Schedule adjustment system and schedule adjustment method

Abstract

To provide a time schedule arrangement device for registering by integrating, into an arrangement initiator's schedule, both of a confirmed schedule to be individually registered in each schedule of an arrangement initiator and an arrangement partner or to be registered in the arrangement initiator, and a confirmed schedule to be registered in the arrangement partner.SOLUTION: A time schedule arrangement device includes: an arrangement condition setting part for setting, in response to input of an arrangement initiator, arrangement conditions including specification of arrangement initiator-side participants and specification of criteria for determining whether or not to add arrangement partner-side participants to a meeting participant item of planned information to be registered in schedule information of the arrangement initiator-side participants; and a time schedule arrangement part, after specifying the arrangement initiator-side participants in the meeting participant item of the planned information, in the schedule information of the arrangement initiator-side participants, registering the planned information of the determined meeting schedule, and adding or not adding the arrangement partner-side participants to the meeting participant item of the planned information to be registered, according to the determination criteria.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a schedule adjustment device, a schedule adjustment method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, arranging a business meeting schedule has been a very tedious and time-consuming task, as it requires numerous steps such as checking the schedules of each participant and reserving a venue.

[0003] Regarding confirmation of the schedules of the participants, since many business people nowadays manage their schedules using calendar tools provided on the Internet, it is conceivable to refer to the calendar tools.

[0004] Regarding calendar tools, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a schedule information sharing method including a step of registering a plurality of applicants who are members of a system for distributing and sharing schedule information via the Internet and who apply for distribution of schedule information, and a plurality of users who will use the distributed schedule information, and the following steps executed by a scheduler that manages schedules, wherein the applicants disclose and distribute the schedule information to the users, the users register targets to which they wish to receive the disclosed schedule information, and, based on the registered targets of the users' desired distribution, synchronize and preset the schedule information related to these targets in the calendars of all user terminals. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-219831 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The technology described in Patent Document 1 can be used to arrange meeting dates because multiple users who are members of the system can share schedule information with each other. However, even if the system is used, the schedules of participants in meetings, etc., can be updated and changed from moment to moment, so it is difficult to arrange a meeting date without the meeting time overlapping with each participant's existing plans, i.e., without double booking.

[0007] After the schedule of the meeting is arranged, the contents of the meeting may be shared with the participants of the meeting by using the memo information and attachments of the plan registered in the calendar tool. In addition, in a general calendar tool, if all the meeting participants use the same type of calendar tool, the schedule and memo information of the schedule are automatically shared between the meeting participants specified in the schedule (even between different types of calendar tools, the schedule and memo information may be automatically shared by registering an email address in the item of the meeting participant of the schedule). In order to effectively use the automatic sharing function of the calendar tool, the participants who wish to share the schedule and memo information of the schedule are generally added to the item of the meeting participant of the schedule registered in the calendar tool of the company, and conversely, the participants who do not wish to share the schedule and memo information of the schedule are generally not added to the item of the meeting participant. With this method, it is possible to efficiently share information with some of the people who will be attending the meeting, and to attend the meeting while maintaining the confidentiality of the information described in the memo information of the schedule with the other people. In addition, it is common practice to include members belonging to the same organization in the scheduled meeting attendees list, and not include members from outside the organization (such as customers) in the scheduled meeting attendees list.

[0008] For example, when company A plans to hold a business meeting with company B, the plan registered in the calendar tool used by company A includes only the business meeting participants belonging to company A in the meeting participant items on the plan, and only the business meeting participants belonging to company A share memo information on the plan for the business meeting. In other words, since the members belonging to company B, which is the business partner, have a strong desire not to share memo information on the plan for the business meeting, it is convenient for company A not to include the members belonging to company B, which is the business partner, in the meeting participant items on the calendar tool used by company A. On the other hand, for example, when subordinate x holds a meeting with his / her boss y within company A, subordinate x registers the plan in the calendar tool by including himself / herself and boss y in the meeting participant items on the plan, and subordinate x and boss y share the contents they want to share in advance through the memo information on the registered plan.

[0009] In other words, when schedule adjustments are involved, it is desirable to be able to decide whether or not to include the other party in the meeting attendees list on the schedule registered in the calendar tool of the person initiating the adjustments (the meeting organizer) after the schedule adjustments have been made, depending on the relationship between the person initiating the adjustments and the other party.

[0010] The present invention has been made in consideration of the current situation, and aims to make it possible to easily adjust meeting dates without double booking, while at the same time making it easy to switch between registering confirmed plans individually on the schedules of the coordination initiator and the coordination partner, or integrating and registering both confirmed plans to be registered on the coordination initiator's schedule and confirmed plans to be registered on the coordination partner's schedule into the coordination initiator's schedule, depending on the content of the meeting or the affiliation of the coordination partner. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The present application includes a number of means for solving at least part of the above problems, examples of which are as follows.

[0012] In order to solve the above problem, a schedule adjustment device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes an adjustment condition setting unit that sets adjustment conditions for a meeting, and a schedule adjustment unit that adjusts the meeting schedule based on the adjustment conditions. The adjustment condition setting unit sets the adjustment conditions, including designation of a coordination initiator side participant and designation of a judgment criterion for whether to add a coordination partner side participant to the meeting participant item of the plan information to be registered in the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participant, in response to an input from a coordination initiator. The schedule adjustment unit extracts available dates of the coordination initiator side participant as candidate dates in response to an access by the coordination partner based on access information, displays a schedule adjustment screen showing the extracted candidate dates on a terminal device used by the coordination partner, determines the meeting date from the candidate dates in response to a selection operation of the coordination partner on the schedule adjustment screen, designates the coordination initiator side participant in the meeting participant item of the plan information in the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participant, and registers the plan information of the determined meeting date, and adds or does not add the coordination partner side participant to the meeting participant item of the plan information to be registered in accordance with the judgment criterion.

[0013] A schedule adjustment device according to another aspect of the present invention includes an adjustment condition setting unit that sets adjustment conditions for a meeting, and a schedule adjustment unit that adjusts the meeting schedule based on the adjustment conditions, wherein the adjustment condition setting unit sets a judgment condition for judging whether a coordination partner side participant belongs to the same organization as the coordination initiator in response to an input from a coordination initiator or a member manager of an organization to which the coordination initiator belongs, and sets the adjustment condition including a designation of a coordination initiator side participant in response to an input from the coordination initiator, and the schedule adjustment unit extracts an available schedule of the coordination initiator side participant as a candidate schedule in response to an access by a coordination partner based on access information, and adjusts the extracted candidate schedule. A schedule adjustment screen showing a supplementary schedule is displayed on a terminal device used by the coordination partner, the meeting date is determined from the candidate dates in response to a selection operation of the coordination partner on the schedule adjustment screen, and it is determined based on the judgment condition whether the coordination partner side participants belong to the same organization as the coordination initiator. The coordination initiator side participants are designated in the meeting participant item of plan information in the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participants, and the plan information of the determined meeting date is registered, and if the coordination partner side participants belong to the same organization as the coordination initiator, the coordination partner side participants are added to the meeting participant item of the plan information to be registered.

[0014] The adjustment condition setting unit can set at least one of an email domain and an email address as the judgment condition, and the schedule adjustment unit can determine whether the adjustment partner participant belongs to the same organization as the adjustment initiator based on the email address of the adjustment partner participant and the judgment condition.

[0015] The schedule adjustment device can be equipped with a memory unit that stores member information representing a list of members belonging to the same organization, and the schedule adjustment unit can determine whether the adjustment partner participant belongs to the same organization as the adjustment initiator by referring to the member information corresponding to the adjustment initiator.

[0016] In response to an access by the adjustment partner based on the access information, the schedule adjustment unit can refer to the schedule information of the adjustment initiator side participant managed by a calendar tool and extract available dates of the adjustment initiator side participant that satisfy the adjustment conditions as the candidate dates.

[0017] The schedule adjustment unit can register the plan information of the determined meeting date in schedule information of the participant on the coordination partner side in response to an operation from the coordination partner.

[0018] A schedule adjustment method according to yet another aspect of the present invention includes an adjustment condition setting step of setting adjustment conditions for a meeting, and a schedule adjustment step of adjusting the meeting schedule based on the adjustment conditions, in which the adjustment condition setting step sets the adjustment conditions including designation of a coordination initiator side participant and designation of a judgment criterion for whether to add a coordination partner side participant to the meeting participant item of the plan information to be registered in the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participant in response to an input from a coordination initiator, and the schedule adjustment step extracts available dates of the coordination initiator side participant as candidate dates in response to an access by the coordination partner based on access information, displays a schedule adjustment screen showing the extracted candidate dates on a terminal device used by the coordination partner, determines the meeting date from the candidate dates in response to a selection operation of the coordination partner on the schedule adjustment screen, designates the coordination initiator side participant in the meeting participant item of the plan information in the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participant, and registers the plan information of the determined meeting date, and adds or does not add the coordination partner side participant to the meeting participant item of the plan information to be registered in accordance with the judgment criterion.

[0019] According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a program causes a computer to function as an adjustment condition setting unit that sets adjustment conditions for a meeting, and as a schedule adjustment unit that adjusts the meeting schedule based on the adjustment conditions, wherein the adjustment condition setting unit sets the adjustment conditions in response to an input from a coordination initiator, including designation of a coordination initiator side participant and designation of a judgment criterion for whether to add a coordination partner side participant to the meeting participant item of plan information to be registered in the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participant, and the schedule adjustment unit extracts available dates of the coordination initiator side participant as candidate dates in response to an access by the coordination partner based on access information, displays a schedule adjustment screen showing the extracted candidate dates on a terminal device used by the coordination partner, determines the meeting schedule from among the candidate dates in response to a selection operation of the coordination partner on the schedule adjustment screen, designates the coordination initiator side participant in the meeting participant item of the plan information in the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participant, and registers the plan information of the determined meeting schedule, and adds or does not add the coordination partner side participant to the meeting participant item of the plan information to be registered in accordance with the judgment criterion.

[0020] A schedule adjustment method according to yet another aspect of the present invention includes an adjustment condition setting step for setting adjustment conditions for a meeting, and a schedule adjustment step for adjusting the meeting schedule based on the adjustment conditions, in which the adjustment condition setting step sets a judgment condition for judging whether a coordination partner side participant belongs to the same organization as the coordination initiator in response to an input from the coordination initiator or a member manager of an organization to which the coordination initiator belongs, and sets the adjustment condition including a designation of a coordination initiator side participant in response to the input from the coordination initiator, and the schedule adjustment step extracts an available schedule of the coordination initiator side participant as a candidate schedule in response to an access by the coordination partner based on access information, A schedule adjustment screen showing the extracted candidate dates is displayed on a terminal device used by the coordination partner, the meeting date is determined from the candidate dates in response to a selection operation of the coordination partner on the schedule adjustment screen, and it is determined whether the coordination partner side participants belong to the same organization as the coordination initiator based on the judgment condition. The coordination initiator side participants are designated in the meeting participant item of the plan information in the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participants, and the plan information of the determined meeting date is registered, and if the coordination partner side participants belong to the same organization as the coordination initiator, the coordination partner side participants are added to the meeting participant item of the plan information to be registered.

[0021] A program according to yet another aspect of the present invention causes a computer to function as an adjustment condition setting unit that sets adjustment conditions for a meeting, and a schedule adjustment unit that adjusts a meeting schedule based on the adjustment conditions, the adjustment condition setting unit sets a judgment condition for judging whether a coordination partner side participant belongs to the same organization as the coordination initiator in response to an input from a coordination initiator or a member manager of an organization to which the coordination initiator belongs, and sets the adjustment conditions including a designation of a coordination initiator side participant in response to an input from the coordination initiator, the schedule adjustment unit extracts available dates of the coordination initiator side participant as candidate dates in response to an access by a coordination partner based on access information, and selects the available dates of the coordination initiator side participant as candidate dates. A schedule adjustment screen showing the proposed candidate dates is displayed on a terminal device used by the coordination partner, the meeting date is determined from the candidate dates in response to a selection operation of the coordination partner on the schedule adjustment screen, and based on the judgment condition, it is determined whether the coordination partner side participants belong to the same organization as the coordination initiator. The coordination initiator side participants are designated in the meeting participant item of the plan information in the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participants, and the plan information of the determined meeting date is registered, and if the coordination partner side participants belong to the same organization as the coordination initiator, the coordination partner side participants are added to the meeting participant item of the plan information to be registered. Effect of the Invention

[0022] According to the present invention, it is possible to easily adjust the schedule of a meeting without double booking. Also, it is possible to easily switch between registering a confirmed schedule to the schedule of the coordination initiator and the schedule of the coordination partner individually, or registering both a confirmed schedule to be registered to the coordination initiator's schedule and a confirmed schedule to be registered to the schedule of the coordination partner together in the coordination initiator's schedule, depending on the content of the meeting or the affiliation of the coordination partner.

