Communication system, server device, method for controlling the same, and program

Abstract

To reduce the burden on a user in operations and checking in a terminal device of a communication system despite an increase in the number of electronic apparatuses to be remotely controlled by the terminal device.SOLUTION: A communication system 100 has a terminal device 102, a server device 104, and a plurality of electronic apparatuses 105-107 that receive an operation command from the terminal device 102 through the server device 104. The server device 104 receives a bulk operation command from the terminal device 102 to the plurality of electronic apparatuses 105-107, transmits the operation command to each of the plurality of electronic apparatuses 105-107 related to the bulk operation command based on the bulk operation command, receives a notification of a state after the execution of the operation command from each of the plurality of electronic apparatuses 105-107 related to the bulk operation command, and transmits, to the terminal device 102, one notification about the state of the plurality of electronic apparatuses 105-107 related to the bulk operation command.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication system, a server device, a control method thereof, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] In a communication system, it is generally known that a terminal device such as a smartphone is used to monitor and operate electronic devices connected to a network. In Patent Document 1, based on an operation performed by a user on a terminal device, the terminal device transmits an operation command to an electronic device through a network. The electronic device that has received the operation command executes processing of the operation command and notifies the terminal device of the state after the command execution through the network. The terminal device notifies the user of the state after the execution of the operation command received from each electronic device. Thereby, the user can operate each electronic device on the terminal device and confirm the state after the operation of each electronic device.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, as in Patent Document 1, when a user operates each electronic device on a terminal device and receives status notifications for each electronic device, which are then displayed on the terminal device, the user's operation and verification become cumbersome as the number of electronic devices operated on the terminal device increases. In particular, when multiple electronic devices are operated one by one in sequence, the user must check each notification displayed separately for each electronic device in sequence. The user must check each separate notification for each electronic device in sequence to confirm that all of the multiple electronic devices operated at once are in the desired state. Moreover, each time the user operates, the user must determine for themselves whether or not they have finished checking the notifications for all of the multiple electronic devices they operated.

[0005] In a communication system that includes a terminal device and electronic devices that receive commands from that terminal device, there is a need to reduce the burden on the user of the terminal device for operation and verification, even as the number of electronic devices remotely controlled by the terminal device increases. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The communication system according to the present invention is a communication system comprising a terminal device, a server device, and a plurality of electronic devices that receive operation commands from the terminal device via the server device, wherein the server device includes a first means for receiving a batch operation command from the terminal device to the plurality of electronic devices, a second means for transmitting operation commands to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the batch operation command based on the batch operation command, a third means for receiving notifications of the status after the execution of an operation command from each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the batch operation command, and a fourth means for transmitting one notification about the status of the plurality of electronic devices related to the batch operation command to the terminal device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] In this invention, even if the number of electronic devices remotely controlled by the terminal device increases, the burden of operation and verification on the user at the terminal device can be reduced. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is an explanatory diagram of the basic configuration of an example of a communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram of the basic configuration of various electronic devices. [Figure 3] Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the basic configuration of various terminal devices. [Figure 4] Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram of the basic configuration of the server device. [Figure 5] Figure 4 shows an example of a list of electronic devices that can be remotely controlled via the server device. [Figure 6] Figure 4 shows an example of a list of terminal devices that can be remotely controlled via the server device. [Figure 7] This is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the screen transitions displayed on the terminal device in Figure 3 when registering a simultaneous operation on the server device in Figure 4. [Figure 8] This is an example of a sequence for registering simultaneous operations by terminal devices and server devices. [Figure 9] Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of screen transitions displayed when performing a simultaneous operation on the terminal device. [Figure 10] This is an example of a sequence of simultaneous operations on a communication system executed by simultaneous operations on terminal devices shown in Figure 9, when the results summary setting is OFF. [Figure 11] This is an example of a sequence of simultaneous operations on a communication system executed by simultaneous operations on the terminal devices shown in Figure 9, when the results summary setting is ON. [Figure 12] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the execution control of simultaneous operations by the server device. [Figure 13] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the notification control of simultaneous operations by the server device. [Figure 14]This is an explanatory diagram illustrating a modified example of the screen displayed on a terminal device when registering a simultaneous operation to a server device in a communication system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] This is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a confirmation screen for the results of a mass operation, which is displayed on the terminal device when a mass operation as shown in Figure 14 is registered and executed. [Figure 16] This flowchart shows how the server device can display the confirmation screen shown in Figure 15 on terminal devices, enabling notification control for simultaneous operations. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, the configurations described in the following embodiments are merely illustrative, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the configurations described in the embodiments.

[0010] [First Embodiment] Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram of the basic configuration of an example of a communication system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The communication system 100 in Figure 1 includes a terminal device 102, a group of terminals 103, a server device 104, a first electronic device 105, a second electronic device 106, a third electronic device 107, and a network 101 to which these are connected. The network 101 may be a single intranet or multiple networks, including the Internet, interconnected by routers. The terminal device 102, group of terminals 103, etc., described above may be wirelessly wirelessly capable devices such as mobile terminals, smartphones, tablet terminals, etc. In this case, the network 101 may include a wireless communication router that can wirelessly communicate with the terminal device 102, group of terminals 103, etc. The group of terminals 103 may consist of multiple terminal devices 102. Each terminal device 102 in the terminal device 102 and group of terminals 103 may be a computer terminal used by a user for daily work, for example. The first electronic device 105 and the second electronic device 106 described above may be, for example, an image forming apparatus. The third electronic device 107 could be, for example, an air conditioning unit. Here, the electronic devices connected to the network 101 are not limited to the three electronic devices 105-107 described above. Furthermore, each of the above devices 102-107 can send and receive data through the network 101.

[0011] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the basic configuration of various electronic devices 105 to 107 in FIG. 1. The electronic device in FIG. 2 includes a device communication unit 301, a device operation unit 303, a device state detection unit 304, and a device control unit 302 to which these are connected. The device operation unit 303 operates to perform the functions of the electronic device. When the electronic device is, for example, an image forming apparatus, the device operation unit 303 prints, reads, or copies an image on a storage medium such as paper. When the electronic device is an air conditioner, the device operation unit 303 operates a compressor, a fan, and the like. The device state detection unit 304 detects the operation state of the device operation unit 303. The operation state of the device operation unit 303 includes states such as in operation and stopped. Also, the operation state of the device operation unit 303 may include a busy state in which other processing cannot be executed. Further, the device state detection unit 304 may detect detailed information about the operation state of the device operation unit 303. In the case of an image forming apparatus, the device state detection unit 304 may detect information such as the job being executed, the unprocessed jobs, and the predicted remaining execution period as detailed information about the operation state of the device operation unit 303. In the case of an air conditioner, the device state detection unit 304 may detect information such as the set temperature and the current temperature as detailed information about the operation state of the device operation unit 303. The device communication unit 301 transmits and receives data to and from other devices connected to the network 101. The device communication unit 301 may transmit and receive data about information such as operation commands and status notifications to and from, for example, the terminal device 102 and the like.

[0012] The device communication unit 301 includes, for example, a memory for storing programs and a CPU. The device communication unit 301 is realized in the electronic device by the CPU reading and executing the program stored in the memory. The device communication unit 301 controls the overall operation of the electronic device. The device communication unit 301 may be formed separately from the main body of the electronic device and may be an external controller used by connecting it to the main body of the electronic device. Alternatively, the device communication unit 301 may communicate with the control unit of the main body of the electronic device using infrared or the like. For example, when the state of the device operation unit 303 detected by the device state detection unit 304 changes, the device communication unit 301 transmits information about the changed operation state to a terminal device 102 or the like. Also, when the device communication unit 301 receives an operation command from a terminal device 102 or the like, it executes control on the device operation unit 303 corresponding to the operation command.

