telephone terminals possessed by each of a plurality of users;
A terminal location storage procedure for storing terminal location area information for specifying a predetermined area including a location where the conference terminal is arranged for each of the plurality of conference terminals;
A user position storage procedure for storing a current position of each of the plurality of users;
A user location update procedure for updating the current location of each of the plurality of users stored in the user location storage procedure;
The call terminal information indicates that the phone terminal of the first user and the phone terminal of a second user are in a call, and the current location of the first user is the first The current position of the second user exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the second conference terminal and exists in a predetermined area specified from the terminal position area information of the conference terminal. A connection terminal selection procedure for selecting, when present, the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal as a conference terminal to be connected to each other;
A connection control program for causing a computer to execute.