[0023] Problems, configurations and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a schedule adjustment system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing examples of member information, user information, adjustment condition template information, and schedule adjustment information. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process performed by the schedule adjustment system during member registration and user registration. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a same organization determination condition setting process performed by the schedule adjustment system. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of the same organization determination condition setting screen. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a schedule adjustment process (custom adjustment) by the schedule adjustment system. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a condition setting screen. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of the schedule editing screen. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of the schedule adjustment screen. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display of the schedule confirmation screen. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of plan information to be registered in the schedule information. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display example of the schedule notification screen. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a display example of the schedule notification screen. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the adjustment condition template creation process. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a display example of the template list screen. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a display example of the template creation screen. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a display example of the template creation screen. [Figure 18]FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram illustrating another example of schedule adjustment processing by the schedule adjustment system (using an adjustment condition template). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In all drawings for describing an embodiment, the same components are generally given the same reference numerals, and repeated description thereof will be omitted. In the following embodiments, the components (including element steps, etc.) are not necessarily essential, except when specifically indicated, or when it is clearly considered essential in principle. In addition, when it is said that "consists of A," "consists of A," "has A," or "includes A," it does not exclude other elements, except when it is specifically indicated that only that element is included. Similarly, in the following embodiments, when referring to the shape, positional relationship, etc. of components, etc., it includes those that are substantially similar or similar to the shape, etc., except when it is specifically indicated, or when it is clearly considered not to be the case in principle.

[0026] <Schedule Adjustment System 10 According to an Embodiment of the Present Invention> FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a schedule adjustment system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] The schedule adjustment system 10 is for supporting the adjustment of meeting schedules. The schedule adjustment system 10 includes a schedule adjustment device 20, a business management system 30, and terminal devices 40A, 40M, and 40X, which are connected via a network 11.

[0028] The network 11 is a two-way communication network such as the Internet or a mobile phone communication network.

[0029] The schedule adjustment device 20 adjusts the schedule of a meeting with the coordination partner X in response to a request from the coordination initiator A. The participants of the meeting are assumed to be participants on the coordination initiator A's side (one or more of the coordination initiator A and members B, C, D, etc. (including the member manager M of the organization to which the coordination initiator A belongs) of the organization (such as a company; a corporate member, described later) to which the coordination initiator A belongs) and participants on the coordination partner X's side (there may be only the coordination partner X, or a person different from the coordination partner X. There may also be multiple people, but there must always be at least one person).

[0030] The business management system 30 includes a calendar tool 31 as a Web application, and is a system for improving business efficiency through information sharing, schedule management, etc., and refers to a system that is widely provided to general consumers, sole proprietors, corporations, etc., with or without payment. For example, Google Calendar (trademark) or Microsoft Outlook (trademark) can be adopted as the calendar tool 31. The calendar tool 31 holds schedule information 311 in which the action plans of the user of the calendar tool 31 and the reservation status of meeting venues available to the user are registered. In other words, the business management system 30 manages the schedule information 311 in which the action plans of the user of the calendar tool 31 and the reservation status of meeting venues available to the user are registered.

[0031] In this embodiment, the business management system 30 is described as an external system independent of the schedule adjustment device 20, but the business management system 30 may exist in the same device as the schedule adjustment device 20. Also, the calendar tool 31 may be included in the schedule adjustment device 20. In other words, it is sufficient that the calendar tool 31 that manages the schedule information 311 exists on a certain system, and the schedule adjustment device 20 can refer to the schedule information 311 from the calendar tool 31.

[0032] The terminal device 40A used by the adjustment initiator A is a general computer such as a personal computer or a smartphone that can be connected to the schedule adjustment device 20 via the network 11. Similarly, the terminal device 40M used by the member manager M and the terminal device 40X used by the adjustment partner X are general computers. The terminal device 40A corresponds to the first terminal device of the present invention, and the terminal device 40X corresponds to the second terminal device of the present invention.

[0033] Coordination initiator A can designate one or more members of the organization to which he or she belongs (a corporate member, described below) as participants on coordination initiator A's side of the meeting for which schedule adjustment is to be made. Hereinafter, participants on coordination initiator A's side will be referred to as coordination initiator side participants. Similarly, participants on coordination partner X's side will be referred to as coordination partner side participants. Coordination initiator side participants may or may not include coordination initiator A himself or herself.

[0034] In addition, in this embodiment, the coordination partner X who participates in the meeting operates the terminal device 40X, but in reality, a representative (secretary, etc.) of the coordination partner X may operate the terminal device 40X.

[0035] 1 illustrates only one coordination partner X as a coordination partner participating in the meeting, but there may be multiple coordination partners. In that case, the coordination partner X or a representative of the coordination partner X (such as a secretary) may operate the terminal device 40X on behalf of the multiple coordination partner participants.

[0036] The adjustment initiator A is an employee or the like of a company or the like who has completed the member registration and user registration (registration of information necessary to make the schedule adjustment function in the schedule adjustment device 20 available) in the schedule adjustment device 20. Hereinafter, a company or the like who has completed the member registration in the schedule adjustment device 20 will be referred to as a corporate member. Also, among the members who belong to a corporate member (company or the like), a member who has a user account who has completed the user registration in the schedule adjustment device 20 will be defined as a user. It is essential that the adjustment initiator A is a user. Therefore, hereinafter, the adjustment initiator A may be referred to as a user A. Incidentally, the member registration and user registration in the schedule adjustment device 20 can be performed by an individual, not just a company or the like. In that case, an individual who has completed the member registration will be referred to as an individual member. An individual member and a user can be regarded as the same, and an individual member can be regarded as the same as a corporate member who has only one member and only one user.

[0037] The member manager M is a member of the same organization that is a corporate member as the adjustment initiator A, and manages the member account as a corporate member. The adjustment initiator A and the member manager M may be different persons or may be the same person.

[0038] Members B, C, D, etc. other than the adjustment initiator A who belong to the same corporate member as the member manager M and the adjustment initiator A may be users, but this is not essential.

[0039] It is assumed that members belonging to a corporate member of the schedule adjustment device 20 manage their own schedules using a calendar tool 31 provided by the business management system 30. It is also assumed that corporate members of the schedule adjustment device 20 manage the reservation status of conference rooms, reception rooms, spare rooms, etc. that are available to members as meeting venues using the calendar tool 31 provided by the business management system 30.

[0040] Therefore, in this case, the calendar tool 31 holds schedule information 311 in which the plans of coordination initiator A and members B, C, D, etc. who may be coordination initiator-side participants of the meeting, as well as the reservation status of the meeting venue that can be used by coordination initiator A, etc., are registered.

[0041] The coordination partner X may be a user of the schedule adjustment device 20, but is not required to be one. The coordination partner X may use the calendar tool 31, but is not required to be one. The coordination partner X may use a calendar tool provided by a vendor other than the calendar tool 31 used by the coordination initiator A. If the coordination partner X belongs to the same organization (such as a company) as the coordination initiator A, the following explanation will be given on the assumption that the coordination partner X also uses the same type of calendar tool 31 used by the coordination initiator A. In other words, if the coordination initiator A and the coordination partner X belong to the same organization and both the coordination initiator A and the coordination partner X are registered in the item of the meeting participants of the schedule on the calendar tool 31, the following explanation will be given on the assumption that the memo information of the schedule is automatically shared between the coordination initiator A and the coordination partner X.

[0042] The schedule adjustment device 20 includes functional blocks of a processing unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a communication unit 23. The schedule adjustment device 20 includes a general computer such as a server computer including a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), a storage such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive), input devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel, an output device such as a display, and a communication module such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) (none of which are shown).

[0043] The processing unit 21 is realized by a computer processor. The processing unit 21 has the functional blocks of an authentication unit 211, an adjustment condition setting unit 212, and a schedule adjustment unit 213. These functional blocks are realized by the computer processor executing a predetermined program loaded into memory. However, some or all of these functional blocks may be realized as hardware using an integrated circuit or the like.

[0044] For example, authentication unit 211 accepts member registration by member manager M using terminal device 40M and creates member information 221. Furthermore, for example, if member manager M logs in as a member manager after generating member information 221, authentication unit 211 performs authentication as a member manager in response to member manager M's login as a member manager. Furthermore, authentication unit 211 creates user information 222 in response to adjustment initiator A's first login as a user using terminal device 40A, if predetermined conditions (described in detail below) are met.

[0045] Furthermore, the authentication unit 211 accesses the business management system 30 via the network 11, and performs authentication processing using an administrator authority account included in the member information 221 held by the storage unit 22 and a user account included in the user information 222 corresponding to the adjustment initiator A (user A) (both in FIG. 2), according to a protocol such as OAuth. However, it is sufficient to use the administrator authority account and the user account for the first authentication processing, and for the second and subsequent authentication processing, it is possible to use the administrator authentication information (access token, etc.) and user authentication information (access token, etc.) (both in FIG. 2) sent from the business management system 30 when the first authentication processing is completed.

[0046] The adjustment condition setting unit 212 displays on the terminal device 40A a condition setting screen for setting adjustment conditions consisting of a plurality of items necessary for adjusting the schedule of a meeting, sets adjustment conditions according to input from the adjustment initiator A on the condition setting screen, and registers the adjustment conditions in the schedule adjustment information 224 corresponding to the adjustment initiator A, which is held in the storage unit 22. The items of the adjustment conditions will be described later.

[0047] The schedule adjustment unit 213 refers to the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator side participants of the meeting (which may or may not include coordination initiator A) managed by the calendar tool 31, and extracts free dates of the coordination initiator side participants who satisfy the coordination conditions as a first candidate date. Then, the schedule adjustment unit 213 displays a schedule editing screen for editing the first candidate date on the terminal device 40A, and determines a second candidate date in response to an editing operation from coordination initiator A on the schedule editing screen. In addition, the schedule adjustment unit 213 registers the second candidate date in the schedule adjustment information 224 corresponding to coordination initiator A. If the first candidate date is not edited by coordination initiator A, the second candidate date will be the same date as the first candidate date.

[0048] It is also possible to omit the extraction of the first candidate schedule and, for example, have the adjustment initiator A select a date and time on a calendar on a specified screen displayed on the terminal device 40A by the schedule adjustment unit 213 to determine the second candidate schedule, rather than determining the second candidate schedule by editing the first candidate schedule.

[0049] Furthermore, the schedule adjustment unit 213 issues an adjustment URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for the adjustment partner X to access the schedule adjustment screen. However, there are cases where the adjustment URL is not issued by the schedule adjustment unit 213, but is instead specified by the adjustment initiator A (described in detail later). The adjustment URL may be issued as text or as an image such as a QR code. The issued adjustment URL is sent by the adjustment initiator A to the adjustment partner X by email or the like. The adjustment URL corresponds to the access information of the present invention.

[0050] Furthermore, when the adjustment partner X accesses the adjustment URL using the terminal device 40X, the schedule adjustment unit 213 again refers to the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participants managed by the calendar tool 31 at that time, and extracts a third candidate schedule that is an available schedule of the adjustment initiator side participants that satisfies the set adjustment conditions and is within the range of the second candidate schedule. Then, the schedule adjustment unit 213 causes the terminal device 40X to display a schedule adjustment screen showing the third candidate schedule.

[0051] By extracting the third candidate date, even if there is a change in the schedule of the participant on the coordination initiator side between the issuance of the coordination URL and the time coordination partner X accesses it, it is possible to prevent double bookings from occurring.

[0052] In addition, the schedule of the coordination initiator side participants may be changed even in the short time between when the coordination partner X selects a meeting date from the third candidate date displayed on the schedule coordination screen and when it is confirmed on the schedule confirmation screen. Therefore, the schedule coordination unit 213 performs a final check to see if the selected meeting date is an available date for the coordination initiator side participants that satisfies the coordination conditions just before the meeting date is confirmed on the schedule confirmation screen. If the selected meeting date is no longer an available date for the coordination initiator side participants that satisfies the coordination conditions, for example, a message such as "The specified time has been booked. Please select again" may be displayed on the terminal device 40X, and the operation may be returned to the schedule coordination screen. This can further prevent double bookings from occurring.

[0053] Furthermore, the schedule adjustment unit 213 confirms the meeting schedule that has been decided and finally confirmed by the adjustment partner X, and registers the plan regarding the confirmed meeting schedule in the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participants. Then, the confirmed meeting schedule etc. are registered in the schedule adjustment information 224 corresponding to the adjustment initiator A held in the storage unit 22.

[0054] When an event is registered in the schedule information 311, a determination is made as to whether or not to add coordination partner participants to the meeting participant items in the event to be registered (the determination method will be described later), and then the event is registered in the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator side participants (which may or may not include coordination initiator A as a participant; if coordination initiator A is included as a participant, coordination initiator A; if coordination initiator A is not included as a participant, one of the coordination initiator side participants) managed by the calendar tool 31.