[0013] Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram of the basic configuration of the terminal device 102 shown in Figure 1. The terminal device 102 in Figure 3 includes a terminal communication unit 401, a terminal display unit 403, a terminal input unit 404, a terminal storage unit 405, and a terminal control unit 402 to which these are connected. The terminal communication unit 401 sends and receives data with other devices connected to the network 101. The terminal communication unit 401 may be a wireless communication unit or a wired communication unit. The terminal communication unit 401 may send and receive data regarding information such as operation commands and status notifications with the device communication unit 301 of an electronic device. The terminal display unit 403 may be, for example, a liquid crystal panel. The terminal input unit 404 may be a transmissive touch panel superimposed on the liquid crystal panel. The terminal display unit 403 and the terminal input unit 404 may constitute a user interface that provides information to the user of the terminal device 102 and accepts user operations. The terminal storage unit 405 is, for example, a semiconductor memory. The terminal storage unit 405 stores programs and various data for controlling the operation of the terminal device 102. For example, the terminal storage unit 405 may store the contents of the simultaneous operation commands described later, the address of the server device 104, and so on.

[0014] The terminal control unit 402 is, for example, a CPU. The CPU reads and executes the program stored in the terminal storage unit 405. As a result, the terminal control unit 402 is realized in the terminal device 102. For example, when the terminal communication unit 401 receives a notification of the state of the electronic device, the terminal control unit 402 displays the content of the received notification on the terminal display unit 403. Further, the terminal control unit 402 displays on the terminal display unit 403 a screen for remotely operating the electronic device, a screen for setting the remote operation, and the like. Then, based on the operation of the user on the screen, the terminal control unit 402 generates setting information for remotely operating the electronic device and an operation command for remotely operating the electronic device, and transmits them from the terminal communication unit 401.

[0015] As described above, the communication system 100 in FIG. 1 includes the terminal device 102 and a plurality of electronic devices capable of receiving commands from the terminal device 102. The user can use the terminal device 102 such as a smartphone to monitor and operate the state of the electronic device connected to the network 101 of the communication system 100.

[0016] However, when a user operates multiple electronic devices on terminal device 102, receiving status notifications for each device and displaying them on terminal device 102, the user's operation and verification process becomes time-consuming. In particular, if the number of electronic devices operated on terminal device 102 increases and these multiple electronic devices are operated one by one in sequence, the user must verify each notification displayed for each electronic device in a random order. The user must verify each notification in a random order for each electronic device in order to confirm that all of the multiple electronic devices operated at once are in the desired state. Moreover, each time the user performs an operation, the user must determine for themselves whether or not they have finished verifying the notifications for all of the multiple electronic devices they operated. Thus, in a communication system 100 including terminal device 102 and electronic devices capable of receiving commands from terminal device 102, there is a need to reduce the burden of user operation and verification even when the number of electronic devices operated on terminal device 102 increases. Therefore, in this embodiment, a server device 104 is added to the communication system 100. Furthermore, the terminal device 102 and the multiple electronic devices are enabled to send and receive operation commands and status notifications through the server device 104. The terminal device 102 is also enabled to send simultaneous operation commands to the server device 104. Here, a simultaneous operation command refers to an operation command that controls multiple electronic devices with a single user operation on the terminal device 102. A detailed explanation follows.

[0017] Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram of the basic configuration of the server device 104 in Figure 1. The server device 104 in Figure 4 includes a server communication unit 204, a server notification management unit 203, a server storage unit 201, and a server control unit 202 to which these are connected. The server communication unit 204 sends and receives data with other devices connected to the network 101. The server communication unit 204 may send and receive operation commands and status notifications with terminal devices 102 and multiple electronic devices as a means of communication. The server notification management unit 203 manages the status notifications of electronic devices sent and received by the server communication unit 204. For example, the server notification management unit 203 acquires status notifications received from electronic devices using the server communication unit 204 and sends status notifications based on that to terminal devices 102 from the server communication unit 204. The server storage unit 201 is, for example, a semiconductor memory. The server storage unit 201 stores programs and various data for controlling the operation of the server device 104. The server storage unit 201 may store, for example, the addresses of electronic devices included in the communication system 100 and the addresses of terminal devices 102.

[0018] The server control unit 202 is, for example, a CPU. The CPU reads and executes programs stored in the server memory unit 201. As a result, the server device 104 has a server control unit 202 and a server notification management unit 203 as control means. The server notification management unit 203 is one of the functions of the server control unit 202, but in this embodiment it is described as separate from the server control unit 202 for explanatory purposes. For example, when the server communication unit 204 receives a mass operation command, the server control unit 202 stores the contents of the mass operation command in the server memory unit 201 and sends operation commands from the server communication unit 204 to the electronic devices to be operated by the mass operation command. Also, when the server communication unit 204 receives a status notification from an electronic device, the server control unit 202 determines whether the received notification corresponds to a mass operation command. If the received notification corresponds to a mass operation command, the server control unit 202 registers the notification with the server notification management unit 203 and stores it in the memory unit 201 as necessary.

[0019] Figure 5 is an example of a list of electronic devices that can be remotely controlled via the server device 104 in Figure 4. The list of electronic devices in Figure 5 includes specific examples of the three electronic devices 105-107 in Figure 1: multifunction printer A, multifunction printer B, air conditioner A, air conditioner B, air conditioner C, lighting A, lighting B, and lighting C. The list of electronic devices in Figure 5 includes information for each electronic device, such as name 501, installation location 502, category 503, and network address 504. The name 501 for each electronic device may be a unique name registered for each electronic device in the communication system 100. The installation location 502 may be the name of the installation location for each electronic device. The category 503 may be a group name based on the type of electronic device. The network address 504 may be a unique address for each electronic device in the communication system 100. In addition, the list of electronic devices may also include other information, such as the registration date of the electronic device.

[0020] Such a list of electronic devices may be stored in the server storage unit 201 of the server device 104. Terminal device 102 may request the server device 104 to send the list of electronic devices, and the server device 104 may, in response to the request, send the data of the list of electronic devices to terminal device 102. Server device 104 may store the list of electronic devices in the server storage unit 201 in a manner that allows it to be updated by terminal device 102, terminal group 103, or each electronic device. Such a list of electronic devices becomes a list of multiple electronic devices that can be operated by a simultaneous operation command through the server device 104.

[0021] Figure 6 is an example of a list of terminal devices 102 that can be remotely controlled via the server device 104 in Figure 4. The list of terminal devices 102 in Figure 6 shows terminal device 102 in Figure 1, and as specific examples of the terminal group 103, Tablet 1, Tablet 2, Smartphone 1 to Smartphone 6. The list of terminal devices 102 in Figure 6 includes information for each terminal device 102, such as Name 601, User 602, Attributes 603, and Network Address 604. The Name 601 of each terminal device 102 may be a unique name registered for each electronic device in the communication system 100. The User 602 may be the ID of the user using each terminal device 102. The Terminal Attributes 603 may be the user attribute of the user using each terminal device 102, such as administrator user or general user. The Attributes 603 of each terminal device 102 may be the attributes of each terminal device 102. The network address 604 may be a unique address for each terminal device 102 in the communication system 100.

[0022] Such a list of electronic devices may be stored in the server storage unit 201 of the server device 104. The server device 104 may store a list of terminal devices 102 in the server storage unit 201 in a manner that can be updated by terminal devices 102, terminal groups 103, or each electronic device. Such a list of terminal devices 102 becomes a list of multiple terminal devices 102 that can be operated by a simultaneous operation command through the server device 104.

