Electronic contract support system and program

Abstract

To provide an electronic contract support system and program that facilitates confirmation of processes for concluding a contract.SOLUTION: An electronic contract support system and program are provided. A contract support server 1 includes: contract administrator address assignment means which assigns, in advance, a contract administrator address to a concerned-party terminal 2a; email receiving means which receives contract-related email from the concerned-party terminal 2a, using the contract administrator address; email classification means which classifies the contents of the email; summary creation means which summarizes the classified contents of the email and contract data; contract data association means which associates the contents of the email with the concluded contract data; summary display means which displays the summary of the contract data and the contents of the email; and email history display means which displays an email history.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic contract support system that supports the conclusion of a contract online, and in particular to an electronic contract support system and program that can manage the process leading up to the conclusion of a contract and share information about that process with the parties involved. [Background technology]

[0002] [Prior Art] Conventional online contract signing systems manage the data of signed contracts, but do not manage the process leading up to the signing of the contract between the contract manager and the relevant parties. Therefore, if the manager is transferred or retires, the contract signing process can become unclear.

[0003] [Related Technology] Related prior art documents include Patent Publication No. 2009-122796, "Sales agency system and sales product explanation support method" (Patent Document 1), and Patent Publication No. 7249453, "Contract management program, information processing device, information processing system, and information processing method" (Patent Document 2).

[0004] Patent Document 1 describes a system that manages explanations of insurance products and the like for policyholders in a database. Patent Document 2 describes a system that manages contract information of electronic contracts concluded by a user using multiple electronic contract services across multiple electronic contract services. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-122796 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 7249453 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] As described above, conventional online contract systems have the problem that they are not able to manage the contract conclusion process or efficiently provide information about the process in response to requests from the parties involved.

[0007] Furthermore, Patent Documents 1 and 2 do not describe a configuration that allows parties involved in a contract to easily check the process of concluding a contract.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and aims to provide an electronic contract support system and program that allows easy confirmation of the contract conclusion process. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present invention, which solves the problems of the above-mentioned conventional examples, is an electronic contract support system having a contract support server that supports the conclusion of electronic contracts, characterized in that the contract support server has an assignment means that assigns a contract manager address for contract management to the party terminals in advance, a receiving means that receives emails from the party terminals that include the contract manager address, a summary creation means that creates a summary of the received email, and a summary display means that displays the created summary of the email on the party terminals.

[0010] The present invention is characterized in that, in the above-mentioned electronic contract support system, a summary creation means creates a summary of the electronic contract, and a summary display means associates the created summary of the electronic contract with a summary of the email and displays it on the party terminal.

[0011] The present invention is characterized in that in the above electronic contract support system, the contract support server has an email history display means for displaying the history of email content received at the contract manager address on the party terminal.

[0012] The present invention is characterized in that, in the above-mentioned electronic contract support system, the assigning means assigns and displays a new contract manager address on the party terminal when a new electronic contract is selected on the party terminal, and displays on the party terminal the contract manager address already assigned to the selected electronic contract when an electronic contract that has already been launched is selected on the party terminal.

[0013] The present invention is a processing program executed on a contract support server that supports the conclusion of electronic contracts, and is characterized in that the contract support server functions to assign a contract manager address for contract management to the party terminals in advance, receive emails containing the contract manager address from the party terminals, create a summary of the received email, and display the created summary of the email on the party terminals.

[0014] The present invention is characterized in that, in the above program, the contract assistance server is caused to function to create a summary of the electronic contract, associate the created summary of the electronic contract with a summary of the email, and display it on the party terminal.

[0015] The present invention is characterized in that the program causes the contract assistance server to function so as to display on the party terminal the history of the contents of emails received at the contract manager address.

[0016] The present invention is characterized in that, in the above program, the contract support server is caused to function so that, when a new electronic contract is selected on a party terminal, a new contract manager address is assigned to the party terminal and displayed, and, when an already launched electronic contract is selected on a party terminal, the contract manager address already assigned to the selected electronic contract is displayed on the party terminal. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] According to the present invention, the contract support server is an electronic contract support system having an assignment means for assigning a contract manager address for contract management to the party terminal in advance, a receiving means for receiving emails containing the contract manager address from the party terminal, a summary creation means for creating a summary of the received email, and a summary display means for displaying the created summary of the email on the party terminal, thereby having the effect of making it easy to confirm the process of concluding an electronic contract. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of the present system. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a contract manager address assignment screen. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a workflow screen displaying an email history. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a summary data display screen. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an outline of the processing of the present system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. [Outline of the embodiment] The electronic contract support system (this system) according to an embodiment of the present invention implements a contract manager that operates via a program on a contract support server, and includes the pre-assigned email address of the contract manager in the Cc (Carbon copy) field in emails from parties involved in the conclusion of an electronic contract. When the contract manager receives contract-related emails, they are classified using AI (Artificial Intelligence), a summary is generated, and it is saved in association with the contract data to be concluded. Therefore, parties involved in the contract or the contract successor can easily check the process of concluding the relevant electronic contract by inquiring about the contract support server.