[0055] If the schedule adjustment unit 213 determines not to add the coordination partner side participants to the meeting participant items, the schedule adjustment unit 213 specifies only the coordination initiator side participants in the meeting participant items in the plan to be registered, and registers the plan in the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator side participants (which may or may not include coordination initiator A as a participant; if coordination initiator A is included as a participant, coordination initiator A; if coordination initiator A is not included as a participant, one of the coordination initiator side participants) managed by the calendar tool 31.

[0056] In addition, designating a participant in the meeting participant item of the plan in the schedule information 311 means recording an identifier such as a user account or email address that can identify a user on the calendar tool 31 in the meeting participant item on the plan. This makes it possible to reflect the plans registered in the schedule information 311 of each participant on the coordination initiator A side managed by the calendar tool 31. In addition, when the coordination initiator A or the like edits the memo information of the plan registered in the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator side participant, the edited content becomes a state that is shared only among the coordination initiator side participants. In this case, the coordination partner X needs to individually register the confirmed meeting plan in his / her schedule (if there are multiple coordination partner participants, the coordination partner X needs to include all multiple coordination partner participants in the meeting participant item that he / she plans to register individually).

[0057] On the other hand, when the schedule adjustment unit 213 determines to add the coordination partner side participant to the meeting participants, the schedule adjustment unit 213 designates the coordination initiator side participant and the coordination partner side participant in the meeting participant item of the schedule to be registered, and then registers the schedule in the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator side participant (which may or may not include the coordination initiator A as a participant, coordination initiator A when coordination initiator A is included as a participant, and one of the coordination initiator side participants when coordination initiator A is not included as a participant) managed by the calendar tool 31. In this case, the schedule registered to the coordination initiator A will be shared with the coordination partner side participant, and when the coordination initiator A or the like edits memo information or the like of the schedule registered in the schedule information 311, the edited content will be shared not only with the coordination initiator side participant but also with the coordination partner side participant.

[0058] The storage unit 22 is realized by a computer memory and storage. The storage unit 22 holds member information 221, user information 222, adjustment condition template information 223, and schedule adjustment information 224. Note that the storage unit 22 may store information, data, and the like other than the various types of information described above.

[0059] The communication unit 23 is realized by a communication module of a computer. The communication unit 23 is connected to the business management system 30, the terminal devices 40A, 40M, 40X, etc. via the network 11 to communicate various data and information.

[0060] Some or all of the above-mentioned functional blocks constituting the schedule adjustment device 20 may be realized by hardware such as integrated circuits. Also, the schedule adjustment device 20 may be realized by multiple computers, in which case the above-mentioned functional blocks may be distributed among the multiple computers.

[0061] Next, FIG. 2 shows an example of member information 221, user information 222, adjustment condition template information 223, and schedule adjustment information 224 stored in the storage unit 22.

[0062] The member information 221 consists of information about corporate members who have completed member registration in the schedule adjustment device 20. The member information 221 also includes information about corporate members that is added when the corporate member registers for use in the schedule adjustment device 20. Specifically, the member information 221 includes a member account, an administrator authority account, administrator authentication information, basic member information, member information, venue information, and same organization determination conditions.

[0063] The member account is information that enables a member manager M, etc. of a corporate member (company, etc.) to log in to the schedule adjustment device 20. The administrator authority account is information that enables a member manager M, etc. of a corporate member (company, etc.) to access the business management system 30 with administrator authority in the business management system 30. The member account may be the same as or different from the administrator authority account (e.g., the email address of the member manager M, etc.). If the member account and the administrator authority account are the same, registration of the administrator authority account in the member information 221 can be omitted.

[0064] The administrator authentication information is an access token or the like obtained from the business management system 30 as a successful result of the authentication process when the authentication unit 211 of the schedule adjustment device 20 uses an administrator authority account to perform authentication process on the business management system 30 for the first time. After obtaining the administrator authentication information, the authentication unit 211 can perform authentication process on the business management system 30 more quickly using the administrator authentication information without using an administrator authority account.

[0065] The basic member information includes the name of the corporate member (company name, etc.). The basic member information is recorded at the time of member registration and can be changed after member registration. The member information is a list of names, email addresses, and user accounts for identifying each member in the business management system 30 of members belonging to the corporate member (company, etc.). The member information is obtained and recorded from the business management system 30, on the assumption that members of corporate members who may become coordination initiator participants are already using the calendar tool 31.

[0066] The venue information is a list of names of venues such as conference rooms, reception rooms, spare rooms, etc. that corporate members can use for meetings, and IDs for identifying each venue in the business management system 30. The venue information is obtained and recorded from the business management system 30, on the premise that the schedules of the venues required for scheduling are already managed by the calendar tool 31.

[0067] Note that the member information and venue information can be obtained in whole or in part from the business management system 30 only when the business management system 30 is accessed with an account with administrator privileges; for example, the information cannot be obtained when an account without administrator privileges is used instead of an account with administrator privileges, or when the business management system 30 is accessed as a user account with an account with the same privileges as an account with administrator privileges (however, depending on the type of business management system 30, it may be possible to obtain the information in whole or in part even when an account without administrator privileges is used).

[0068] The same organization determination condition is a condition for determining whether or not the meeting participants on the coordination partner X side belong to the same organization as the coordination initiator A (described in detail later).

[0069] The user information 222 consists of information about users who are members of a corporate member and have completed registration to use the schedule adjustment device 20. The user information 222 is created when each user logs in to the schedule adjustment device 20 for the first time, and the authentication process with the business management system 30 is successful, and it is confirmed that the user is included in the member information of the member information 221, and is associated with the member information 221.

[0070] The user information 222 includes a user account, user authentication information, and user basic information.

[0071] The user account is information for a user such as the adjustment initiator A to log in to the schedule adjustment device 20. It is preferable that the user account is the same as the account for the user to access the business management system 30, but it may be different. The following description will be given on the assumption that the user account is the same as the account for accessing the business management system 30.

[0072] The user authentication information is an access token or the like obtained from the business management system 30 as a successful result of the authentication process when the authentication unit 211 uses a user account to perform authentication processing on the business management system 30 for the first time. After obtaining the user authentication information, the authentication unit 211 can perform authentication processing on the business management system 30 more quickly by using the user authentication information without using a user account.

[0073] The user basic information is the user's name, etc., and is read and recorded from the member information of the membership information 221 based on the user account when the user first logs in to the schedule adjustment device 20. The user basic information recorded in the user information 222 may be edited by the user himself / herself.

[0074] The adjustment condition template information 223 includes adjustment conditions previously specified by the user depending on the purpose of the meeting, an adjustment URL, behavior control information when the date is confirmed (such as the subject to be registered in the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participant), and screen display information (such as the name of the adjustment condition template (for example, for the first interview for new graduates) and an explanation, etc.).

[0075] Note that since the adjustment condition template information 223 is created by a user, the adjustment condition template information 223 is associated with the user information 222, but for example, the adjustment condition template information 223 may be associated with the membership information 221 so that the adjustment condition template information 223 can be shared between users who belong to the corporate membership corresponding to the membership information 221. Also, an adjustment condition template created by a certain user may be made available to other users.

[0076] The schedule adjustment information 224 is associated with the user information 222 corresponding to each user and is created for each meeting in which the user initiates the adjustment. Note that, considering that a user other than the user who created the adjustment condition template adjusts the schedule using the adjustment condition template, the schedule adjustment information 224 may be directly associated with the member information 221 of the corporate member to which the user belongs.

[0077] In the schedule adjustment information 224, a URL for adjustment, adjustment conditions, candidate schedules (second candidate schedules), information of the person to be adjusted (email address, timing of sending notification email, etc.), the confirmed meeting date and time, etc. are recorded.

[0078] <Processing during member registration and user registration by schedule adjustment system 10> Next, FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process performed by the schedule adjustment system 10 during member registration and user registration.

[0079] It is assumed that the calendar tool 31 provided by the business management system 30 is used to manage the schedules of members of the corporate member to which the coordination initiator A and the member manager M belong and the availability of meeting venues, and that the business management system 30 already manages the member information and venue information recorded in the member information 221. The business management system 30, as a specification, supplies at least one of the member information and venue information recorded in the member information 221 to the schedule coordination device 20 in response to a request from the schedule coordination device 20 accessed using an administrator account (or administrator authentication information).

[0080] First, when the member manager M uses the terminal device 40M to apply for member registration to the schedule adjustment device 20 via the network 11 (step S1), the authentication unit 211 of the schedule adjustment device 20 creates member information 221 and records it in the storage unit 22 (step S11). However, the created member information 221 here includes only the member account and basic member information, and does not include the administrator authority account, administrator authentication information, member information, or venue information.

[0081] Next, the member administrator M inputs an administrator authority account in the business management system 30 into the schedule adjustment device 20 and requests authentication processing from the schedule adjustment device 20 (step S2). Next, the authentication unit 211 uses the administrator authority account to perform authentication processing on the business management system 30 (step S12).

[0082] As a modified example, steps S1 and S11 may be executed after steps S2 and S12.

[0083] Then, as a result of the successful authentication process in step S12, administrator authentication information (access token, etc.) is sent from the business management system 30 to the schedule adjustment device 20, and then the authentication unit 211 registers the administrator authority account and the administrator authentication information in the member information 221 created and recorded in step S11 (step S13). Note that the authentication process can use, for example, OAuth, and by having the member manager M temporarily input a password to the business management system 30 without going through the authentication unit 211, the administrator authority account input by the member manager M is authenticated by the business management system 30. The authentication process for other persons such as the adjustment initiator A is similar.

[0084] Next, the authentication unit 211 connects to the business management system 30 using the administrator authentication information of the member information 221, and acquires the member information and venue information of the corporate member to which the member administrator M belongs, which are managed by the business management system 30 (step S14). Next, the authentication unit 211 registers the member information and venue information acquired in step S14 in the member information 221 created and recorded in step S11 (step S15).

[0085] After that, when the adjustment initiator A logs in to the schedule adjustment device 20 for the first time via the network 11 using his / her own user account using the terminal device 40A (step S31), the authentication unit 211 of the schedule adjustment device 20 checks the existence of the member information 221 in which member information including the user account of the adjustment initiator A is registered, and acquires the name (user basic information) of the adjustment initiator A from the member information (step S16). Next, the authentication unit 211 performs authentication processing on the business management system 30 using the user account of the adjustment initiator A (step S17).

[0086] Then, as a result of the successful authentication process in step S17, user authentication information (access token, etc.) is sent from the business management system 30 to the schedule adjustment device 20, and then the authentication unit 211 creates user information 222 corresponding to the adjustment initiator A, associates it with the member information 221 confirmed in step S16, and records it in the storage unit 22, and registers the user account of the adjustment initiator A, the user authentication information, and the user basic information acquired in step S16 in the user information 222 (step S18). With this, the process for member registration and user registration is completed.

[0087] According to the above-described processing for member registration and user registration, in the schedule adjustment device 20, the member information 221 of the corporate member to which the adjustment initiator A belongs is associated with the user information 222 of the adjustment initiator A, and the schedule adjustment device 20 is also in a state of holding the user authentication information of the adjustment initiator A for the business management system 30. From this point on, even if the user, the adjustment initiator A, is not logged in to the schedule adjustment device 20, the schedule adjustment unit 213 of the schedule adjustment device 20 can refer to and update, for example, via a WebAPI (Application Programming Interface), the schedule information 311 in which the plans of the adjustment initiator A and members B, C, D, etc. who belong to the same corporate member as the adjustment initiator A and the schedule information 311 in which the plans of meeting venues (conference rooms, etc.) available for use by the adjustment initiator A and members B, C, D, etc. who belong to the same corporate member as the adjustment initiator A, which are held in the business management system 30,

[0088] In the above-mentioned member registration and user registration processes, it is assumed that the member information 221 of the corporate member exists, and user information of a user belonging to the corporate member is generated. As a modified example, when the organization to which the user belongs is not a corporate member and the member information 221 does not exist, an individual logs into the schedule adjustment device 20 and creates user information 222, and then the individual performs a new authentication process on the business management system 30 using an administrator account, whereby the individual is regarded as a corporate member, the individual's user account is regarded as a member account, and member information 221 associated with the individual is generated based on the individual's user information 222. In this case, the individual who has become a corporate member has an administrator account, and is therefore able to obtain the member information and venue information of the organization to which the individual belongs from the business management system 30.

[0089] In addition, in this embodiment, the member information and venue information obtained from the business management system 30 are registered in the member information 221 stored in the memory unit 22, but instead of registering the member information and venue information in the member information 221, the member information and venue information may be obtained from the business management system 30 each time it is necessary to refer to the member information and venue information.

[0090] In the present embodiment, the member information and the venue information are acquired using an administrator account on the business management system 30. However, if it is difficult to use the administrator account on the business management system 30 from the viewpoint of security, the member information and the venue information may be registered directly in the schedule adjustment device 20 without using the administrator account on the business management system 30. For example, the member manager M or the user of the corporate member may directly register the member information and the venue information in the schedule adjustment device 20 by uploading data such as an Excel (trademark) file in which the member information and the venue information are recorded to the schedule adjustment device 20, or by directly inputting the data into a screen for user registration displayed on the terminal device 40M or the terminal device 40A by the schedule adjustment device 20. Also, instead of using an administrator account, the member manager M or the user of the corporate member may acquire only the member information and the venue information that can be acquired from the business management system 30 from the business management system 30 using the user account authority of the user account of the user manager M or the user of the corporate member, and register the information in the schedule adjustment device 20.