[0023] Figure 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of screen transitions displayed on the terminal device 102 in Figure 3 when registering a mass operation to the server device 104 in Figure 4. Figure 7 shows a series of operation screens that are operable on the terminal device 102 for registering a mass operation, including the mass operation registration screen 701 during operation, the device selection screen 708, the operation selection screen 714, and the mass operation registration screen 717 after operation. When a user registers or modifies a mass operation on the terminal device 102, the terminal control unit 402 of the terminal device 102 displays the screens shown in Figure 7 on the terminal display unit 403 and controls the transitions of the displayed screens to generate information for the mass operation.

[0024] The batch operation registration screen 701 is assigned the batch operation name 702, the registered operation list 703, the add button 704, the result summary setting 705, the cancel button 706, and the save button 707. The batch operation name 702 is entered with the registration name of the batch operation to be set, "Lunch Break Operation". By operating the batch operation name 702, the user can display the input window for the registration name and enter the desired batch operation name. The registered operation list 703 displays a list of multiple electronic devices registered for batch operations. In this case, the electronic devices of the air conditioning system and the electronic devices of multifunction printer A are displayed in the list. The operation content of the batch operation is also displayed corresponding to each electronic device. For each displayed electronic device, an operation command corresponding to the operation content is sent from the server device 104. The add button 704 is a button that is operated to add electronic devices to be operated by the batch operation. By operating the add button 704, the screen displayed on the terminal device 102 transitions to the device selection screen 708. The result summary setting 705 is a toggle button for selecting whether or not to consolidate notifications of the post-operation status of multiple electronic devices registered for simultaneous operation. When the button is checked ON, notifications of the post-operation status of multiple electronic devices registered for simultaneous operation are consolidated by the server device 104 and sent to the electronic devices. When the button is checked OFF, notifications of the post-operation status of multiple electronic devices registered for simultaneous operation are sent individually from the server device 104 to the electronic devices. The cancel button 706 is used to cancel the registration of simultaneous operation.

[0025] The device selection screen 708 is assigned a list of candidate electronic devices 709 and a back button 710. The device selection screen 708 is also assigned the sub-item name "Operation Registration". The list of candidate electronic devices 709 displays the names and installation locations of electronic devices included in the communication system 100. The list of candidate electronic devices 709 may display information on multiple electronic devices included in the list of electronic devices shown in Figure 5, stored in the server memory unit 201 of the server device 104. Here, the name and installation location of each electronic device are displayed. When one electronic device is selected from the list of candidate electronic devices 709, the screen displayed on the terminal device 102 transitions to the operation selection screen 714. The back button 710 is used to cancel the addition of an electronic device. In this case, the screen displayed on the terminal device 102 transitions to the mass operation registration screen 701.

[0026] The operation selection screen 714 is assigned a back button 716. The device selection screen 708 is assigned the sub-item name "Operation Registration". The operation list 715 is a list of multiple operation commands that can be sent remotely to the electronic device selected on the device selection screen 708. Here, as examples of multiple operation commands for remotely controlling "Multifunction Printer B" selected on the device selection screen 708, "Power OFF", "Power ON", "Sleep", and "Execute Adjustment" are displayed. When one operation command is selected from the operation list 715, the screen displayed on the terminal device 102 transitions to the post-operation batch operation registration screen 717. The back button 716 is pressed when the addition of an operation command is canceled. In this case, the screen displayed on the terminal device 102 transitions to the device selection screen 708.

[0027] The batch operation registration screen 717 after the operation is assigned the same information as the batch operation registration screen 701. However, the registered operation list 7185 has the operation command "Sleep" for "Multifunction Device B" selected on the device selection screen 708 and the operation selection screen 714 added to it.

[0028] Figure 8 shows an example of the sequence for registering a simultaneous operation by the terminal device 102 and the server device 104. Figure 8 shows the terminal device 102 that the user operates when registering a simultaneous operation, and the server device 104 where the simultaneous operation registration is performed. Time flows from top to bottom in the figure. Note that the sequence for registering a simultaneous operation in Figure 8 may be executed by the electronic device and the server device 104.

[0029] When a user initiates an operation to register a mass operation on the mass operation registration screen 701, the terminal control unit 402 of the terminal device 102 sends a request for a list of electronic devices from the terminal communication unit 401 to the server device 104 (step S801). When the server communication unit 204 of the server device 104 receives the request for a list of electronic devices, the server control unit 202 reads a list of electronic devices from the server storage unit 201, for example, as shown in Figure 5. The server control unit 202 then sends the read list of electronic devices from the server communication unit 204 to the terminal device 102 (step S802). When the terminal communication unit 401 of the terminal device 102 receives the list of electronic devices, the terminal control unit 402 displays a device selection screen 708 with the information from that list assigned to it on the terminal display unit 403.

[0030] When a user selects an electronic device on the device selection screen 708, the terminal control unit 402 sends a request for information on operation commands for the selected electronic device from the terminal communication unit 401 to the server device 104 (step S803). When the server communication unit 204 receives the request for information on operation commands, the server control unit 202 reads information on operation commands that can be sent to the selected electronic device from the server storage unit 201. Then, the server control unit 202 sends the read operation command information from the server communication unit 204 to the terminal device 102 (step S804). When the terminal communication unit 401 receives information on one or more operation commands in the terminal device 102, the terminal control unit 402 displays an operation selection screen 714 with the information on one or more operation commands assigned to it on the terminal display unit 403. When a user selects an operation command on the operation selection screen 714, the terminal control unit 402 selects the operation command selected by the user as the operation command to be used for simultaneous operation of the selected electronic device. Furthermore, for electronic devices for which operation commands have already been registered on the simultaneous operation registration screen 701, the processing in steps S803 and S804 may be omitted.

[0031] Then, once the user has finished selecting the multiple electronic devices to be operated simultaneously and the operation commands to be executed on each electronic device, they operate the save button 707 on the operation selection screen 714, for example. In this case, the terminal control unit 402 transmits all the information for the simultaneous operation that has been selected so far from the terminal communication unit 401 to the server device 104 (step S805). When the server communication unit 204 of the server device 104 receives a request for operation command information, the server control unit 202 stores all the received information for the simultaneous operation in the server storage unit 201. The server control unit 202 either newly stores all the received information for the simultaneous operation in the server storage unit 201 or updates the already registered information (step S806). As a result, the server storage unit 201 of the server device 104 stores new information for the simultaneous operation. The information for the simultaneous operation includes information such as the simultaneous operation name 702, the contents of the operation list 703, and the result summary settings 705. The server storage unit 201 stores information on the batch operation command associated with the terminal device 102 and the operation commands to be sent to each of the multiple electronic devices.

[0032] Next, a simultaneous operation from the terminal device 102 using the simultaneous operation information stored in the server device 104 will be described. Figure 9 is an explanatory diagram of an example of screen transitions displayed when a simultaneous operation is performed on the terminal device 102 in Figure 3. Figure 9 shows a series of operation screens that are operable on the terminal device 102 for simultaneous operation, including the simultaneous operation command execution screen 901, the first timeline screen 905, the second timeline screen 907, and the third timeline screen 909. When a user performs a simultaneous operation on the terminal device 102, the terminal control unit 402 of the terminal device 102 displays the screens shown in Figure 9 on the terminal display unit 403, and also controls the transitions of the displayed screens to execute the processing for the simultaneous operation.