[0020] [This system: Figure 1] This system will be described with reference to Figure 1. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of this system. As shown in FIG. 1, this system includes a contract assistance server 1, party terminals 2a and 2b, and a network 3. The contract assistance server 1 and the party terminals 2a and 2b are connected via a network 3.

[0021] [Contract Support Server 1] The contract support server 1 mediates the conclusion of electronic contracts between the contracting parties, manages information on the electronic contract process (process information), associates and stores it with contract data, and provides support such as providing process information in response to requests from the parties involved. The process information includes contract-related email contents and attachments, as well as summary information generated by classifying them. In addition, classification and summarization are performed by AI.

[0022] Furthermore, the contract support server 1 may also expand its functionality to classify and summarize e-mails, as well as associate document data for documents that are electronically signed by users alone (declarations, application forms for terms and conditions, license agreements, etc.), unilateral notices (employment-related notices, etc.), and documents exchanged by mutual agreement (purchase orders, invoices, etc.), in the same way as contract data for electronic contracts, and manage the process of creating and exchanging these documents.

[0023] The contract assistance server 1 comprises a control unit 11, a memory unit 12, and an interface unit 13, and realizes the characteristic processing described below by having the control unit 11 execute a processing program stored in the memory unit 12.

[0024] [Party terminals 2a and 2b] The party terminal 2a is a personal computer (PC) used by one of the parties (users) to the contract. The party terminal 2b is a PC used by the other party to the contract.

[0025] Here, it is assumed that the party terminal 2a that transmits the contract data uses the contract support server 1 to create an electronic contract. The contract support server 1 then assigns the contract manager's email address (contract manager address) to the party terminal 2a, which then sends the email with that email address in the CC field. The contract manager address is sometimes called the "contract management address."

[0026] [Network 3] Network 3 is assumed to be the Internet, and data sent and received is encrypted. Since the email from the party terminal 2a includes the contract manager's address in the Cc field, the contract assistance server 1 receives the email.

[0027] [Means for realizing functions] Next, we will explain how the contract management functions are implemented in the contract assistance server 1 of this system. Specifically, the control unit 11 of the contract assistance server 1 reads and executes the processing programs in the storage unit 12, thereby implementing the processing means for the following functions. The means for realizing the contract management function include a contract manager address assignment means, a mail receiving means, a mail classification means, a summary creation means, a contract data related means, a mail history display means, and a summary display means.

[0028] [Method for assigning contract manager address] The contract manager address assigning means assigns a contract manager address to the party terminal 2a for each trading partner. In other words, the party terminal 2a stores a plurality of contract manager addresses corresponding to a plurality of trading partners. Furthermore, the contract assistance server 1 assigns a new contract manager address to a new business partner.

[0029] If the contract support server 1 also provides a service that enables the party terminal 2b to create an electronic contract, a separate contract manager address is also assigned to the party terminal 2b. The contract manager address assigned to the party terminal 2a and the contract manager address assigned to the party terminal 2b are different, and the history of email content is managed separately. The assignment of the contract manager address will be described in detail later.

[0030] [Method of receiving emails] The email receiving means stores the content of the email received in Cc in the storage unit 12, since the email sent and received between the party terminal 2a and the party terminal 2b includes the contract manager address in Cc.

[0031] Even in the case of an e-mail sent from the party terminal 2a, if the business partner (party to the contract) is different, the contract manager address will also be different, so the e-mail is stored in the storage unit 12 for each contract manager address. Furthermore, even if the parties to the contract are the same, if the contract type differs, the contract manager address will also differ, so each contract manager address is stored in the storage unit 12 according to the contract type.

[0032] [Method of email classification] The email classification means classifies the contents of emails stored in the storage unit 12 using AI. Classification is done based on the email title, contract type, names of the parties, job titles, department names, company names, user email addresses, time of receipt, etc. Once classified, a document ID is assigned to the email content.