[0091] In this embodiment, the member information was obtained using an administrator account on the business management system 30, but a plurality of users who have registered for use as individual members may be grouped together, and all the grouped users may be regarded as users belonging to one corporate member to form the member information 221 and the user information 222, and the information of the grouped users may be formed as the member information of the corporate member. For example, a user who has registered for use as an individual member may invite other users who are registered in the schedule adjustment device 20 as members of the same organization as the user, or may invite people who are not registered in the schedule adjustment device 20 and have them register for use in the schedule adjustment device 20, thus forming a user group by establishing an invitation relationship between the users.

[0092] <Processing for Setting Conditions for Determining Same Organization by Schedule Adjustment System 10> Next, FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of a process for setting the same organization determination condition by the schedule adjustment system 10. In FIG.

[0093] First, the member manager M uses the terminal device 40M to log in to the schedule adjustment device 20 as a member manager via the network 11 (step S51). In response to the login of the member manager M, the authentication unit 211 of the schedule adjustment device 20 performs authentication processing in the schedule adjustment device 20 using the member account included in the member information 221 corresponding to the member manager M held in the memory unit 22 (step S61).

[0094] Next, the adjustment condition setting unit 212 of the schedule adjustment device 20 causes the terminal device 40M to display a selection screen (not shown) for selecting various operations as the member manager (step S62). Next, when the member manager M selects the same organization determination condition setting screen on the selection screen (step S52), the adjustment condition setting unit 212 of the schedule adjustment device 20 causes the terminal device 40M to display the same organization determination condition setting screen 300 (FIG. 5) for setting the same organization determination conditions (step S63).

[0095] 5 is a display example of a same organization determination condition setting screen 300 displayed on the terminal device 40M. The same organization determination condition setting screen 300 is provided with check boxes 301 for selecting "judge employees managed on the schedule adjustment device to be members of the same organization" and "judge individuals whose email domain or email address matches the following to be members of the same organization" as the same organization determination conditions, an input field 302 for specifying an email domain and email address when "judge individuals whose email domain or email address matches the following to be members of the same organization" is selected in the check box 301, and a "Confirm" button 303 for confirming the input setting values.

[0096] Incidentally, the same organization determination condition item selected by check box 301 is set in a default state in which only "determine that employees managed on the schedule adjustment device are members of the same organization" is selected.

[0097] The same organization determination condition is a setting value for determining whether the coordination partner X belongs to the same organization as the coordination initiator A when the schedule is finalized in the schedule adjustment, and is used by the schedule adjustment unit 213 as one of the determination conditions when determining whether to add the coordination partner side participants to the items of the meeting participants to be registered in the schedule information 311. The determination method will be described in detail later.

[0098] Returning to Fig. 4, when the member manager M sets the same organization determination condition on the same organization determination condition setting screen 300 displayed on the terminal device 40M and operates the "Confirm" button 303 (step S53), in response to this operation, the adjustment condition setting unit 212 of the schedule adjustment device 20 registers the specified same organization determination condition in the member information 221 of the member manager M (step S64).

[0099] In the present case, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, both of the check boxes 301 are selected as the same organization determination conditions: “Determine that employees managed on the schedule adjustment device are members of the same organization” and “Determine that people whose email domain or email address matches the following are members of the same organization.” The following explanation will be continued assuming that the five values ​​“aaa-group.com”, “aaa-consulting.com”, “aaa-games.com”, “sato.takashi@gmail.com”, and “takeda.satoru@gmail.com” have been entered in input field 302.

[0100] In this embodiment, in order to break down the functions and provide an easy-to-understand explanation, the same organization determination condition setting process (FIG. 4) has been explained separately from the process at the time of user registration (FIG. 3), but it is preferable that the same organization determination condition is set before the user (adjustment initiator A, etc.) starts the schedule adjustment operation. Therefore, it is preferable that the same organization determination condition setting process (FIG. 4) is executed in the series of corporate member usage registration processes by the member administrator M after step S15 and before step S31 in FIG. 3.

[0101] In addition, in this embodiment, the same organization determination conditions are set by the member administrator M, but it is also possible for a user (such as adjustment initiator A) who has been granted authority to operate the same organization determination condition setting screen 300 to operate the same organization determination condition setting screen 300 and set the same organization determination conditions.

[0102] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the same organization determination conditions are set by the member administrator M, and are items that can be specified on a member-by-member basis, but they may also be specified on a user-by-user basis. When the same organization determination conditions can be specified on a user-by-user basis, the setting values ​​specified on a user-by-user basis may inherit the setting values ​​specified on a member-by-member basis, and the inherited setting values ​​may be changed on a user-by-user basis. When the same organization determination conditions are set on a user-by-user basis, the setting values ​​on a user-by-user basis are given priority over the setting values ​​on a member-by-member basis. The same organization determination conditions specified on a user-by-user basis may be registered in the user information 222, which is information on a user-by-user basis, rather than in the member information 221.

[0103] <Schedule Adjustment Processing by Schedule Adjustment System 10> Next, FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of schedule adjustment processing by the schedule adjustment system 10. In FIG.

[0104] First, the adjustment initiator A uses the terminal device 40A to log in to the schedule adjustment device 20 via the network 11 (step S101). Then, in response to the login of the adjustment initiator A, the authentication unit 211 of the schedule adjustment device 20 performs authentication processing on the business management system 30 using a user account (or user authentication information) included in the user information 222 corresponding to the adjustment initiator A held in the storage unit 22 (step S111).

[0105] Next, the adjustment condition setting unit 212 of the schedule adjustment device 20 displays a selection screen (not shown) for selecting either "custom adjustment" or "template use" as the schedule adjustment method on the terminal device 40A (step S112), and then the adjustment initiator A selects the schedule adjustment method on the selection screen (step S102). In this case, the explanation will continue assuming that the adjustment initiator A selects custom adjustment.

[0106] <If "Custom Adjustment" is selected as the schedule adjustment method> Next, the adjustment condition setting unit 212 of the schedule adjustment device 20 causes the terminal device 40A to display a condition setting screen 500 (FIG. 7) for setting adjustment conditions (step S113).

[0107] 7 is a display example of a condition setting screen 500 displayed on the terminal device 40A. The condition setting screen 500 includes an input field 510 for inputting the subject of the meeting, a selection input field 511 for inputting the duration of the meeting, a selection input field 512 for inputting the time before and after the meeting, a selection input field 513 for inputting the extraction period of the candidate schedule (a selection input field for specifying the extraction period of the candidate schedule by year, month, and date, and a selection input field for the target date for automatically extracting the candidate schedule within the specified period (weekdays only, including weekends and holidays, etc.)), a selection input field 514 for inputting the available meeting time period, and a selection input field 515 for selecting and specifying one or more venues (such as conference rooms) to be used for the meeting from a list of venues based on the venue information of the member information 221. Here, the time before and after the meeting refers to the time for moving to the venue, preparation work, removal work, breaks, etc.

[0108] The selection input fields 511 to 515 are displayed with reference to the schedule adjustment information 224 associated with the user information 222 corresponding to the adjustment initiator A, and the contents of the adjustment conditions of the meeting in which the adjustment initiator A was the most recent adjustment initiator are reflected. This reduces the effort required for the adjustment initiator A to input the adjustment conditions. The selection input fields 511 to 515 may be selected by the coordination initiator A as to whether or not to automatically reflect the adjustment conditions of the most recent meeting. One or more patterns of adjustment conditions may be registered in advance, and the adjustment conditions may be easily reflected by specifying and calling one of the patterns. The adjustment conditions may be easily reflected by copying the adjustment conditions (information other than the extraction period of the candidate schedule) of the already registered adjustment condition template information 223.

[0109] Furthermore, the condition setting screen 500 is provided with a selection input field 516 for selecting and specifying one or more coordination initiator side participants (which may or may not include coordination initiator A) from the list of members based on the member information of the member information 221, a radio button 517 for selecting the meeting participation conditions for the coordination initiator side participant specified in the selection input field 516, a radio button 518 for selecting and specifying the criteria for determining whether to add coordination partner side participants to the meeting participant items in the meeting schedule to be registered in the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator side participant, a check box 519 for selecting whether to register the meeting schedule privately, and an "Extract candidate dates" button 520 for confirming each input item and instructing the extraction of candidate dates for the meeting.

[0110] The radio button 518 allows the user to select one of the following criteria: "Automatically determine, and add the other party to the meeting participants if they are from the same organization", "Add the other party to the meeting participants", or "Do not include the other party in the meeting participants". However, the radio button 518 may be omitted, and the criteria may be fixed to "Automatically determine, and add the other party to the meeting participants if they are from the same organization".

[0111] If multiple people are specified as coordination initiator side participants in selection input field 516 and all of the specified coordination initiator side participants need to participate in the meeting, then "All participants" can be selected in radio button 517. If multiple people are specified as coordination initiator side participants in selection input field 516 and it is sufficient for at least one of the specified coordination initiator side participants to participate, then "Only one person will participate" can be selected in radio button 517. If only one coordination initiator side participant is entered in selection input field 516, then "All participants will participate" is automatically selected in radio button 517, but if there is only one participant, then all subsequent operations, such as extraction of candidate dates, will be the same regardless of whether "All participants will participate" or "Only one person will participate" is selected.

[0112] When multiple names are entered as coordination initiator side participants in the selection input field 516 and "All participants" is selected with the radio button 517, the schedule information 311 of all coordination initiator side participants is referenced, and a common free date for all coordination initiator side participants who meet the coordination conditions is extracted as the first candidate date. Conversely, when multiple names are entered as coordination initiator side participants in the selection input field 516 on the condition setting screen 500 and "Only one person participates" is selected with the radio button 517, the schedule information 311 of all coordination initiator side participants is referenced, and a free date for at least one of all coordination initiator side participants who meets the coordination conditions is extracted as the first candidate date. The same applies when extracting the second and third candidate dates described below.

[0113] Returning to Fig. 6, when the adjustment initiator A inputs each item of the adjustment conditions on the condition setting screen 500 displayed on the terminal device 40A and operates the "Extract candidate schedule" button 520 (step S103), in response to this operation, the adjustment condition setting unit 212 of the schedule adjustment device 20 creates new schedule adjustment information 224 in association with the user information 222 of the adjustment initiator A, stores it in the storage unit 22, and registers the set adjustment conditions in the schedule adjustment information 224 (step S114).

[0114] In the present case, for example, as shown in Figure 7, the coordination conditions are as follows: the subject of the meeting is "Engineers Joint Service Improvement Meeting," the duration of the meeting is "60 minutes," the time allotted before and after the meeting is "30 minutes," the extraction period for the candidate dates is "weekdays only" between "December 16, 2020" and "December 25, 2020," the available time slots are "09:00-18:00," the venue is "not specified," the input for the coordination initiator side participants is three people, "A, B, C," the meeting participation conditions for the entered coordination initiator side participants are "all participants," the meeting participants in the registration schedule are "automatically determined, and if the coordination partner is from the same organization, they are added to the meeting participants," and the registration of the meeting schedule is set to "public." The following explanation will continue assuming this.

[0115] Next, the schedule adjustment unit 213 reads out the adjustment conditions registered in the schedule adjustment information 224 associated with the adjustment initiator A from the memory unit 22, and refers to the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participants managed by the calendar tool 31 of the business management system 30, and extracts the available dates of the adjustment initiator side participants that satisfy the adjustment conditions at the current time as the first candidate dates (step S115).

[0116] Specifically, in this case, the first candidate date is determined by extracting a time that is available on a common schedule for participants A, B, and C on the coordination initiator side, and is between 9:00 and 18:00 on weekdays between December 16, 2020 and December 25, 2020, when 60 minutes of the required meeting time can be secured, and further excluding times when 30 minutes of secured time before the meeting and 30 minutes of secured time after the meeting cannot be secured.

[0117] Next, the schedule adjustment section 213 causes the terminal device 40A to display the schedule editing screen 600 (FIG. 8) showing the first candidate schedule (step S116).

[0118] 8 shows an example of a schedule editing screen 600 displayed on the terminal device 40A. The schedule editing screen 600 displays a candidate schedule period frame 601, a calendar 602 displayed in a grid with the date on the horizontal axis and the time on the vertical axis, and a candidate schedule list 605 in which first candidate schedules are listed by day. The schedule editing screen 600 also has an "Issue URL" button 606 and a "Back" button 607.

[0119] Candidate schedule period frame 601 indicates the period in which the first candidate schedule exists among the candidate schedule extraction periods input in selection input field 513 of condition setting screen 500 (FIG. 7).