[0033] The execution screen 901 for the group operation command is assigned a group operation list 902, an edit button 903, and a back button 904. The group operation list 902 displays multiple registered group operations available on the terminal device 102, each listed by its group operation name. The group operation list 902 may also display multiple group operations stored in the terminal storage unit 405 of the terminal device 102. An edit button 903 is positioned to the right of each group operation name. When a user operates on one of the group operation names in the group operation list 902, the terminal control unit 402 of the terminal device 102 generates a group operation command corresponding to the operated group operation name and sends it to the server device 104 from the terminal communication unit 401. The display on the terminal device 102 also transitions to the first timeline screen 905. When a user operates one of the edit buttons 903, the terminal control unit 402 of the terminal device 102 displays a batch operation registration screen 701 for the batch operation corresponding to the edit button 903 on the terminal display unit 403. The user can edit the contents of the batch operation using the operation described in Figure 7. When the user operates the back button, the terminal control unit 402 of the terminal device 102 terminates control for the batch operation without generating a batch operation command.

[0034] The first timeline screen 905 is a screen that displays the group operations and result notifications performed by the user on the terminal device 102 in chronological order. The first timeline screen 905 displays the group operation name 906 for the group operation "Lunch Break Operation" that was performed on the group operation command execution screen 901. The terminal control unit 402 may display the group operation name 906 for "Lunch Break Operation" on the first timeline screen 905 after sending the group operation command for "Lunch Break Operation".

[0035] The second timeline screen 907 is a timeline screen that transitions from the first timeline screen 905. The result of the simultaneous operation 908 is added to the second timeline screen 907. After the terminal control unit 402 sends the simultaneous operation command for "lunch break operation", it may add the result of the simultaneous operation 908 to the timeline screen based on the result notification received by the terminal communication unit 401. This allows the user to confirm that all operations of multiple electronic devices performed by the simultaneous operation command for "lunch break operation" have been successfully executed. The terminal control unit 402 may also output a notification sound when updating the timeline screen. In this way, even if multiple electronic devices are operated by a simultaneous operation, the second timeline screen 907 displayed on the terminal device 102 can display the result of the simultaneous operation 908, which combines the results of the operations of those multiple electronic devices into one.

[0036] The third timeline screen 909 is another timeline screen accessed from the first timeline screen 905. The third timeline screen 909 has the results of the simultaneous operation 912 added to it. After the terminal control unit 402 sends the simultaneous operation command for "lunch break operation", it may add the results of the simultaneous operation 912 to the timeline screen based on the result notification received by the terminal communication unit 401. The results of the simultaneous operation 912 indicate that at least some of the operations on multiple electronic devices performed by the simultaneous operation command for "lunch break operation" were not executed successfully. The results of the simultaneous operation 912 include a list of failed operations 910 and the number of successful operations 911. The list of failed operations 910 includes the name of the electronic device whose operation failed, the operation content, and the status. The user can check which electronic devices could not be executed successfully among the simultaneous operation commands and the reason why. The terminal control unit 402 may also output a notification sound or the like when updating the timeline screen. Furthermore, the terminal control unit 402 may display more detailed information about the failed operation by allowing the user to select an operation from the list of failed operations 910. In this way, the third timeline screen 909 displayed on the terminal device 102 can display the results of the simultaneous operation 912, which combines the results of the operations of multiple electronic devices, even if multiple electronic devices are operated by a simultaneous operation.

[0037] The combined results of the simultaneous operation, 912, which consolidates the results of the simultaneous operation, includes at least the individual states of multiple electronic devices that did not successfully execute the operation commands. The terminal control unit 402 may also generate and send operation commands related to the failures of selected electronic devices to those devices by having the user select them from the list of failed operations 910. This allows the user to check the third timeline screen 909 and simultaneously remotely operate the electronic devices that failed the simultaneous operation again so that their state returns to the state achieved by the simultaneous operation. The operation commands related to the failures may be sent directly from the terminal control unit 402 to the electronic devices or sent to the electronic devices via the server device 104.

[0038] Figure 10 shows an example of a sequence of simultaneous operations of the communication system 100 performed by simultaneous operations on the terminal device 102 in Figure 9 when the result summary setting 705 is OFF. Figure 10 illustrates the terminal device 102, server device 104, first electronic device 105, second electronic device 106, and third electronic device 107 of the communication system 100. Time flows from top to bottom.

[0039] Based on the user's operation of a simultaneous operation, the terminal control unit 402 of the terminal device 102 sends a simultaneous operation command to the server device 104 (step S1001). The server control unit 202 of the server device 104, upon receiving the simultaneous operation command, interprets the received simultaneous operation command and sends operation commands for each simultaneous operation to the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation (steps S1002, S1003, S1004). The first electronic device 105 receives the operation command addressed to it and executes the operation command. After that, the first electronic device 105 sends the status after executing the operation command to the server device 104, the source of the command (step S1005). The second electronic device 106 receives the operation command addressed to it and executes the operation command. After that, the second electronic device 106 sends the status after executing the operation command to the server device 104, the source of the command (step S1007). The third electronic device 107 receives the operation command addressed to it and executes the operation command. Subsequently, the third electronic device 107105 transmits the status after executing the operation command to the source of the command (step S1009).

[0040] In this manner, the server device 104 sends operation commands to multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation, and then receives notifications of their respective statuses from each electronic device. In Figure 10, the result summary setting 705 for the simultaneous operation is OFF. In this case, when the server control unit 202 of the server device 104 receives notifications of their respective statuses from each electronic device, it sends these notifications individually and sequentially to the terminal device 102 that sent the simultaneous operation (steps S1006, S1008, S1010). The server control unit 202 of the server device 104 may also send notifications of the status of each electronic device to the terminal group 103 of the communication system 100. In this case, the terminal device 102 receives notifications of the status of each of the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation after execution. The terminal control unit 402 of the terminal device 102 adds the received notifications of multiple statuses to the timeline screen in the order they were received. As a result, unlike in Figure 9, the timeline screen of terminal device 102 displays the execution status of each electronic device involved in the simultaneous operation. In order for the user to understand whether all of the electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation have been executed successfully, they need to check not only the execution status of each device individually, but also whether they have received the same number of notifications as the number of electronic devices that were operated simultaneously.

[0041] Figure 11 is an example of a sequence of simultaneous operations of the communication system 100 executed by simultaneous operations on the terminal device 102 in Figure 9 when the result summary setting 705 is ON. Figure 11, like Figure 10, illustrates the terminal device 102, server device 104, first electronic device 105, second electronic device 106, and third electronic device 107 of the communication system 100. Time flows from top to bottom.

[0042] Based on the fact that a user has performed a mass operation, the terminal control unit 402 of the terminal device 102 sends a mass operation command to the server device 104 (step S1111). The server control unit 202 of the server device 104, upon receiving the mass operation command, interprets the received mass operation command and confirms that the result summary setting 705 is ON. Then, the server control unit 202 stores the contents of the mass operation command 1101 in the server storage unit 201 and starts notification management of the mass operation command (step S1102).

[0043] Furthermore, the server control unit 202 sends operation commands for the simultaneous operation to each of the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation (steps S1103, S1104, S1105). One electronic device 105 receives an operation command addressed to it and executes the operation command. After that, the first electronic device 105 sends the status after executing the operation command to the server device 104 that sent the command (step S1106). The second electronic device 106 receives an operation command addressed to it and executes the operation command. After that, the second electronic device 106 sends the status after executing the operation command to the server device 104 that sent the command (step S1107). The third electronic device 107 receives an operation command addressed to it and executes the operation command. After that, the third electronic device 107 sends the status after executing the operation command to the source of the command (step S1108). In this manner, the server device 104 sends operation commands to multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation, and then receives notifications of their respective statuses from each electronic device.