[0033] [Method of creating a summary] The summary creation means uses a generation AI to generate summary data (mail summary data) for the classified email content, and stores the data in the storage unit 12 in association with the document ID. The summary creation means also creates summary data of the contract data (contract summary data). The contract summary data and email summary data are displayed on the party terminal 2a by a summary display means, which will be described later. The contract summary data and email summary data may be collectively referred to as "summary data."

[0034] [Contract data related measures] When the contract is concluded through the electronic contract of this system with electronic signatures and other documents signed at both the party terminal 2a and the party terminal 2b, the contract data related means associates the classified email contents with the concluded contract data and assigns a document ID.

[0035] [Method for displaying email history] The mail history display means displays the mail history in the workflow displayed on the display screen of the party terminal 2a. The workflow is for preparing a contract template and generating contract data, and for concluding an electronic contract between the contract support server 1 and the party terminal 2b.

[0036] Here, the email history will display not only your own emails, but also emails from other people related to the contract. The display shows the most recent email content at the top, with older email content displayed chronologically below, and the older email content can be viewed by scrolling.

[0037] [Summary display means] The summary display means displays the contract summary data and the mail summary data generated by the summary generation means on the display screen of the party terminal 2a in response to a request from the party terminal 2a. The party terminal 2a may search for business partners registered in the contract assistance server 1 to narrow down the target contracts and display the summary data. An example of the summary display will be described later.

[0038] Furthermore, when an inquiry is made about specific contract data from a contracting party or a successor of the contract, the summary display means displays summary data related to the document ID assigned to the specific contract data. The summary display means may be configured so that the generation AI provides relevant summary data in a chat format in response to a user request. Also, the display may display received emails and contract data that are the source of the summary data.

[0039] In addition, when the parties exchange information about the contract by chat other than email, the contract manager address assignment means, chat reception means, chat classification means, and summary creation means corresponding to the above means are provided, and contract data related means corresponding to chat, chat history display means, and summary display means are executed. Here, the contract manager address assigning means assigns a contract manager address for participating in a chat group.

[0040] [Contract administrator address assignment screen: Figure 2] Next, an example of assigning a contract manager address will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a contract manager address assignment screen. The workflow display screen of the party terminal 2a has a "Communicate with the other party" button (button to start a transaction), and when this button is clicked, a list of interactions (contracts) that have been initiated in the past is displayed. When a past interaction is selected from the list, the name of the interaction that was initiated in the past is displayed in the document title at the bottom of the figure, and the contract manager address that has already been assigned is displayed below the "Start interaction" button below the document title.

[0041] The contract manager's address will be included in the CC of the email. When the "Start communication" button is clicked, the email history related to the displayed contract manager address is displayed on the workflow screen, as shown in Figure 3. The email history display screen will be described later using Figure 3.

[0042] Also, if you want to start a new exchange with a party, click the "Start a new exchange with a party" button, enter the name of the new exchange you are starting in the document title, and the newly assigned contract manager address will be displayed below the "Start exchange" button, and you can add that address to the CC of the email. The example in Figure 2 shows a new "NDA with Company C" being set. If you click the "Start communication" button below the document title, the field will be blank because there is no email history yet, but you will be taken to the workflow for creating the contract data.

[0043] [Workflow screen for displaying email history: Figure 3] Next, an example of an email history display will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a workflow screen for displaying email history. As shown in Figure 3, the workflow screen displays the contract document management status (Completed, Confirmation Required, Waiting for Confirmation, Waiting for Receipt, In Preparation, etc.) on the left side, and a "Communicate with the Other Party" button is displayed at the top left of that. Clicking this button will take you to the display screen shown in Figure 2.

[0044] Furthermore, the upper part of the screen in FIG. 3 displays an area for creating contract data, and a contract data template is provided. Contract data can be sent as an electronic contract by uploading the final file, but paper contracts or contracts concluded through other electronic contract services can also be used to receive the services of this system by uploading the electronic contract data on this screen and associating it with the contract manager address.

[0045] The contract manager address is displayed below the contract data creation area, and below that is an area that displays email history. The email history is displayed with the most recent email content at the top and older email content at the bottom, and if there is a lot of email content, you can scroll to view older email content. This allows the user to satisfy the desire to grasp the latest content on the email history display screen.

[0046] [Summary data display screen: Figure 4] Next, a display example of the summary data displayed by the summary display means will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a summary data display screen. As shown in FIG. 4, the display screen of the party terminal 2a displays the title of the contract at the top, contract summary data below that, and the history of email summary data below that.