[0120] On the calendar 602, based on the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator side participants managed by the calendar tool 31, an existing schedule frame 604 showing the schedules of all the coordination initiator side participants in the display period on the calendar 602 and a first candidate schedule frame 603 are displayed in different colors so as to be distinguishable. This allows the coordination initiator A to edit the first candidate schedule while checking the existing schedules of the coordination initiator side participants. Note that when there are multiple coordination initiator side participants, the participant's name may be displayed in the existing schedule frame 604 or the existing schedule frame 604 may be color coded so as to distinguish which of the multiple participants the existing schedule belongs to.

[0121] In the candidate schedule list 605, the first candidate schedules are displayed in a list by date.

[0122] The adjustment initiator A can edit (extend, shorten, exclude part, or exclude all) the first candidate schedule slot using a pop-up screen (not shown) that is displayed by selecting the first candidate schedule slot 603 in the calendar 602. For example, the adjustment initiator A can advance or delay the start time 10:30 or the end time 15:30 of the slot on the pop-up screen that is displayed by selecting the slot of 10:30 to 15:30 on Thursday, December 17. In addition, the adjustment initiator A can exclude a part of the slot, for example, 12:00 to 13:00 on the same day, from the first candidate schedule, or exclude the entire slot (the entire slot from 10:30 to 15:30) from the first candidate schedule. The editing result of the first candidate schedule in the calendar 602 is immediately reflected in the candidate schedule list 605. The editing of the first candidate schedule may be performed by an operation such as drag and drop on the screen in response to an operation of an input device (mouse, touch panel, etc.) provided in the terminal device 40A. The same applies to other screen operations in the terminal devices 40A and 40X.

[0123] Note that adjustment initiator A can also edit the first candidate schedule in candidate schedule list 605.

[0124] The "URL Issue" button 606 is a button for confirming the editing result of the first candidate schedule (second candidate schedule) by the adjustment initiator A in the calendar 602 and issuing an adjustment URL for the adjustment partner to access the schedule adjustment screen. The "Back" button 607 is a button for returning to the condition setting screen 500.

[0125] In this case, the following explanation will be continued on the assumption that adjustment initiator A has excluded December 16th (Wed) 15:00-16:00 from the first candidate schedule on the schedule editing screen 600.

[0126] Returning to Fig. 6, on the schedule editing screen 600 displayed on the terminal device 40A, the adjustment initiator A edits the first candidate schedule as necessary and operates the "URL issue" button 606 (step S104), and then the schedule adjustment unit 213 of the schedule adjustment device 20 issues an adjustment URL and registers the adjustment URL and the second candidate schedule in the schedule adjustment information 224 (created in step S114) corresponding to the adjustment initiator A (step S117).

[0127] Next, the schedule adjustment unit 213 causes the terminal device 40A to display the issued adjustment URL and a message instructing the terminal device 40A to transmit the adjustment URL to the adjustment partner (not shown) (step S118).

[0128] In response to the message, next, the adjustment initiator A copies the adjustment URL displayed on the terminal device 40A, pastes it into an e-mail or the like, and sends it to the terminal device 40X of the adjustment partner X (step S105). As a modified example, the adjustment initiator A may input in advance the e-mail address or the like of the adjustment partner X to which the adjustment URL is to be sent, and the schedule adjustment unit 213 may automatically send an e-mail or the like including the adjustment URL to the adjustment partner X.

[0129] Next, when the adjustment partner X who has received the adjustment URL accesses the adjustment URL using the terminal device 40X (step S131), the schedule adjustment unit 213 of the schedule adjustment device 20 reads out from the memory unit 22 the adjustment conditions and the second candidate schedule registered in the schedule adjustment information 224 of the adjustment initiator A corresponding to the adjustment URL, and refers to the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participants managed by the calendar tool 31 to extract a third candidate schedule that is an available schedule of the adjustment initiator side participants that satisfies the adjustment conditions at the current time and is within the range of the second candidate schedule (step S119).

[0130] In this case, suppose that an event from 13:00 to 14:00 on Thursday, December 17th was added to the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator A, who is a participant on the coordination initiator side, between the issuance of the coordination URL and the access by coordination partner X. In this case, the third candidate date is the second candidate date minus 12:30 to 14:30 on Thursday, December 17th, which takes into account the "30 minutes" of available time before and after the meeting. In other words, the "available time before and after" adjustment condition is also applied to the added event of coordination initiator A.

[0131] Next, the schedule adjustment unit 213 causes the schedule adjustment screen 800 (FIG. 9) to be displayed on the terminal device 40X (step S120).

[0132] 9 shows an example of the display of a schedule adjustment screen 800. The schedule adjustment screen 800 displays a calendar 801 that displays dates on the horizontal axis and times on the vertical axis in a grid pattern, and a list of candidate schedules 803 that lists third candidate schedules by day. The schedule adjustment screen 800 also has an "Inconvenience" button 804 and a "Confirmation screen" button 805.

[0133] On the calendar 801, the third candidate schedule frame 802 is displayed in a different color, etc., so that it can be distinguished from the other frames. Unlike the calendar 602 on the schedule editing screen 600 (FIG. 8), the calendar 801 does not display the existing schedule of the coordination initiator side participants. Therefore, the privacy of the coordination initiator side participants from the coordination partner X can be protected.

[0134] The candidate date list 803 displays the duration of the meeting and a third list of candidate dates by date.

[0135] The coordination partner X can select the meeting date by selecting one of the third candidate date slots 802 in the calendar 801. If a slot longer than the required time of the meeting, "60 minutes," is selected, a pop-up screen (not shown) is displayed. The coordination partner X can determine the meeting date by selecting a time of the required time, "60 minutes," within the selected slot on the pop-up screen.

[0136] In this case, it is assumed that the other party X has decided on the meeting date of December 17th (Thursday) from 11:00 to 12:00 on the schedule adjustment screen 800, and the following explanation will continue.

[0137] The "Inconvenient" button 804 is a button to be operated when the third candidate schedule displayed on the schedule adjustment screen 800 is inconvenient for the adjustment partner X. When the adjustment partner X operates the "Inconvenient" button 804, the adjustment initiator A is notified that the proposed candidate schedule is inconvenient. In this case, the adjustment initiator A will change the adjustment conditions and execute the schedule adjustment process again.

[0138] The "Confirmation Screen" button 805 is a button for confirming the determined meeting schedule. When the coordination partner X operates the "Confirmation Screen" button 805, the terminal device 40X displays a schedule confirmation screen 900 (FIG. 10) for the coordination partner X to confirm the determined meeting schedule selected from the third candidate schedule.

[0139] 10 shows an example of a display of a schedule confirmation screen 900. The schedule confirmation screen 900 displays a calendar 901 that displays a grid with the date on the horizontal axis and the time on the vertical axis, and meeting details 903.

[0140] In the calendar 901, the meeting schedule frame 902 selected and determined by the person X himself on the schedule adjustment screen 800 (FIG. 9) is displayed in a different color so as to be distinguishable from the other frames. In the meeting details 903, the selected and determined date of the meeting (in this case, December 17th (Thursday) 11:00 to 12:00) is displayed.

[0141] In addition, the schedule confirmation screen 900 is provided with an input field 904 for the coordination partner X to input his / her own email address, a check box 905 for setting the timing of sending a notification email to notify the coordination partner X of the holding of the meeting, a "Back" button 906 for returning to the schedule adjustment screen 800, and a "Confirm" button 907 for confirming the contents displayed on the schedule confirmation screen 900.

[0142] In this case, it is assumed that the person to be coordinated X has entered “taro.suzuki@aaa-group.com” in the input field 904 of the schedule adjustment screen 800, and the following explanation will be continued.

[0143] In this embodiment, it is assumed that only the coordination partner X will be the coordination partner participant, and only the email address of the coordination partner X is to be input in the input field 904, but it is also possible to assume that there are multiple coordination partner participants, and to allow multiple email addresses of the coordination partner participants to be input in the input field 904. In that case, the display name of the item in the input field 904 may be changed so that it is clear that the coordination partner X can input multiple email addresses of the coordination partner participants. Also, the notification email address for notifying the meeting schedule may be input in a separate item from the email address for identifying the coordination partner participant.

[0144] Return to Fig. 6. When the coordination partner X inputs his / her own email address in the input field 904 on the schedule confirmation screen 900 (Fig. 10) displayed on the terminal device 40X and operates the "Confirm" button 907 (step S132), the schedule adjustment unit 213 refers to the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator side participants managed by the calendar tool 31 and finally confirms that the meeting schedule confirmed on the schedule confirmation screen 900 is the available schedule of the coordination initiator side participants that meets the coordination conditions at the current time (step S121). If the confirmed meeting schedule is no longer the available schedule of the coordination initiator side participants that meets the coordination conditions because the coordination initiator side participants have made plans for it, a message such as "The specified time has been booked. Please select again" is displayed on the terminal device 40X, and the process is returned to step S119, and the coordination partner X's operation on the schedule adjustment screen 800 is restarted.

[0145] If it is finally confirmed in the final confirmation of step S121 that the confirmed meeting date is an available date of the coordination initiator side participant that satisfies the coordination conditions, the schedule adjustment unit 213 registers the confirmed meeting date with coordination partner X in the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator side participant managed by the calendar tool 31, and further registers the email address of coordination partner X, the timing of sending the notification email, the date and time of the meeting, etc. in the schedule adjustment information 224 (created in step S114) corresponding to the coordination initiator A held in the memory unit 22 (step S122).

[0146] When an event is registered in the schedule information 311, it is determined whether or not to add the coordination partner X to the meeting participant item in the event to be registered, and then the event is registered in the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator A (or one of the participants on the coordination initiator's side, if the coordination initiator A is not a participant) managed by the calendar tool 31.

[0147] If the coordination initiator A selects "Automatically determine, and add the coordination partner to the meeting participants if they are from the same organization" in radio button 518 on the condition setting screen 500 (FIG. 7), the schedule adjustment unit 213 determines whether the coordination partner X is a member belonging to the same organization as the coordination initiator A based on the setting value of the same organization determination condition set by the member manager M on the same organization determination condition setting screen 300 (FIG. 5) and the email address of the coordination partner X entered by the coordination partner X in the input field 904 on the schedule confirmation screen 900 (FIG. 10) (hereinafter, this determination will be referred to as "same organization determination"), and determines whether or not to add the coordination partner X to the meeting participant item to be registered based on the result of the same organization determination (hereinafter, this determination will be referred to as "determination to add to meeting participants").

[0148] Specifically, when the member manager M selects the option "Judge employees managed on the schedule adjustment device as members of the same organization" on the same organization judgment condition setting screen 300 (Fig. 5), it checks whether the email address of the coordination partner X exists in the member information managed in the member information 221 of the corporate member to which the coordination initiator A belongs, and if it is confirmed that the email address exists, it judges that the coordination partner X is "a member belonging to the same organization" as the coordination initiator A as the same organization judgment. Then, when it judges that the coordination partner X is "a member belonging to the same organization" as the same organization judgment, it adds the coordination partner X to the coordination initiator side participants in the meeting participant item on the schedule to be registered, and registers the meeting schedule. In addition, if the member manager M selects the option "Judge people whose email domain or email address matches the following to be members of the same organization" on the same organization judgment condition setting screen 300 (FIG. 5), it checks whether the email domain or email address of the coordination partner X matches any of the email domains or email addresses specified in the input field 302 of the same organization judgment condition setting screen 300 (FIG. 5), and if it is confirmed that they match, it judges the coordination partner X as "a member belonging to the same organization" as the coordination initiator A as the same organization judgment. Then, if it judges that "they are members belonging to the same organization" as the same organization judgment, it adds the coordination partner X to the coordination initiator side participants in the meeting participant item of the plan to be registered, and registers the meeting schedule. If the email address of the coordination partner X does not fall into either of the above two patterns, it does not regard the coordination partner X as a member of the same organization as the coordination initiator A, and it does not add the coordination partner side participants to the meeting participant item of the plan to be registered, but sets only the coordination initiator side participants, and registers the meeting schedule.

[0149] In addition, if the input field 904 on the schedule confirmation screen 900 (Figure 10) allows the input of multiple email addresses as coordination partner participants, the above-mentioned same organization determination can be performed on some or all of the multiple email addresses entered, and the result of the same organization determination can be used to determine whether or not to add some or all of the coordination partner participants to the meeting participant items that are planned to be registered.

[0150] Specifically, for example, the above-mentioned same organization determination may be performed using the first email address among the email addresses of multiple people entered by the coordination partner X, and if it is determined that the email address is "a member belonging to the same organization" as the coordination initiator A, all of the coordination partner participants may be added to the meeting participant items. Alternatively, the above-mentioned same organization determination may be performed for all email addresses of the coordination partner participants, and if it is determined that one or more email addresses of the coordination partner participants are "members belonging to the same organization" as the coordination initiator A, all of the coordination partner participants may be added to the meeting participant items. Alternatively, the above-mentioned same organization determination may be performed for all email addresses of the coordination partner participants, and only if it is determined that all email addresses of the coordination partner participants are "members belonging to the same organization" as the coordination initiator A, all of the coordination partner participants may be added to the meeting participant items. Alternatively, the above-mentioned same organization determination may be performed for each email address of the coordination partner participants, and only email addresses that are determined to be "members belonging to the same organization" as the coordination initiator A may be added to the meeting participant items.