[0044] When the server device 104 receives a status notification, the server control unit 202 determines whether it is a status notification from an electronic device included in a group operation command under notification management. If it determines that it is a status notification from an electronic device included in a group operation command under notification management, the server control unit 202 stores the content of the status notification in the server storage unit 201 without sending a status notification to the terminal device 102 based on the reception. The server control unit 202 also determines whether it has finished receiving status notifications from all of the multiple electronic devices included in the group operation command under notification management. Once it has finished receiving status notifications from all electronic devices, the server control unit 202 terminates notification management for the group operation command (step S1109) and sends a notification of the result of the group operation command to the terminal device 102 (step S1110). The server control unit 202 of the server device 104 may also send the notification of the result of the group operation command to the terminal group 103 of the communication system 100. The server control unit 202 may send notifications of the results of a simultaneous operation command only to terminal devices 102 with specific attributes within the terminal group 103 of the communication system 100. In this case, terminal device 102 receives notifications of the execution status of multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation through a single notification. The terminal control unit 402 of terminal device 102 adds the received notification of the single result to the timeline screen. As a result, the timeline screen of terminal device 102 displays the execution status of multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation through a single notification, as illustrated in Figure 9. The user can easily confirm whether all of the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation were executed successfully by simply checking the information contained in a single notification.

[0045] Figure 12 is a flowchart showing the execution control of a simultaneous operation by the server device 104 in Figure 4. The server control unit 202 of the server device 104 may repeatedly execute the execution control of the simultaneous operation shown in Figure 12 each time it receives a simultaneous operation command.

[0046] In step S1201, the server control unit 202 receives the group operation command from the server communication unit 204 of the server device 104, which was received from the terminal device 102. In step S1202, the server control unit 202 interprets the acquired group operation command and determines whether the result summary setting is ON or OFF. If the result summary setting is ON, the server control unit 202 proceeds to step S1203. If the result summary setting is OFF, the server control unit 202 proceeds to step S1204.

[0047] In step S1203, the server control unit 202 starts managing notifications for the simultaneous operation command in order to send notifications of the execution of multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation to the terminal device 102 all at once. The server control unit 202 stores information about the multiple electronic devices that are the target of the simultaneous operation, information about the content of each operation, along with the reception time of the simultaneous operation command, in the server storage unit 201. In step S1204, the server control unit 202 sends the respective operation commands to each of the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation from the server communication unit 204. Here, the server control unit 202 may execute the operation command transmission process to all of the multiple electronic devices associated with the simultaneous operation command simultaneously, or it may execute the transmission process to some of them before others. For example, some of the multiple electronic devices associated with the simultaneous operation command may be stopped or busy at the processing timing of step S1204. The server control unit 202 may collect the status of each electronic device in advance and send an operation command only to electronic devices that are capable of executing an operation command, and then send an operation command to electronic devices that subsequently become capable of executing an operation command. The server control unit 202 may also resend an operation command to electronic devices that have not yet received one. Furthermore, the server control unit 202 may repeatedly reacquire the status of electronic devices that have not yet received an operation command, for example, after a certain period of time, and send an operation command to the electronic device when it becomes capable of executing an operation command. After that, the server control unit 202 terminates the control shown in Figure 12.

[0048] In this way, the server device 104 can acquire batch operation commands received from the terminal device 102 and, based on the acquired batch operation commands and the information in the server storage unit 201, transmit operation commands to each of the multiple electronic devices related to the batch operation commands.

[0049] Figure 13 is a flowchart showing the notification control of a simultaneous operation by the server device 104 in Figure 4. The server control unit 202 of the server device 104, which has started notification management of the simultaneous operation command, may repeat the simultaneous operation notification control shown in Figure 13 at regular intervals in order to wait for status notifications from multiple electronic devices related to the simultaneous operation.

[0050] In step S1301, the server control unit 202 determines whether the server communication unit 204 has received notification of a new state after an operation command has been executed from an electronic device. If a notification of a new state has been received since the processing in the previous step S1301, the server control unit 202 proceeds to step S1305. If a notification of a new state has not been received, the server control unit 202 proceeds to step S1302. In step S1302, the server control unit 202 determines whether any of the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation under notification management have elapsed a predetermined amount of time since sending an operation command. If the electronic device that sent the operation command is in a stopped state or remains in a busy state, it may not be possible to immediately execute the received operation command or immediately notify the state after the execution of the operation command. The server control unit 202 waits for notification for a predetermined amount of time. If there are any electronic devices that have elapsed the predetermined amount of time, the server control unit 202 proceeds to step S1303. If there are no electronic devices that have elapsed the predetermined amount of time, the server control unit 202 terminates this control.

[0051] In step S1303, the server control unit 202 updates the simultaneous operation results, which indicate the status after the execution of operation commands for multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation. The simultaneous operation results may be registered and stored in the server storage unit 201 so that they can be acquired by the server notification management unit 203. If the process in step S1303 is executed after step S1302, the server control unit 202 creates a status of "no response" for electronic devices that have elapsed a predetermined time and registers it as part of the simultaneous operation results. In step S1304, the server control unit 202 terminates the notification management of the simultaneous operation commands for which the simultaneous operation results were created. After that, the server control unit 202 terminates this control. Once the notification management of the simultaneous operation commands by the server control unit 202 is completed, the server notification management unit 203 reads the simultaneous operation result information from the server storage unit 201 and transmits it to the terminal device 102 from the server communication unit 204. The server notification management unit 203 may also transmit the simultaneous operation result information to the terminal group 103 of the communication system 100. Furthermore, the server device 104 may transmit the information on the results of the mass operation only to a specific terminal device 102 in the terminal group 103 that has been set as a notification destination in advance. By transmitting the information on the results of the mass operation to a terminal device 102 in the terminal group 103 that is different from the terminal device 102 that performed the mass operation, the status of the electronic device can be made known to, for example, an administrator of the electronic device. The administrator of the electronic device can recognize that an error has occurred in the electronic device they manage. In addition, the information on the results of the mass operation transmitted to the terminal device 102 in the terminal group 103 may include, for example, information about the user who performed the mass operation. This allows the administrator of the electronic device to contact the user who performed the mass operation after recovery, for example.

[0052] Step S1305 is executed when the server communication unit 204 receives a notification of a new state. The server control unit 202 determines whether the state notification obtained from the server communication unit 204 is included in the group of electronic devices involved in the group operation under notification management. If the state notification is from an electronic device included in the group operation under notification management, the server control unit 202 proceeds to step S1306. If the state notification is from an electronic device not included in the group operation under notification management, the server control unit 202 proceeds to step S1308. In step S1306, the server control unit 202 stores the notified state and the electronic device information in the server storage unit 201, linking them to the group operation under notification management.

[0053] In step S1307, the server control unit 202 determines whether it has received status notifications from all of the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation. In this case, the server control unit 202 may determine whether it has received status notifications from all of them based on one or more status notifications stored in the server storage unit 201. If it has not received status notifications from all of the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation, the server control unit 202 terminates this control. If it has received status notifications from all of the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation, the server control unit 202 proceeds to step S1303. In this case, in step S1303, the server control unit 202 registers the notified status as the status after execution of the operation command for the electronic device from which it has received a status notification. After that, in step S1304, the server control unit 202 terminates the notification management of the simultaneous operation command and terminates this control. Once the server control unit 202 has finished managing notifications for the mass operation command, the server notification management unit 203 reads the mass operation result information from the server storage unit 201 and transmits it to the terminal device 102 via the server communication unit 204. The server notification management unit 203 may also transmit the mass operation result information to the terminal group 103 of the communication system 100. Alternatively, the server device 104 may transmit the mass operation result information only to a specific terminal device 102 among the terminal group 103 that has been set as a notification destination in advance.

