Interview support device, interview support method, recording medium, and program

Abstract

To provide an interview support device capable of offering useful information during an interview to assist the interview process.SOLUTION: An interview support device comprises a control unit which performs: database update processing of analyzing a commercial product material to determine words related to the commercial product, and updating the database to associate the determined words with the commercial product material; commercial material presentation determination processing of searching for the commercial product material by referencing the database based on utterance contents of a guest during the interview between a host and a guest, and determining whether to recommend presentation of the commercial product material to the guest; and notification processing of notifying the host with information on the relevant commercial product material according to the presentation recommendation determination results.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an interview support device, an interview support method, a program for realizing them, and a recording medium on which the program is recorded. [Background technology]

[0002] Interviews are conducted in various fields, including commerce, education, entertainment, recruitment, and more. For example, in commerce, interviews (business negotiations) are conducted between sales representatives and customers. Interviews are conducted face-to-face, but in recent years, online interviews via networks such as the Internet or telephone lines have also become common.

[0003] Patent Document 1 below discloses a technology for managing the correlation between sales promotion talk spoken by a sales clerk and actual sales performance, thereby improving sales. The following Patent Document 2 describes a method of selecting a specific term from a customer's utterance, and selecting a response corresponding to that term from among responses prepared in advance. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-200851 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 6572354 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, it can be difficult for salespeople or clerks to understand what products a customer potentially wants during a meeting. Even if a salesperson is negotiating a certain product, the customer may potentially want a different product.

[0006] Therefore, the present disclosure provides a technology that enables accurate estimation and proposal of products that customers consciously or unconsciously desire. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The interview support device of the present disclosure includes a control unit that performs a database update process that analyzes product materials, determines words related to the product, and updates the database so that the determined words are associated with the product materials; a product presentation determination process that searches for product materials by referring to the database based on the content of the guest's speech during an interview between the host and the guest, and determines whether or not to recommend presenting the product materials to the guest; and a notification process that notifies the host of information regarding the product materials in question depending on the determination result that the presentation is recommended. Such an interview support device searches for other products in response to the content of a guest's speech during an interview about a certain product, for example. Furthermore, rather than presenting the product information found through the search to the guest as is, the device determines whether it is appropriate to present it. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] This technology builds a database that associates words with various products, making it possible to predict the products that guests consciously or unconsciously want based on the content of their speech. Furthermore, rather than simply suggesting other products, it makes it possible to recommend the presentation of product information after making a presentation judgment, thereby enabling the appropriate product to be presented to the guest at the appropriate opportunity. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram of an example of a system configuration including an interview support device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an interview screen according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an interview screen according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an interview screen according to an embodiment. [Figure 5] 1 is a block diagram of an information processing device that serves as an interview support device according to an embodiment. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart of a DB update process according to an embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of registered information in a DB according to an embodiment. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a product presentation determination and notification process during negotiation according to an embodiment. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a product presentation determination and notification process after business negotiation according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The embodiments will be described below in the following order. <1. System configuration> <2. Configuration of information processing device as interview support device> <3.DB update process> <4. Product presentation judgment and notification processing> 5. Effects of the embodiment and modifications

[0011] In this disclosure, interviews include those conducted face-to-face, those conducted face-to-face via remote communication, and those conducted verbally or in writing via telephone, chat, etc. In this disclosure, those conducted in writing are also included in the term "speech."

[0012] In the embodiment, an example of an "interview" is a "business negotiation" between a sales representative and a customer. The sales representative is an example of a host, and the customer is an example of a guest. However, the host is not limited to a sales representative, and the guest is not limited to a customer. In various interviews, one party may be the host and the other party may be the guest.

[0013] In addition, although the term "merchandise" is used in this disclosure, this broadly refers to goods and services as products. Furthermore, it is not necessarily limited to commercial products, but may also include goods and services provided free of charge. In this sense, the term "interview" in this technology is not limited to "business negotiation."

[0014] <1. System configuration> 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a system configuration including an interview support device 1 according to an embodiment and its peripheral devices. A person in charge terminal 2, a company management terminal 3, a customer terminal 5, a homepage (HP) server 7, etc. are connected to the interview support device 1 via a network 9 so that data can be transmitted between them. A microphone 4 and a transmitter 6 are also shown.

[0015] The interview support device 1, the staff terminal 2, and the customer terminal 5 are configured by information processing devices equipped with a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and a microcomputer having a ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory). Specifically, the staff terminal 2 and the customer terminal 5 are assumed to be personal computers, smartphones, tablet devices, etc. The interview support device 1, the company's management terminal 3, and the HP server 7 are assumed to be computer devices such as personal computers and workstations, or computer devices such as cloud servers.