[0151] 11 shows an example of the plan information to be registered in the schedule information 311 when the schedule adjustment unit 213 registers the confirmed meeting plan in the schedule information 311 of adjustment initiator A. Note that, in a general calendar tool, when registering a certain meeting plan, even if multiple people are meeting attendees, it is sufficient to register the plan in only one person's schedule information 311, and the registered plan is reflected in all schedule information, including the schedule information to which it is registered and the schedule information of the members specified in the meeting attendees item.

[0152] The upper part of Fig. 11 is an example of schedule information corresponding to a case where, as a result of the determination to add meeting participants, coordination partner X, who is a coordination partner participant, is included in the meeting participant item on the schedule to be registered. In the meeting participant item of the schedule information, coordination partner X, who is a coordination partner participant, is added to participants A, B, and C on the coordination initiator side. The lower part of Fig. 11 is an example of schedule information corresponding to a case where, as a result of the determination to add meeting participants, coordination partner X, who is a coordination partner participant, is not included in the meeting participant item on the schedule to be registered. In the meeting participant item of the schedule information, participants A, B, and C on the coordination initiator side are registered, and coordination partner X, who is a coordination partner participant, is not added. Note that the only difference between the schedule information in the upper part of Fig. 11 and the schedule information in the lower part of Fig. 11 is whether or not coordination partner X has been added to the meeting participant item, and the settings of all other items are the same.

[0153] Also, for example, if coordination initiator A selects "Add coordination partner to meeting participants" in radio button 518 on condition setting screen 500 (Figure 7), the schedule adjustment unit 213 will add coordination partner X (if multiple people can be specified as coordination partner participants, this includes all multiple participants on the coordination partner X's side) to the coordination initiator's side participants in the meeting participant item in the schedule to be registered, regardless of the coordination partner X's email address, and register the meeting schedule.

[0154] Furthermore, for example, if coordination initiator A selects "Do not add coordination partner to meeting participants" in radio button 518 on condition setting screen 500 (Figure 7), the schedule adjustment unit 213 will not add coordination partner X (if multiple people can be specified as coordination partner participants, this will include all of the multiple participants on the coordination partner X side) to the meeting participant item in the schedule to be registered, regardless of the coordination partner X's email address, but will set only the coordination initiator's participants and register the meeting schedule.

[0155] In this case, in the selection input field 516 of the condition setting screen 500 (FIG. 7), three people A, B, and C are specified as participants on the adjustment initiator side, and "All participants" is selected in the radio button 517. Also, in the radio button 518 of the condition setting screen 500 (FIG. 7), "Automatically determine, and add the adjustment partner to the meeting participants if they are from the same organization" is selected. Furthermore, in the same organization determination condition setting screen 300 (FIG. 5), both options "Determine employees managed on the schedule adjustment device as members of the same organization" and "Determine people whose email domain or email address matches the following as members of the same organization" are selected by the check box 301, and five values, "aaa-group.com", "aaa-consulting.com", "aaa-games.com", "sato.takashi@gmail.com", and "takeda.satoru@gmail.com", are specified in the input field 302 for specifying the email domain and email address. Furthermore, in the input field 904 of the schedule confirmation screen 900 (FIG. 10), the email address of the adjustment partner X is specified as "taro.suzuki@aaa-group.com".

[0156] And, since the mail domain of the coordination partner X, "aaa-group.com", matches the mail domain specified in the input field 302 of the same organization determination condition setting screen 300 (FIG. 5), the coordination partner X is determined as "a member belonging to the same organization" as the coordination initiator A as a result of the same organization determination, and as a result, in the determination of addition to the meeting participants, it is determined that "coordination partner side participants are added" to the item of the meeting participants in the plan to be registered. That is, the schedule adjustment unit 213 registers the meeting plan in the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator A managed by the calendar tool 31 after specifying the coordination initiator side participants A, B, C and "taro.suzuki@aaa-group.com" that identifies the coordination partner X in the item of the meeting participants in the plan to be registered.

[0157] In addition, if "Only one person will participate" is selected using radio button 517 on condition setting screen 500 (Figure 7), only one person will be selected from among the coordination initiator side participants A, B, and C entered in selection input field 516, who has an available date for the confirmed meeting date that satisfies the coordination conditions, and only this selected person will be treated as a coordination initiator side participant, so that the selected person from the coordination initiator side and coordination partner X will be specified in the meeting participant items in the registration schedule.

[0158] Returning to Fig. 6, the schedule adjustment unit 213 then displays on the terminal device 40X the schedule notification screen 1000 (Fig. 12 or 13) indicating the schedule of the meeting confirmed by the adjustment partner X himself (step S123).

[0159] FIG. 12 shows an example of a display of a schedule notification screen 1000 in which a meeting schedule is registered after adding the coordination partner X, who is a coordination partner side participant, to the items of the scheduled meeting participants. The schedule notification screen 1000 displays the confirmed meeting schedule and the like. The schedule notification screen 1000 also has a schedule registration button 1001 for a specific type of calendar tool and a schedule registration button 1002 for a schedule application using a certain default data format. The coordination partner X can register the confirmed meeting schedule as the coordination partner X's own schedule in the calendar tool used by the coordination partner X by operating the registration button 1001 or the registration button 1002 according to the type of calendar tool used by the coordination partner X. Note that, when the coordination partner X uses the same type of calendar tool 31 as the coordination initiator A, the schedule of the meeting is already reflected in the schedule information 311 of the coordination partner X, so in principle, the coordination partner X does not need to operate the registration buttons 1001 and 1002. However, when coordination initiator A selects "Add coordination partner to meeting participants" in radio button 518 on condition setting screen 500 (FIG. 7) and registers a meeting schedule by forcibly adding coordination partner X to the meeting participant item on the schedule regardless of coordination partner X's affiliation, the meeting schedule may not be reflected in the calendar tool used by coordination partner X, so registration buttons 1001 and 1002 are provided on schedule notification screen 1000 (FIG. 12) as a supplementary measure.

[0160] In this embodiment, whether or not to add the coordination partner side participant to the item of the meeting participant to be registered in the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator side participant is determined by the setting on the coordination initiator A side and the email address entered by the coordination partner X. However, the coordination partner X may specify whether or not to add the coordination partner side participant to the item of the meeting participant to be scheduled by the coordination initiator side participant. Specifically, for example, the schedule confirmation screen 900 (FIG. 10) is provided with an option (not shown) such as a check box for the coordination partner X to select whether or not to add the coordination partner side participant to the item of the meeting participant to be scheduled by the coordination initiator side participant. If the coordination partner X selects the option of not adding the coordination partner side participant to the item of the meeting participant to be scheduled by the coordination initiator side participant, the schedule adjustment unit 213 omits the decision to add the coordination partner side participant to the meeting participant (the same process is executed as when "Do not add coordination partner to meeting participant" is selected in the radio button 518 on the condition setting screen 500 (FIG. 7)). In addition, an option such as a checkbox (not shown) for the coordination partner X to select whether or not to add a coordination partner participant to the item of meeting participants scheduled for the coordination initiator participant may be provided only when, as a result of the addition determination for the meeting participants, it is determined that "add a coordination partner participant" is to be added to the item of meeting participants scheduled to be registered.

[0161] Fig. 13 shows an example of the display of a schedule notification screen 1000 when a meeting schedule is registered without adding the coordination partner X, who is a coordination partner participant, to the items of the scheduled meeting participants. The registration buttons 1001 and 1002 are the same as in Fig. 12, so the explanation will be omitted. If the coordination partner X is not added to the items of the scheduled meeting participants, the meeting schedule is not reflected in the calendar tool used by the coordination partner X, so the coordination partner X needs to register the schedule in his / her own calendar tool by operating the registration button 1001 or the registration button 1002, or by directly registering the schedule in the calendar tool he / she uses.

[0162] Returning to Fig. 6, the schedule adjustment unit 213 then sends a notification email notifying the holding of the meeting, including the decided meeting schedule, to the coordination initiator side participants and the coordination partner X (the email address specified by the coordination partner X in the input field 904 of the schedule confirmation screen 900 (Fig. 10); if multiple email addresses can be entered as coordination partner side participants, all of those email addresses) (step S124). Note that the notification email is sent to the coordination partner X not only at the timing when the coordination partner X confirms the meeting schedule himself, but also thereafter according to the sending timing selected by the coordination partner X himself.

[0163] However, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the coordination partner X receives the e-mail at the terminal device 40X, and an arrow from the schedule coordination device 20 to the terminal device 40X is illustrated as step S124, but the coordination partner X may receive the notification e-mail from the schedule coordination device 20 by an electronic device other than the terminal device 40X. The same applies to the coordination initiator A and the terminal device 40A.

[0164] In addition, in this embodiment, the notification to the coordination initiator side participants and the coordination partner X is notified by email, but the notification means does not have to be email. For example, the notification may be made by using a chat tool used by the coordination initiator side participants and the coordination partner X. This completes the schedule adjustment process by the schedule adjustment system 10.

[0165] In this case, the coordination initiator A has not specified a venue for the meeting, but if a venue is specified in the selection input field 515 of the condition setting screen 500 (Figure 7), a first candidate date and a third candidate date can be extracted so as to satisfy the requirement that at least one of the specified venues is an available date.

[0166] Specifically, for example, if only "Conference Room 1" is specified as the venue, in step S115, the schedule adjustment unit 213 reads out the adjustment conditions registered in the schedule adjustment information 224 of the adjustment initiator A from the memory unit 22, and refers to the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participants and the first conference room managed by the calendar tool 31 of the business management system 30, and extracts a date that is currently available for the adjustment initiator side participants and that is also available for the first conference room, which satisfies the adjustment conditions, as the first candidate date. Also, in step S119, the schedule adjustment unit 213 reads out the adjustment conditions and the second candidate schedule registered in the schedule adjustment information 224 of the adjustment initiator A corresponding to the accessed adjustment URL from the storage unit 22, and refers to the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participants and the first conference room managed by the calendar tool 31, and extracts as the third candidate schedule a schedule that is an available schedule of the adjustment initiator side participants that satisfies the adjustment conditions at the current time, is an available schedule of the first conference room, and is within the range of the second candidate schedule. Also, in step S121, the schedule adjustment unit 213 refers to the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participants and the first conference room managed by the calendar tool 31, and confirms that it is an available schedule of the adjustment initiator side participants at the current time, and is an available schedule of the first conference room. Furthermore, in step S122, when the schedule adjustment unit 213 registers a meeting schedule in the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participant managed by the calendar tool 31, it specifies an ID as a venue that can identify the first conference room in the calendar tool 31 in the conference room item of the schedule to be registered, and then registers the meeting schedule (as a general calendar tool specification, the schedule is automatically reflected in the schedule information 311 of the first conference room specified in the conference room item, and the meeting schedule for the first conference room is secured).

[0167] Also, for example, if two rooms, "Conference Room 1 and Conference Room 2," are specified as the venue, in step S115, the schedule adjustment unit 213 reads out the adjustment conditions registered in the schedule adjustment information 224 of the adjustment initiator A from the memory unit 22, and refers to the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participants and the first and second conference rooms managed by the calendar tool 31 of the business management system 30, and extracts as the first candidate date a date that is currently available for the adjustment initiator side participants that satisfies the adjustment conditions and that has at least one of the first and second conference rooms available. Furthermore, in step S119, the schedule adjustment unit 213 reads out from the memory unit 22 the adjustment conditions and the second candidate date registered in the schedule adjustment information 224 of the adjustment initiator A corresponding to the accessed adjustment URL, and refers to the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participants, the first conference room, and the second conference room managed by the calendar tool 31, and extracts as the third candidate date a date that is currently an available date of the adjustment initiator side participants that satisfies the adjustment conditions, is an available date of at least one of the first conference room and the second conference room, and is within the range of the second candidate date.

[0168] In step S121, the schedule adjustment unit 213 may refer to the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator side participants, the first conference room, and the second conference room, which are managed by the calendar tool 31, and confirm that the coordination initiator side participants are currently available and that at least one of the first conference room and the second conference room is available. In step S122, if only one of the first conference room and the second conference room is available in the confirmed meeting schedule, the meeting schedule may be registered after specifying a venue ID that can identify one of the available venues in the calendar tool 31 in the conference room item of the schedule to be registered. In addition, if two rooms, the first conference room and the second conference room, are available in the confirmed meeting schedule, one of the first conference room or the second conference room may be selected, and the meeting schedule may be registered after specifying a venue ID that can identify the selected venue in the calendar tool 31 in the conference room item of the schedule to be registered. The priority order of the selected venues may follow a predetermined rule, or may be specified by the coordination initiator A.