[0054] In step S1308, the server control unit 202 registers the status notification with the server notification management unit 203, assuming that it has received a status notification from an electronic device not linked to the mass operation. Once the status notification is registered by the server control unit 202, the server notification management unit 203 transmits the status notification to the terminal device 102 via the server communication unit 204. The server notification management unit 203 may also transmit the status notification to the terminal group 103 of the communication system 100. Alternatively, the server device 104 may transmit the status notification only to a specific terminal device 102 among the terminal group 103 that has been previously set as a notification destination.

[0055] In this way, the server control unit 202 of the server device 104 performs notification management for multiple electronic devices involved in a simultaneous operation based on the reception of a simultaneous operation command. Notifications of the status of multiple electronic devices involved in a simultaneous operation are stored in the server storage unit 201 and are not individually sent to the terminal device 102 upon reception. When the server control unit 202 receives status notifications from multiple electronic devices involved in a simultaneous operation, it aggregates the statuses from those multiple electronic devices and sends information of a single simultaneous operation result to the terminal device 102. The server device 104 notifies the terminal device 102 of the results of the simultaneous operation command as a whole. As a result, notifications of the status of multiple electronic devices corresponding to the simultaneous operation command are not individually sent to the terminal device 102. As shown in Figure 9, one notification is added to the timeline screen of the terminal device 102. In particular, in the third timeline screen 909 of Figure 9, the simultaneous operation result 912 based on one notification includes individual information about electronic devices that did not execute the operation command correctly. The user can check the results of the simultaneous operation as a whole by checking the single added notification.

[0056] As described above, in this embodiment, the terminal device 102 can send a batch operation command for operating multiple electronic devices simultaneously. This allows the user to operate multiple electronic devices at once. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the batch operation command sent by the terminal device 102 is not sent directly to the multiple electronic devices individually, but is sent to the multiple electronic devices via the server device 104. Moreover, the server device 104 generates individual commands for each of the multiple electronic devices involved in the batch operation command based on the batch operation command and sends them individually. This enables batch operation even if the multiple electronic devices do not have a common communication specification that can receive the batch operation command. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the multiple electronic devices involved in the batch operation command send notifications of their status after each command execution to the server device 104 that received the command, and the server device 104 receives them. Moreover, the server device 104 does not send the notifications of the status of the multiple electronic devices involved in the batch operation command directly to the terminal device 102, but rather generates and sends a single notification about the status of the multiple electronic devices involved in the batch operation command. This allows the user to check the status of multiple electronic devices that have been operated on collectively using the terminal device 102, all at once. As a result, the burden of operation and verification on the user can be reduced, even if the number of electronic devices increases.

[0057] In this embodiment, even if the number of electronic devices operated by the terminal device 102 increases, the burden on the user in terms of operation and verification on the terminal device 102 can be reduced. The user can easily check the results of operations when operating multiple devices simultaneously.

[0058] [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The following will mainly describe the differences from the embodiments described above.

[0059] Figure 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a modified example of the screen displayed on the terminal device 102 when registering a simultaneous operation to the server device 104 in the communication system 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0060] In the operation registration screen 1401 of Figure 14, a pull-down button 1402 for selecting the notification method is assigned instead of the result summary setting 705 in the simultaneous operation registration screen 701 of Figure 8. The pull-down button 1402 for selecting the notification method has three options that the user can select: "Do not summarize results", "Summarize all results", and "Summarize results by category". The option "Do not summarize results" is equivalent to setting the result summary setting 705 to OFF. The option "Summarize all results" is equivalent to setting the result summary setting 705 to ON. The option "Summarize results by category" means that the results of multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation will be divided into categories of electronic devices and summarized by category. In Figure 14, the pull-down button 1402 is in the state where the option "Summarize results by category" has been selected by the user. Then, when the user operates the save button 1403, the name of the mass operation 1404, the contents of the operation list 1405, and the selection of the pull-down button 1402 at that time are stored in the terminal storage unit 405. At the same time, the mass operation registration is completed.

[0061] Figure 15 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a confirmation screen for the results of a simultaneous operation, which is displayed on the terminal device 102 when the simultaneous operation shown in Figure 14 is registered and executed. Similar to Figure 9, Figure 15 shows a fourth timeline screen 1501 and a fifth timeline screen 1504 as a series of operation screens that are operablely displayed on the terminal device 102 for the simultaneous operation.

[0062] The fourth timeline screen 1501 displays the name of the mass operation "Lunch Break Operation" performed on the mass operation command execution screen 901, similar to the second timeline screen 907 in Figure 9. The fourth timeline screen 1501 also displays notifications of the status of multiple electronic devices involved in that mass operation after the execution of operation commands, separated by the category of electronic device. The terminal device 102 receives a notification from the server device 104 indicating that all of the multiple electronic devices belonging to the air conditioning category are functioning normally. In this case, the terminal control unit 402 adds a mass operation result 1502 to the fourth timeline screen 1501, indicating that all of the multiple electronic devices belonging to the air conditioning category have successfully executed the operation commands. The terminal device 102 also receives a notification from the server device 104 indicating that all of the multiple electronic devices belonging to the multifunction printer category are functioning normally. In this case, the terminal control unit 402 adds a simultaneous operation result 1503 to the fourth timeline screen 1501, which collectively indicates that multiple electronic devices belonging to the category of multifunction printers have successfully executed operation commands.

[0063] In response to this, for example, terminal device 102 receives a notification from server device 104 indicating that at least some of the electronic devices belonging to the multifunction printer category are not functioning correctly. In this case, terminal control unit 402 adds a batch operation result 1505 to the fifth timeline screen 1504, which collectively indicates that some of the electronic devices belonging to the multifunction printer category are unable to execute operation commands correctly. The batch operation result 1505 is for cases where some of the electronic devices are able to execute operation commands correctly, and the remaining electronic devices are unable to execute operation commands correctly.

[0064] Figure 16 is a flowchart showing the notification control of a simultaneous operation by the server device 104, which allows the confirmation screen of Figure 15 to be displayed on the terminal device 102. The server control unit 202 of the server device 104, which has started notification management of the simultaneous operation command, may repeat the notification control of the simultaneous operation shown in Figure 16 at regular intervals in order to wait for status notifications from multiple electronic devices related to the simultaneous operation.

[0065] Steps S1601 and S1602 in Figure 16 are the same processes as steps S1301 and S1302 in Figure 13. In step S1603, the server control unit 202 updates the simultaneous operation results, which indicate the status after the execution of operation commands for multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation, for each group based on the category of the electronic devices. The simultaneous operation results for each group based on the category of the electronic devices may be stored in the server storage unit 201 so that they can be acquired by the server notification management unit 203. The server control unit 202 creates a status of "no response" for electronic devices after the execution of operation commands for which a predetermined time has elapsed, and registers it in the simultaneous operation results for each group based on the category of the electronic devices. In step S1604, the server control unit 202 terminates the notification management of the simultaneous operation commands for each group based on the category of the electronic devices for which the simultaneous operation results were created. After that, the server control unit 202 terminates this control. When the notification management of the mass operation command by the server control unit 202 is completed for each group of electronic devices by category, the server notification management unit 203 reads the information of the mass operation results for the completed group from the server storage unit 201. The server notification management unit 203 then transmits the information of the mass operation results for the completed group that it has read to the terminal device 102 via the server communication unit 204. The server notification management unit 203 may also transmit the information of the mass operation results for the group of categories for which notification management has been completed to the terminal group 103 of the communication system 100. Alternatively, the server device 104 may transmit the information of the mass operation results for the group of categories for which notification management has been completed only to a specific terminal device 102 among the terminal group 103 that has been set as a notification destination in advance.