[0016] The network 9 is a network such as the Internet or a telephone network. The communication transmission path of the network 9 may be a wired transmission path, a wireless transmission path, or a combination of these.

[0017] The staff member terminal 2 is a terminal device used by, for example, a salesperson who negotiates business with a customer. The salesperson (hereinafter simply referred to as "staff member") can use the staff member terminal 2 to meet face-to-face with the customer's terminal device (customer terminal 5) via communication over the network 9 and negotiate business. Although only one pair of the person in charge terminal 2 and the customer terminal 5 is shown in the figure, negotiations may be conducted simultaneously between multiple pairs of the person in charge terminal 2 and the customer terminal 5. Furthermore, one person may use multiple person-in-charge terminals 2. For example, a smartphone and a tablet device may be used together as the person-in-charge terminal 2.

[0018] Information about the business negotiation is sent from the person in charge terminal 2 to the interview support device 1. Specifically, this information includes image data of a business negotiation screen for a remote business negotiation and audio data of the business negotiation. The image data includes video and still images. It is assumed that the image data includes video of the faces of the customer and the person in charge. The audio data of the business negotiation is audio data of a conversation between the person in charge and the customer.

[0019] 2 and 3 show examples of display content that is synchronously displayed to the person in charge and the customer during a remote business negotiation. Fig. 2 shows the screen of the customer terminal 5 (customer screen 30), and Fig. 3 shows the screen of the person in charge terminal 2 (person in charge screen 31). Here, an example of display content is shown in which the images provided from the customer terminal 5 and the staff member terminal 2 are captured images of the customer and staff member, respectively.

[0020] In this case, on the customer screen 30, a captured image 32 of the person in charge as a communication partner (image provided from the person in charge terminal 2) is displayed large, and a captured image 33 of the customer himself is displayed small, as shown in Fig. 2. Similarly, on the person in charge screen 31, a captured image 33 of the customer as a communication partner (image provided from the customer terminal 5) is displayed large, and a captured image 32 of the person in charge himself is displayed small, as shown in Fig. 3. For example, business negotiations can be carried out while viewing each other's images in this way.

[0021] 2 and 3 show an example of synchronous display of display content in which captured images 32 and 33 are displayed synchronously on each terminal, but the images that can be displayed synchronously are not limited to captured images 32 and 33. For example, it is conceivable that some document may be shared between a customer and a staff member, and in that case, the image that can be displayed synchronously would be document image 37, as shown in FIG. 4. In this case, the synchronous display can be such that, for example, when one user, either the customer or the staff member who is the provider of the document, performs a page forward operation on the document, the other user also forwards the page of the document. Furthermore, if necessary, the customer terminal 5 is also controlled by the interview support device 1. The interview support device 1, the staff terminal 2, and the customer terminal 5 can communicate via a network 9, and the interview support device 1 can perform synchronous display control to present various information to the customer terminal 5.

[0022] 3, a message 35 may be displayed on the salesperson screen 31. For example, in this embodiment, the interview support device 1 estimates the customer's potential demand and displays a message suggesting to the salesperson that they recommend a certain product. This allows the salesperson to know the product to recommend to the customer during the sales negotiation without the customer being aware of it. In this case, when the person in charge operates the document sharing button 36, the corresponding document image 37 is displayed in a shared manner as shown in FIG.

[0023] 1 shows a microphone 4. The microphone 4 is assumed to be placed, for example, at a place where face-to-face business negotiations are taking place. The microphone 4 collects the voices of the person in charge and the customer during the business negotiation. The voice data obtained by the microphone 4 is transmitted as business negotiation information to the interview support device 1 by the transmitter 6. Communication between the transmitter 6 and the interview support device 1 is possible via network communication using a wired or wireless transmission path, or dedicated line communication.

[0024] In actual business negotiations, the person in charge uses a terminal device to display documents and other information, present them to the customer, and keep records of the negotiations, so it is common to use a tablet terminal or personal computer. Therefore, the microphone 4 and transmitter 6 referred to here may be considered to be the microphone and communication device section built into the person in charge terminal 2.

[0025] The company management terminal 3 is a management terminal for a company or the like (i.e., a company or the like to which the person in charge belongs) that receives the business negotiation support service provided by the interview support device 1. For the sake of explanation, this company or the like will be referred to as "our company." The company management terminal 3 is a terminal device that allows employees of the company to input and transmit company information. In this embodiment, the company management terminal 3 is a terminal device that can provide at least information about the company's products to the interview support device 1.