[0047] The contract summary data displays the contract start date, contract end date, whether automatic renewal is enabled, etc. in addition to the summary of the contract data. The email summary data history shows important contract-related exchanges in chronological order, with the oldest at the top and the newest at the bottom, each dated. Contrary to the email history in Figure 3, the most recent history is displayed at the bottom, making it easier to read in order from top to bottom. The contract data and email contents may be made available for reference from the contract summary data and email summary data displayed on the screen of FIG.

[0048] [Processing overview: Figure 5] An outline of the processing of this system will be explained with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a flow diagram showing an outline of the processing of this system. It is assumed that the assignment of the contract manager address has already been completed. As shown in Figure 5, in this system, an email receiving means implemented by a program on the contract support server 1 receives email addressed to the contract manager address in the CC field (S1), and an email classification means classifies the email content and assigns a document ID (S2).

[0049] Next, the summarizing means summarizes the classified email contents, associates them with the document ID, and stores them in the storage unit 12 (S3). Then, the contract data related means determines whether the contract has been concluded (S4), and if the contract has not been concluded (No), the process returns to S1, and if the contract has been concluded (Yes), the contract data related means further associates the document ID with the concluded contract data and stores it in the memory unit 12 (S5).

[0050] The parties to the contract search by business partner, narrow down the contract data, and display summary data corresponding to the contract data on the party terminal 2a. In addition, when a related party makes a chat inquiry about specific contract data, multiple candidates for the relevant contract data may be displayed, and when a candidate is selected, summary data related to the corresponding document ID may be displayed.

[0051] In the process of Figure 5, classification and summarization are performed each time an email is sent or received, but it is also possible to search for emails related to the contract data after the contract is concluded, and then classify and summarize them. However, it is more convenient for the user if the email history is displayed in real time.

[0052] Furthermore, as already explained, this system is not limited to contract data for electronic contracts, but also documents that are electronically signed by the user alone, unilateral notices, and documents exchanged by mutual agreement. By expanding the functionality to classify and summarize e-mails, associate document data, display email history, and manage the process of document data, convenience for users will be improved.

[0053] [Effects of the embodiment] According to this system, in the contract support server 1, the email receiving means receives contract-related emails at a pre-assigned contract manager address, the email classification means classifies the email content and assigns a document ID, the summary creation means summarizes the classified email content and associates it with the document ID, and the contract data association means associates the document ID with the contract data concluded upon completion of contract conclusion.Therefore, by inquiring about the contract support server 1 and displaying the summary data, the parties involved in the contract or the contract successor can easily confirm the process of concluding the relevant electronic contract. [Industrial Applicability]

[0054] The present invention is suitable for an electronic contract support system and program that allows easy confirmation of the contract conclusion process. [Explanation of symbols]

[0055] 1... contract assistance server, 2a, 2b... party terminal, 3... network, 11... control unit, 12... storage unit, 13... interface unit

Claims

1. An electronic contract support system having a contract support server that supports the conclusion of an electronic contract, The contract assistance server an assigning means for assigning a contract manager address for contract management to the party terminal in advance; a receiving means for receiving an email including the contract manager address from the party terminal; a summary creation means for creating a summary of the received email; and a summary display means for displaying a summary of the created email on the terminal of the party.

2. the summary creation means creates a summary of the electronic contract; 2. The electronic contract support system according to claim 1, wherein said summary display means displays the summary of the created electronic contract on said terminal of said party in association with the summary of said e-mail.

3. 3. The electronic contract support system according to claim 1, wherein the contract support server has an email history display means for displaying on the party terminal a history of email content received at the contract manager address.

4. The electronic contract support system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that when a new electronic contract is selected on a party terminal, the assigning means assigns a new contract manager address to the party terminal and displays it, and when an already launched electronic contract is selected on the party terminal, the assigning means displays the contract manager address already assigned to the selected electronic contract on the party terminal.

5. A processing program executed on a contract support server that supports the conclusion of an electronic contract, The contract assistance server, A contract manager address for contract management is assigned to the party terminal in advance, receiving an email containing the contract manager address from the party terminal; creating a summary of said received email; A program that causes a summary of the created email to be displayed on the party terminal.

6. The program according to claim 5, characterized in that it causes the contract support server to create a summary of the electronic contract, associate the created summary of the electronic contract with the summary of the email, and display it on the party terminal.

7. 7. The program according to claim 5, wherein the program causes the contract assistance server to function so as to display, on the terminal of the party, a history of the contents of emails received at the contract manager address.

8. The program described in claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the contract support server functions so that when a new electronic contract is selected on a party terminal, a new contract manager address is assigned to the party terminal and displayed, and when an already launched electronic contract is selected on the party terminal, the contract manager address already assigned to the selected electronic contract is displayed on the party terminal.

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