[0066] Furthermore, steps S1605, S1606, and S1611 in Figure 16 are the same processes as steps S1301, S1302, and S1308 in Figure 13. After step S1606, the server control unit 202 proceeds to step S1607. In step S1607, the server control unit 202 determines whether there is a category in which all states of multiple electronic devices belonging to the same category have already been stored among the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation under notification management. If there is a category in which all states of multiple electronic devices belonging to the category have already been stored, the server control unit 202 proceeds to step S1608. If there is no category in which all states of multiple electronic devices belonging to the category have already been stored, the server control unit 202 terminates this control. In step S1608, the server control unit 202 updates the simultaneous operation results of multiple electronic devices belonging to the same category among the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation. The results of simultaneous operations for each group of electronic devices categorized by type may be registered and stored in the server storage unit 201 so that they can be acquired by the server notification management unit 203.

[0067] In step S1609, the server control unit 202 determines whether execution result notifications have been registered in the server storage unit 201 for all categories to which multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation belong. If execution result notifications have been registered for all categories, the server control unit 202 proceeds to step S1610. If execution result notifications have not been registered for all categories, the server control unit 202 terminates this control. In step S1610, the server control unit 202 terminates notification management for the simultaneous operation command for which result notifications have been completed for all categories. After that, the server control unit 202 terminates this control. Once notification management for the simultaneous operation command is completed, the server notification management unit 203 reads the simultaneous operation result information for the last completed group from the server storage unit 201 and transmits it to the terminal device 102 from the server communication unit 204. The server notification management unit 203 may also transmit the simultaneous operation result information for the group by the category for which notification management was last completed to the terminal group 103 of the communication system 100. Furthermore, the server device 104 may send information about the results of the group's mass operation for the category in which notification management was last completed, only to a specific terminal device 102 among the terminal group 103 that has been previously set as a notification destination.

[0068] In this way, the server device 104 can divide multiple electronic devices related to a batch operation command into multiple groups and send notifications for each group to the terminal device 102.

[0069] Although the present invention has been described in detail above based on its preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and various forms that do not depart from the spirit of the invention are also included in the present invention.

[0070] The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that implements one or more of the functions of the above-described work to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and by having one or more processors in the computer of that system or device read and execute the program. Furthermore, the present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., an ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

[0071] In the embodiment described above, the server control unit 202 of the server device 104 receives notifications of the status after the execution of each operation command from all of the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation, and sends them together to the terminal device 102. Alternatively, the server control unit 202 may send only the status notifications of the electronic devices that were unable to successfully execute the operation commands among the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation, together to the terminal device 102. Alternatively, the server control unit 202 may send only the notifications of the electronic devices that have notified an execution error, together to the terminal device 102. Alternatively, the server control unit 202 may attempt to communicate with at least some of the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation after sending the operation commands. The server control unit 202 may then determine whether each electronic device is in the desired state based on whether or not there is a response to the communication, or whether or not a response indicating the desired state is obtained. For example, if the server control unit 202 sends an operation command to start an electronic device, but the electronic device does not respond, or sends a notification that it is not in an activated state, the server control unit 202 can estimate and determine that the electronic device is not in the desired state. As a result, the terminal device 102 and the server device 104 can estimate the state of electronic devices that do not have a function to notify the state after an operation command has been executed, based on the results of their own processing. Electronic devices that are not configured to be compatible with the communication system of this embodiment can also be included in the simultaneous operation.

[0072] This embodiment includes the following configurations and methods. (Composition 1) A communication system comprising a terminal device, a server device, and a plurality of electronic devices that receive operation commands from the terminal device via the server device, The server device is A first means for receiving batch operation commands for multiple electronic devices from the terminal device, A second means for transmitting operation commands to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the batch operation command based on the batch operation command, A third means for receiving notifications of the status after the execution of an operation command from each of the multiple electronic devices related to the aforementioned batch operation command, A fourth means for transmitting a single notification to the terminal device regarding the status of multiple electronic devices related to the aforementioned batch operation command, A communication system characterized by having the following features. (Configuration 2) The server device, in one notification to be transmitted to the terminal device by the fourth means, Among the multiple electronic devices related to the aforementioned batch operation command, at least the individual status of the electronic device that has not successfully executed the operation command is included. A communication system according to configuration 1, characterized by the features described above. (Composition 3) The server device is The server includes a server storage means that stores information relating the batch operation command received from the terminal device to operation commands transmitted to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the batch operation command based on the batch operation command, and a server control means. The server control means is The batch operation command received from the terminal device is acquired, Based on the acquired batch operation command and the information in the server storage unit, an operation command is transmitted to each of the multiple electronic devices related to the batch operation command. A communication system according to configuration 1 or 2, characterized by the above. (Composition 4) The server storage means is The terminal device stores information relating the associated batch operation command and the operation commands to be transmitted to each of the multiple electronic devices. A communication system according to configuration 3, characterized by the features described above. (Composition 5) The server control means is After transmitting an operation command based on the aforementioned batch operation command, the system attempts to communicate with the electronic device related to the batch operation command, and determines the state of the electronic device after the execution of the operation command based on the result of the attempted communication. A communication system according to any one of configurations 1 to 4, characterized by the features described above. (Composition 6) The server control means is The state of the electronic device related to the batch operation command is acquired in advance, and if the electronic device is in a state where it can execute the operation command, an operation command based on the batch operation command is transmitted to the electronic device. A communication system according to any one of configurations 1 to 5, characterized by the features described above. (Composition 7) The server control means is If, after sending an operation command based on the batch operation command to the electronic device related to the batch operation command, a status notification cannot be obtained from the electronic device, the status of the electronic device after the execution of the operation command shall be set to "unresponsive". A communication system according to any one of configurations 1 to 6, characterized by the features described above. (Composition 8) The server control means is If, after sending an operation command based on the batch operation command to the electronic device related to the batch operation command, notification of the desired post-execution status cannot be obtained from the electronic device, the operation command is sent again to the electronic device. A communication system according to any one of configurations 1 to 7, characterized by the features described above. (Composition 9) The server control means is After sending the operation command related to the simultaneous operation, an attempt is made to communicate with at least some of the multiple electronic devices involved in the simultaneous operation. Based on whether or not there is a response to the communication, or based on whether or not a response in the desired state is obtained, it is determined whether or not each electronic device is in the desired state. A communication system according to any one of configurations 1 to 8, characterized by the above. (Composition 10) The server device is The multiple electronic devices related to the aforementioned batch operation command are divided into multiple groups, and notifications for each group are sent to the terminal device. A communication system according to any one of configurations 1 to 9, characterized by the above. (Composition 11) A server device having a terminal device and communication means and control means for communicating with a plurality of electronic devices capable of executing commands by the terminal device, The control means is The communication means provides a first means for receiving a batch operation command for multiple electronic devices from the terminal device, A second means for transmitting a command from the communication means to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the batch operation command, based on the batch operation command. The communication means provides a third means for receiving notifications of the status after command execution from each of the multiple electronic devices related to the batch operation command, A fourth means for transmitting a single notification from the communication means to the terminal device regarding the status of multiple electronic devices related to the aforementioned batch operation command, A server device characterized by having the following. (Method 1) A control method for a server device having a terminal device and communication means and control means for communicating with a plurality of electronic devices capable of executing commands by the terminal device, The communication means performs a first process of receiving a batch operation command for multiple electronic devices from the terminal device, A second process, based on the aforementioned batch operation command, involves transmitting a command from the communication means to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the batch operation command, The communication means performs a third process of receiving notification of the status after command execution from each of the multiple electronic devices related to the batch operation command, A fourth process involves transmitting a single notification regarding the status of multiple electronic devices related to the aforementioned batch operation command from the communication means to the terminal device, A method for controlling a server device, characterized by having [a certain feature]. (Program 1) A program that causes a computer device to execute a control method for a server device having a terminal device and communication means and control means for communicating with a plurality of electronic devices capable of executing commands by the terminal device, The control method for the server device is as follows: The communication means performs a first process of receiving a batch operation command for multiple electronic devices from the terminal device, A second process, based on the aforementioned batch operation command, involves transmitting a command from the communication means to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the batch operation command, The communication means performs a third process of receiving notification of the status after command execution from each of the multiple electronic devices related to the batch operation command, A fourth process involves transmitting a single notification regarding the status of multiple electronic devices related to the aforementioned batch operation command from the communication means to the terminal device, A program characterized by having the following: [Explanation of Symbols]