[0169] In this embodiment, it is assumed that after the adjustment initiator A confirms the second candidate schedule in step S117, the adjustment initiator A does not edit the second candidate schedule, but it is also possible to allow the adjustment initiator A to edit the second candidate schedule after step S117 and before the adjustment partner X accesses the adjustment URL in step S131. However, even in this case, as in this embodiment, the schedule adjustment unit 213 only needs to extract the third candidate schedule using the second candidate schedule registered in the schedule adjustment information 224 at the time when the adjustment partner X accesses the adjustment URL.

[0170] In addition, in this embodiment, when the adjustment initiator A confirms the second candidate schedule and the schedule adjustment unit 213 issues the adjustment URL, the schedule adjustment unit 213 can perform the subsequent schedule adjustment process without double booking without registering any schedule in the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participant. However, the method of preventing double booking is not limited to this embodiment. For example, as a modified example, when the adjustment initiator A confirms the second candidate schedule and the schedule adjustment unit 213 issues the adjustment URL, a "tentative schedule" for preventing another schedule from being additionally registered on the schedule set as the second candidate schedule may be registered in the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participant, thereby preventing another schedule from being additionally registered on the "tentative schedule" schedule thereafter. In this modified example, when the schedule adjustment unit 213 displays a third candidate schedule on the schedule adjustment screen 800, it assumes that no other schedules have been additionally registered for the schedule on which the "tentative schedule" has been registered (in other words, the date on which the "tentative schedule" has been registered is an available schedule for the adjustment initiator side participant), and refers to the "tentative schedule" date registered in advance in the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participant or the "tentative schedule" date recorded in advance in the schedule adjustment information 224, etc., and displays the "tentative schedule" date on the schedule adjustment screen 800 as the third candidate schedule. Alternatively, assuming that the "tentative schedule" may have been changed in the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator participant, and that additional schedules may have been registered for some dates that overlap with the "tentative schedule," the dates of the "tentative schedule" registered in the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator participant or the dates of the "tentative schedule" recorded in schedule adjustment information 224, etc. may be extracted, and dates that are within the range of the extracted "tentative schedule" dates and are available dates of the adjustment initiator participant that satisfy the adjustment conditions may be displayed on the schedule adjustment screen 800 as third candidate dates.

[0171] In this embodiment, the explanation is given on the assumption that the coordination partner X is not a user of the schedule adjustment device 20, but it is also assumed that the coordination partner X is a user of the schedule adjustment device 20 (the coordination partner X may be a user belonging to the same corporate membership as the coordination initiator A, or may be a user belonging to a corporate membership other than the corporate membership to which the coordination initiator A belongs. The coordination partner X may also be a user of an individual membership).

[0172] When the coordination partner X is a user belonging to a corporate member of the schedule adjustment device 20, a "change coordination conditions" button (not shown) is added to the schedule adjustment screen 800 (FIG. 9) displayed by the schedule adjustment unit 213 on the terminal device 40X of the coordination partner X, and the coordination partner participants and the venue (conference room, etc.) used by the coordination partner participants for the meeting can be changed in a selection input field that is displayed in response to the operation of the "change coordination conditions" button. Note that the initial value is that only the coordination partner X is the coordination partner participant, and the venue used by the coordination partner participants for the meeting is "not selected," and the coordination partner X can change the coordination partner participants and the venue used by the coordination partner participants for the meeting from the initial value as necessary by operating the adjustment conditions change button.

[0173] Also, if the coordination partner X is a user belonging to a corporate member of the schedule adjustment device 20, the schedule adjustment device 20 is already in a state where the coordination partner participant and the schedule information 311 of the venue that the coordination partner participant can use for the meeting can be referred to, so the schedule adjustment unit 213 refers to the schedule information 311 of the coordination partner participant and the venue set by the "change coordination conditions" button, and displays an additional display frame (not shown) showing the existing schedule of the coordination partner participant and the venue on the calendar 801 of the schedule adjustment screen 800 (FIG. 9), and at that time, displays it in a different color or the like so as to be distinguished from the third candidate schedule frame 802 on the calendar 801. In other words, if the coordination partner X is a user belonging to a corporate member of the schedule adjustment device 20, the coordination partner X can check the existing schedule of the selected coordination partner participant and venue on the calendar 801 where the third candidate schedule frame 802 is displayed, so that the coordination partner X can very easily select the date of the meeting. Similarly, the schedule confirmation screen 900 (FIG. 10) also displays on a calendar 901 the existing schedule of the coordination partner participants and the venue.

[0174] Furthermore, if the coordination partner X is a user belonging to a corporate member of the schedule adjustment device 20, the schedule adjustment device 20 holds the email addresses of the coordination partner X and the coordination partner participants designated by the coordination partner X, and therefore does not display the input field 904 on the schedule confirmation screen 900 (FIG. 10) for the coordination partner X to input his / her own email address and the email addresses of the coordination partner participants (it may be displayed with values ​​already entered so that the coordination partner X can change them).

[0175] It is also assumed that the coordination partner X is a user of an individual member of the schedule adjustment device 20. When the coordination partner X is a user of an individual member of the schedule adjustment device 20, the "change coordination conditions" button cannot be used to specify coordination partner participants other than X himself or the venue that coordination partner X will use for the meeting, but other than that (display of coordination partner X's own existing schedule on the schedule adjustment screen 800 (FIG. 9) and schedule confirmation screen 900 (FIG. 10), and non-display of the input field 904) are the same as when coordination partner X is a user belonging to a corporate membership.

[0176] In addition, if the coordination partner X is a user belonging to a certain corporate member of the schedule adjustment device 20 or a user of a certain individual member, the schedule adjustment device 20 already knows the calendar tool 31 that the coordination partner side participant (only the coordination partner X if the coordination partner X is a user of an individual member) usually uses, so the schedule notification screen 1000 (FIGS. 12 and 13) does not display the registration button 1001 and the registration button 1002 (and the text displayed to the left of each button is also changed considering that the coordination partner X is a user). Then, since the schedule adjustment device 20 is in a state where a schedule can be registered in the schedule information 311 of the coordination partner side participant, when the coordination partner side participant is not added to the item of the scheduled meeting participants in the schedule to be registered in the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator side participant (when the schedule notification screen 1000 of FIG. 13 is displayed for the coordination partner X), the schedule adjustment unit 213 registers the schedule of the coordination partner side participant in the schedule information 311 of the coordination partner side participant. The items required for schedule registration (such as the schedule subject) may be input by the coordination partner X on the schedule confirmation screen 900. Alternatively, the schedule coordination unit 213 may automatically generate the items using information of the coordination initiator A, etc.

[0177] According to the schedule adjustment process described above, it is possible to easily adjust the schedule of a meeting without double booking. Also, depending on the meeting content or the affiliation of the coordination partner X, it is possible to easily or automatically switch between registering the confirmed schedule on the coordination initiator A's schedule and the coordination partner X's schedule separately, or integrating and registering both the confirmed schedule to be registered on the coordination partner X's schedule and the confirmed schedule to be registered on the coordination initiator A's schedule.

[0178] In addition, with the schedule adjustment process, from the viewpoint of the schedule adjustment initiator A, the tasks from extracting candidate dates to sending them to the adjustment partner X can be completed in a short time (for example, about 30 seconds), and after sending the candidate dates to the adjustment partner X, the initiator A simply waits, and the important tasks related to schedule adjustment, such as not only deciding on the date but also reserving the venue and registering the plan, are automatically completed, making it possible to significantly reduce the effort required for schedule adjustment.

[0179] Furthermore, according to the schedule adjustment process, whether or not to integrate and register both the confirmed schedule to be registered on the coordination partner X side and the confirmed schedule to be registered on the coordination initiator A side into the schedule of the coordination initiator A side can be easily or automatically switched depending on the meeting content or the affiliation of the coordination partner X (or the coordination partner side participants). When integrated and registered, it is easy to share information to be prepared for the meeting between the coordination initiator side participants and the coordination partner X (or the coordination partner side participants) in advance using memo information of the registered schedule, and to share minutes and the like after the meeting between them. When not integrated but registered separately, the schedule of the coordination initiator A side and the schedule of the coordination partner X side become different schedule information, so for example, the contents that the coordination initiator A side wants to keep secret from the coordination partner X side (such as information that only the coordination initiator side participants want to share for business negotiations) can be shared only with the coordination initiator side participants and kept secret from the coordination partner X (and the coordination partner side participants). In other words, it becomes easy to share information easily and keep information confidential depending on the meeting content and the affiliation of the coordination partner.

[0180] <If "Use template" is selected as the method for scheduling> Next, a case will be described where the adjustment initiator A selects "use template" as the schedule adjustment method. When using a template, the adjustment initiator A selects an adjustment condition template that he / she has created in advance and copies an adjustment URL that he / she has specified in advance, so that the adjustment URL can be sent to the adjustment partner X more quickly than with custom adjustment. Note that the adjustment condition template that the adjustment initiator A created in advance may be specified and edited by other users, or the adjustment URL may be copied so that it can be used for schedule adjustment.

[0181] A user such as the adjustment initiator A can create an adjustment condition template in advance according to the purpose of the meeting, for example, for the first interview for new graduates, the second interview for new graduates, the final interview for new graduates, or for sales inquiries.

[0182] In the case of custom scheduling, the scheduling conditions are set each time a meeting is scheduled, but the scheduling conditions template can be used repeatedly for scheduling different meetings.

[0183] <Adjustment condition template creation process> Next, FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of an adjustment condition template creation process.

[0184] The adjustment condition template creation process goes through steps S101, S111, S112, and S102 similar to the schedule adjustment process shown in Fig. 6. Then, when the adjustment initiator A selects "use template" as the schedule adjustment method in step S102, the adjustment condition setting unit 212 of the schedule adjustment device 20 next refers to the adjustment condition template information 223 associated with the user information 222 corresponding to the adjustment initiator A, and causes the terminal device 40A to display a template list screen 1100 (Fig. 15) showing a list of adjustment condition templates that the adjustment initiator A can use (step S141).

[0185] FIG. 15 shows an example of a template list screen 1100 displayed on the terminal device 40A.

[0186] The template list screen 1100 is provided with a new creation button 1101 and a template list 1102 showing a list of adjustment condition templates available to the adjustment initiator A. The template list 1102 displays, for each template, a management name, a description, an adjustment URL, an edit button 1103, and a URL copy button 1104.

[0187] The new creation button 1101 is a button for instructing to move to a template creation screen 1200 (FIGS. 16 and 17) where a new adjustment condition template can be created. The edit button 1103 is a button for instructing to move to a screen (not shown, similar to the template creation screen 1200) where an adjustment condition template that has already been created can be edited. The URL copy button 1104 is a button for instructing to copy an adjustment URL.

[0188] Returning to Fig. 14, when the adjustment initiator A operates the new creation button 1101 on the template list screen 1100 displayed on the terminal device 40A (step S151), the adjustment condition setting unit 212 then causes the terminal device 40A to display a template creation screen 1200 (step S142).

[0189] Fig. 16 and Fig. 17 show display examples of the template creation screen 1200. Fig. 16 shows the upper part of the template creation screen 1200, and Fig. 17 shows the lower part of the template creation screen 1200 that is displayed by scrolling the upper part shown in Fig. 16 downward.

[0190] As shown in FIG. 16, the template creation screen 1200 has an input field 1201 for inputting an administration name for the template, an input field 1202 for inputting a description of the template, an input field 1203 for the user to specify a URL for adjustment, check boxes 1204 for specifying the company / school name, department name, name, and email address as input items for adjustment partner X, an input field 1205 for inputting the subject of the appointment when it is registered in calendar tool 31 after the schedule is confirmed, and a check box 1206 for selecting whether or not to register the meeting appointment privately.

[0191] 17, the template creation screen 1200 has a selection input field 1210 for inputting the duration of the meeting, a selection input field 1211 for inputting the available time before and after the meeting, a selection input field 1212 for inputting the extraction period of the candidate dates, a selection input field 1213 for selecting and inputting a method for calculating the number of days to be extracted for the extraction period (e.g., calculation by weekdays, calculation by calendar days, etc.), an input field 1214 for specifying the available meeting time slots by day of the week and by public holiday (box 1215 indicates the time slots specified as the available meeting time slots), and a selection input field 1215 for selecting coordination initiator side participants (including coordination initiator A) from a list of members based on the member information of the member information 221. the coordination initiator side participant specified in the selection input field 1216; radio buttons 1217 for selecting the meeting participation conditions for the coordination initiator side participant specified in the selection input field 1216; radio buttons 1218 for selecting and specifying the criteria for determining whether or not to add coordination partner side participants to the meeting participant items in the meeting schedule to be registered in the schedule information 311 of the coordination initiator side participant; a selection input field 1219 for selecting and specifying one or more rooms to be used for the meeting from a list of venues based on the venue information in the member information 221; and a "Save" button 1220 for instructing the saving of the input contents.