[0073] 100 Communication Systems 101 Network 102 Terminal device 103 terminal group 104 Server Device 105 First electronic device 106 Second electronic device 107 Electronic equipment 201 Server Storage Unit 202 Server Control Unit 203 Server Notification Management Department 204 Server Communication Section 301 Equipment and Communications Department 302 Equipment Control Unit 303 Equipment operation section 304 Equipment status detection unit 401 Terminal Communications Department 402 Terminal Control Unit 403 Terminal display unit 404 Terminal Input Section 405 Terminal Storage Unit 701 Simultaneous Operation Registration Screen 708 Device Selection Screen 714 Operation Selection Screen 717 Simultaneous Operation Registration Screen 901 Execution screen 905 First Timeline Screen 907 Second Timeline Screen 909 Third Timeline Screen 1401 Operation Registration Screen 1501 Fourth Timeline Screen 1504 Fifth Timeline Screen

Claims

1. A communication system including a terminal device, a server device, and a plurality of electronic devices that receive operation commands from the terminal device via the server device, The server device includes: a first means for receiving a collective operation command for the plurality of electronic devices from the terminal device; a second means for transmitting an operation command to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command based on the collective operation command; a third means for receiving a notification of a state after the collective operation command is executed from each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command; and a fourth means for transmitting to the terminal device one notification regarding states of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command.

2. The server device transmits to the terminal device one notification by the fourth means, 2. The communication system according to claim 1, further comprising: an individual status of at least one of the electronic devices related to the collective operation command that is not normally executing the operation command.

3. The server device includes: a server storage means for storing information associating the collective operation command received from the terminal device with an operation command to be transmitted to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command based on the collective operation command; and a server control means; The server control means Acquire the batch operation command received from the terminal device; 3. The communication system according to claim 1, further comprising: a server for transmitting an operation command to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command, based on the acquired collective operation command and information stored in the server storage means.

4. The server storage means includes:

4. The communication system according to claim 3, wherein said terminal device stores information on the associated collective operation command and an operation command to be transmitted to each of said plurality of electronic devices.

5. The server control means The communication system according to claim 3, characterized in that after sending an operation command based on the collective operation command, communication is attempted with the electronic devices related to the collective operation command, and the state of the electronic devices after execution of the operation command is determined based on the result of the attempted communication.

6. The server control means A state of the electronic device related to the collective operation command is acquired in advance, and when the electronic device is in a state in which the operation command can be executed, an operation based on the collective operation command is performed.

4. The communication system according to claim 3, further comprising a step of transmitting a command to said electronic device.

7. The server control means The communication system according to claim 3, characterized in that if, after sending an operation command based on the batch operation command to the electronic device related to the batch operation command, a status notification cannot be obtained from the electronic device, the status of the electronic device after executing the operation command is set to no response.

8. The server control means The communication system according to claim 3, characterized in that after sending an operation command based on the batch operation command to the electronic device related to the batch operation command, if a notification of normal execution cannot be obtained from the electronic device, the operation command is sent to the electronic device again.

9. The server control means After transmitting the operation command related to the collective operation, attempting to communicate with at least some of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation; 4. The communication system according to claim 3, wherein it is determined whether each electronic device is in a desired state based on whether there is a response to the communication or based on whether a response in a desired state is obtained.

10. The server device includes:

2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic devices related to the collective operation command are divided into a plurality of groups, and a notification for each group is transmitted to the terminal device.

11. A server device having a communication means and a control means for communicating with a terminal device and a plurality of electronic devices capable of executing commands from the terminal device, The control means a first means for receiving a collective operation command for the plurality of electronic devices from the terminal device by the communication means; a second means for transmitting a command from the communication means to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command based on the collective operation command; a third means for receiving, by the communication means, a notification of a state after the collective operation command is executed from each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command; and a fourth means for transmitting, from the communication means to the terminal device, one notification regarding the states of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command.

12. A method for controlling a server device having a communication means and a control means for communicating with a terminal device and a plurality of electronic devices capable of executing commands by the terminal device, comprising: a first process of receiving a collective operation command for the plurality of electronic devices from the terminal device by the communication means; a second process of transmitting a command from the communication means to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command based on the collective operation command; a third process of receiving, by the communication means, a notification of a state after execution of the collective operation command from each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command; and a fourth process of transmitting, from the communication means to the terminal device, one notification regarding the states of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command.

13. A program for causing a computer device to execute a control method for a server device having a communication means and a control means for communicating with a terminal device and a plurality of electronic devices capable of executing commands from the terminal device, the program comprising: The method for controlling the server device includes: a first process of receiving a collective operation command for the plurality of electronic devices from the terminal device by the communication means; a second process of transmitting an operation command from the communication means to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command based on the collective operation command; a third process of receiving, by the communication means, a notification of a state after execution of the collective operation command from each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command; and a fourth process of transmitting, from the communication means to the terminal device, one notification regarding states of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command.

14. The program described in Claim 13, characterized in that in the fourth processing, a single notification sent to the terminal device includes individual statuses of at least those electronic devices, among the plurality of electronic devices related to the batch operation command, that are not properly executing the operation command.

15. The server device, a server storage means for storing information associating the collective operation command received from the terminal device with an operation command to be transmitted to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command based on the collective operation command; The method for controlling the server device includes: an acquisition process for acquiring the batch operation command received from the terminal device; 15. The program according to claim 13, further comprising a transmission process for transmitting an operation command to each of the plurality of electronic devices related to the collective operation command based on the collective operation command acquired in the acquisition process and information of the server storage means.

16. The server storage means includes:

16. The program according to claim 15, further comprising information on the collective operation command associated with the operation command to be transmitted to each of the plurality of electronic devices in the terminal device.

17. The method for controlling the server device comprises: The program of claim 13, further comprising a judgment process for attempting communication with the electronic device related to the collective operation command after sending an operation command based on the collective operation command, and judging the state of the electronic device after execution of the operation command based on the result of the attempted communication.

18. The method for controlling the server device comprises:

14. The program according to claim 13, further comprising a process of acquiring a state of the electronic devices related to the collective operation command in advance, and sending an operation command based on the collective operation command to the electronic devices when the electronic devices are in a state in which the operation command can be executed.

19. The method for controlling the server device comprises: The program according to claim 13, further comprising a process for setting the status of the electronic device after executing the operation command to no response when a status notification cannot be obtained from the electronic device after sending an operation command based on the batch operation command to the electronic device related to the batch operation command.

20. The method for controlling the server device comprises: The program of claim 13, further comprising a process of resending the operation command to the electronic device if, after sending an operation command based on the batch operation command to the electronic device related to the batch operation command, a notification of normal execution cannot be obtained from the electronic device.

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