[0192] With radio button 1218, the judgment criterion can be selected as "automatically determine, and add the other party to the meeting participants if they are from the same organization", "add the other party to the meeting participants", or "do not add the other party to the meeting participants". However, radio button 1218 may be omitted and the judgment criterion may be fixed to "automatically determine, and add the other party to the meeting participants if they are from the same organization".

[0193] In addition, in the selection input field 1212 for inputting the extraction period of the candidate schedule in the template creation screen 1200, unlike the selection input field 513 for a similar purpose in the condition setting screen 500 (FIG. 7) corresponding to custom adjustment, which does not select a specific date, the start timing of the extraction period starting from the date and time when the adjustment partner accessed based on the adjustment URL (the next day in the case of the same figure) and the period from the start timing (10 days in the case of the same figure) can be specified to enable versatility. Therefore, the adjustment condition template can be used repeatedly any number of times to adjust the schedule of different meetings.

[0194] Returning to Fig. 14, when the adjustment initiator A finishes inputting each item of the adjustment conditions on the template creation screen 1200 displayed on the terminal device 40A and operates the "Save" button 1220 (step S152), the adjustment condition setting unit 212 then creates adjustment condition template information 223, registers the adjustment conditions and adjustment URL set on the template creation screen 1200, and records the adjustment condition template information 223 in association with the user information 222 of the adjustment initiator A in the storage unit 22 (step S143). With this, the process of creating an adjustment condition template is completed.

[0195] <Schedule adjustment process using adjustment condition template> Next, FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram illustrating another example of schedule adjustment processing using an adjustment condition template.

[0196] This other example goes through steps S101, S111, S112, S102, and S141 similar to the adjustment condition template creation process shown in Fig. 14. Then, in step S141, the adjustment initiator A selects one of the templates on the template list screen 1100 (Fig. 15) displayed on the terminal device 40A, operates the URL copy button 1104 to copy the adjustment URL, pastes it into an email or the like, and sends it to the terminal device 40X of the adjustment partner X (step S161).

[0197] The rest of the process is the same as the schedule adjustment process in FIG. 6, so the description will be omitted. However, in this case, in step S119, since there is no second candidate schedule, it is sufficient to extract the free schedule of the adjustment initiator side participant that satisfies the adjustment condition at the current time as the third candidate schedule. Also, in this case, in addition to the input field 904 for inputting an email address, the schedule confirmation screen 900 (FIG. 10) displayed in step S132 has input fields (input field for inputting department name, input field for inputting name) corresponding to the items selected in the check box 1204 as the input items of the adjustment partner on the template creation screen 1200 (FIG. 16). Furthermore, in this case, in step 122, the subject to be registered in the schedule information 311 of the adjustment initiator side participant can be generated by combining a fixed wording with the department name, name, etc. input by the adjustment partner X in the input field corresponding to the item selected in the check box 1204.

[0198] According to another example of the schedule adjustment process described above (when the use of the adjustment condition template is selected), in addition to the same actions and effects as those of the schedule adjustment process in Figure 6 (when custom adjustment is selected), the adjustment initiator A only needs to select the adjustment condition template and send the adjustment URL, which significantly reduces the effort required by the adjustment initiator A compared to the case of custom adjustment.

[0199] In addition, when it comes to business schedule adjustments, the patterns of participants, venue, time period, etc. are more or less fixed for each situation (type of meeting), such as interviews, meetings, sales visits, visitors, web conferences, etc., so if you create and register adjustment condition templates for each situation in advance, you can instantly send the adjustment URL to adjustment party X by simply selecting the template.

[0200] In addition, the adjustment condition template can be used repeatedly, and the adjustment URL corresponding to the adjustment condition template is fixed. Therefore, for example, by providing a link to the adjustment URL after an inquiry form on a company's homepage, schedule adjustments can be made without the trouble of sending the adjustment URL to the adjustment partner X.

[0201] In addition, by including the adjustment URL in a mass email or the like, the adjustment URL can be sent to multiple adjustment recipients X at the same time.

[0202] The schedule adjustment device of this embodiment can typically prepare various operation screens as, for example, web pages and display them on the web browser of the terminal device. However, this is not limited to the above. For example, a dedicated application having various operation screens may be installed on the terminal device. In this case, the schedule adjustment device can display various operation screens in the dedicated application of the terminal device simply by transmitting some of the contents (data such as candidate schedules) to be displayed on the various operation screens to the terminal device. In other words, the schedule adjustment device of the present invention can include various aspects that can display screens on the terminal device.

[0203] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and modifications, and various modifications are possible. For example, the above-described embodiment and modifications have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those having all of the configurations described. In addition, it is possible to replace a part of a modification with another modification, or to combine the modifications.

[0204] In addition, each of the above configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in hardware, for example, by designing a part or all of them in an integrated circuit. In addition, each of the above configurations, functions, etc. may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function. Information such as a program, table, file, etc. that realizes each function can be placed in a memory, a recording device such as a hard disk or SSD, or a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD. In addition, the control lines and information lines are shown as those that are considered necessary for explanation, and not all control lines and information lines are necessarily shown in the product. In reality, it may be considered that almost all configurations are connected to each other. [Explanation of symbols]

[0205] 10... schedule adjustment system, 11... network, 20... schedule adjustment device, 21... processing unit, 211... authentication unit, 212... adjustment condition setting unit, 213... schedule adjustment unit, 22... storage unit, 221... member information, 222... user information, 223... adjustment condition template information, 224... schedule adjustment information, 23... communication unit, 30... business management system system, 31... calendar tool, 311... schedule information, 40A, 40M, 40X... terminal device, 300... same organization judgment condition setting screen, 500... condition setting screen, 600... schedule editing screen, 800... schedule adjustment screen, 900... schedule confirmation screen, 1000... schedule notification screen, 1100... template list screen, 1200... template creation screen

Claims

1. A schedule adjustment system in which a schedule adjustment device, a first terminal device used by a schedule initiator, and a second terminal device used by a schedule partner are connected via a network, and which adjusts meeting schedules based on adjustment conditions related to the meeting, the first terminal device displays an adjustment initiator operation screen for the adjustment initiator and receives input from the adjustment initiator; the second terminal device displays a control partner operation screen for the control partner and receives input from the control partner; The schedule adjustment device In response to an input by the coordination initiator using the first terminal device, the coordination conditions are set, including designation of coordination initiator side participants and designation of criteria for determining whether or not to add coordination partner side participants to the meeting participant items of plan information to be registered in the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participants; extracting free dates of the coordination initiator side participant as candidate dates in response to the coordination partner accessing the coordination partner using the second terminal device based on the access information; displaying a schedule adjustment screen showing the extracted candidate schedules on the second terminal device used by the adjustment partner as the adjustment partner operation screen; determining the meeting date from the candidate dates in response to a selection operation of the person to be coordinated on the schedule adjustment screen; In the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participant, the coordination initiator side participant is designated in the meeting participant item of the plan information, and the plan information of the determined meeting date is registered; Add or not add the coordination partner participant to the meeting participant item of the schedule information to be registered according to the judgment criteria. Scheduling system.

2. A schedule adjustment system in which a schedule adjustment device, a first terminal device used by the adjustment initiator, a second terminal device used by the adjustment partner, and a third terminal device used by a member manager of an organization to which the adjustment initiator belongs are connected via a network, and which adjusts meeting schedules based on adjustment conditions related to the meeting, the first terminal device displays an adjustment initiator operation screen for the adjustment initiator and receives input from the adjustment initiator; the second terminal device displays a control partner operation screen for the control partner and receives input from the control partner; the third terminal device displays a member administrator operation screen for the member administrator and receives input from the member administrator; The schedule adjustment device setting a determination condition for determining whether the coordination partner participant belongs to the same organization as the coordination initiator in response to an input by the coordination initiator using the first terminal device or the member administrator using the third terminal device; setting the adjustment conditions including designation of adjustment initiator side participants in response to input by the adjustment initiator using the first terminal device; extracting free dates of the coordination initiator side participant as candidate dates in response to the coordination partner accessing the coordination partner using the second terminal device based on the access information; displaying a schedule adjustment screen showing the extracted candidate schedules on the second terminal device used by the adjustment partner as the adjustment partner operation screen; determining the meeting date from the candidate dates in response to a selection operation of the person to be coordinated on the schedule adjustment screen; determining whether the coordination partner participant belongs to the same organization as the coordination initiator based on the determination condition; In the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participant, the coordination initiator side participant is designated in the meeting participant item of the schedule information, and the schedule information of the determined meeting date is registered; If the coordination partner participant belongs to the same organization as the coordination initiator, the coordination partner participant is added to the item of the meeting participant in the schedule information to be registered. Scheduling system.

3. A schedule adjustment system according to claim 1 or 2, The schedule information registered in the schedule information and the schedule information edited after registration are shared between the coordination initiator side participants designated in the meeting participant item of the schedule information registered in the schedule information and the coordination partner side participants added to the meeting participant item of the schedule information registered in the schedule information. Scheduling system.

4. 3. The schedule adjustment system according to claim 2, The schedule adjustment device At least one of an email domain and an email address is set as the judgment condition, Based on the email address of the coordination partner participant and the determination condition, it is determined whether the coordination partner participant belongs to the same organization as the coordination initiator. Scheduling system.

5. 3. The schedule adjustment system according to claim 2, The schedule adjustment device storing member information representing a list of members belonging to the same organization; By referring to the member information corresponding to the coordination initiator, it is determined whether the coordination partner participant belongs to the same organization as the coordination initiator. Scheduling system.

6. 3. The schedule adjustment system according to claim 1, The schedule adjustment device In response to the access from the coordination partner based on the access information, the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participant managed by a calendar tool is referenced, and an available date of the coordination initiator side participant that satisfies the coordination condition is extracted as the candidate date. Scheduling system.

7. 3. The schedule adjustment system according to claim 1, The schedule adjustment device In response to an operation from the other party, the schedule information of the determined meeting date is registered in the schedule information of the other party. Scheduling system.

8. A schedule adjustment method using a schedule adjustment system in which a schedule adjustment device, a first terminal device used by a schedule initiator, and a second terminal device used by a schedule partner are connected via a network, and a meeting schedule is adjusted based on adjustment conditions related to the meeting, the first terminal device displays an adjustment initiator operation screen for the adjustment initiator and receives input from the adjustment initiator; the second terminal device displays a control partner operation screen for the control partner and receives input from the control partner; The schedule adjustment device In response to an input by the coordination initiator using the first terminal device, the coordination conditions are set, including designation of coordination initiator side participants and designation of criteria for determining whether or not to add coordination partner side participants to the meeting participant items of plan information to be registered in the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participants; extracting free dates of the coordination initiator side participant as candidate dates in response to the coordination partner accessing the coordination partner using the second terminal device based on the access information; displaying a schedule adjustment screen showing the extracted candidate schedules on the second terminal device used by the adjustment partner as the adjustment partner operation screen; determining the meeting date from the candidate dates in response to a selection operation of the person to be coordinated on the schedule adjustment screen; In the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participant, the coordination initiator side participant is designated in the meeting participant item of the plan information, and the plan information of the determined meeting date is registered; Add or not add the coordination partner participant to the meeting participant item of the schedule information to be registered according to the judgment criteria. How to schedule, including steps.

9. A schedule adjustment method using a schedule adjustment system in which a schedule adjustment device, a first terminal device used by a schedule initiator, a second terminal device used by a schedule target, and a third terminal device used by a member manager of an organization to which the schedule initiator belongs are connected via a network, and which adjusts meeting schedules based on adjustment conditions related to the meeting, the first terminal device displays an adjustment initiator operation screen for the adjustment initiator and receives input from the adjustment initiator; the second terminal device displays a control partner operation screen for the control partner and receives input from the control partner; the third terminal device displays a member administrator operation screen for the member administrator and receives input from the member administrator; The schedule adjustment device setting a determination condition for determining whether the coordination partner participant belongs to the same organization as the coordination initiator in response to an input by the coordination initiator using the first terminal device or the member administrator using the third terminal device; setting the adjustment conditions including designation of adjustment initiator side participants in response to input by the adjustment initiator using the first terminal device; extracting free dates of the coordination initiator side participant as candidate dates in response to the coordination partner accessing the coordination partner using the second terminal device based on the access information; displaying a schedule adjustment screen showing the extracted candidate schedules on the second terminal device used by the adjustment partner as the adjustment partner operation screen; determining the meeting date from the candidate dates in response to a selection operation of the person to be coordinated on the schedule adjustment screen; determining whether the coordination partner participant belongs to the same organization as the coordination initiator based on the determination condition; In the schedule information of the coordination initiator side participant, the coordination initiator side participant is designated in the meeting participant item of the schedule information, and the schedule information of the determined meeting date is registered; If the coordination partner participant belongs to the same organization as the coordination initiator, the coordination partner participant is added to the item of the meeting participant in the schedule information to be registered. How to schedule, including steps.

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