[0026] The HP server 7 is a server that provides the homepage (website) of a company or the like that receives services from the interview support device 1. The interview support device 1 is assumed to be able to obtain information about its own company's website provided by the HP server 7.

[0027] The interview support device 1 is an information processing device that provides information useful for business negotiations to the person in charge of "your company." The interview support device 1 may be an information processing device owned or used by "your company," or may be an information processing device owned or used by an organization that provides support services to "your company."

[0028] The database unit 8 (hereinafter, database will be referred to as "DB") is provided with various DBs used by the interview support device 1. For example, a business negotiation DB 8a, a material management DB 8b, and a material DB 8c are provided.

[0029] The interview support device 1 stores voice data and image data for each business negotiation in the business negotiation database 8a as business negotiation information. The business negotiation information also includes text data of the voice data from the business negotiation. Therefore, the business negotiation database 8a stores information on business negotiations conducted by each person in charge at the company.

[0030] The material DB 8c stores the company's product materials. For example, the interview support device 1 stores the company's product material data acquired from the company's management terminal 3 or HP server 7 in the material DB 8c. This allows the interview support device 1 to analyze the contents of materials related to the products that the company can provide and provide them to the person in charge terminal 2 or customer terminal 5 as shared materials.

[0031] The material management DB 8b is a DB for managing the company's commercial material materials. As will be described later, the interview support device 1 updates the material management DB 8b by registering tags and adding history information and additional information to various commercial material materials of the company.

[0032] The interview support device 1 uses the information in the DB unit 8 to collect and analyze product materials, determine and associate product-related words, search for product materials based on the content of customer utterances during the interview, determine whether to present the product materials to the guest, and notify the customer of information about the product materials to be presented. This allows the interview support device 1 to estimate what products the customer wants and suggest products to the sales representative. For example, the suggestion is made in the form of message 35 in FIG. 3.

[0033] <2. Configuration of information processing device as interview support device> FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an information processing device that can function as the interview support device 1.

[0034] 5, the information processing device includes a control unit 11, a ROM 12, and a RAM 13. The control unit 11 is configured, for example, by a CPU, and functions as an arithmetic processing unit that performs various processes, and executes the various processes according to a program stored in the ROM 12 or a program loaded from the storage unit 19 to the RAM 13. The RAM 13 also stores data necessary for the CPU to execute the various processes as appropriate. The control unit 11 may be configured by multiple CPUs, or an AI (Artificial Intelligence) processor, etc.

[0035] The control unit 11, ROM 12, and RAM 13 are interconnected via a bus 14. An input / output interface 15 is also connected to this bus 14.

[0036] An input unit 16 consisting of operators and operation devices is connected to the input / output interface 15. For example, the input unit 16 may be various operators and operation devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, keys, a touch panel, a touch pad, a dial, a remote controller, etc. An operation is detected by the input unit 16, and a signal corresponding to the detected operation is interpreted by the control unit 11.

[0037] Furthermore, the input / output interface 15 is connected integrally or separately to a display unit 17 made up of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) panel, etc., and an audio output unit 18 made up of a speaker, etc. The display unit 17 is used to display various types of information, and is configured, for example, by a display device provided in the housing of the information processing device, or a separate display device connected thereto.

[0038] The display unit 17 displays images for various image processing, moving images to be processed, etc. on the display screen based on instructions from the control unit 11. Furthermore, the display unit 17 displays various operation menus, icons, messages, etc., i.e., a GUI (Graphical User Interface), based on instructions from the control unit 11.

[0039] The input / output interface 15 may be connected to a storage unit 19 and a communication unit 20 . The storage unit 19 is configured with a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and stores various types of information. A database may be constructed in the storage unit 19. For example, the DB unit 8 required for processing as the interview support device 1 may be constructed in the storage unit 19.

[0040] The communication unit 20 performs communication processing via a transmission path such as the Internet, and communication with various devices via wired / wireless communication, bus communication, and the like.

[0041] A drive 22 is also connected to the input / output interface 15 as required, and a removable recording medium 21 such as a memory card or optical disk is appropriately attached thereto.

[0042] The drive 22 allows data files such as programs used in various processes to be read from the removable recording medium 21. The read data files are stored in the storage unit 19, and images and sounds contained in the data files are output on the display unit 17 and the audio output unit 18. Furthermore, the computer programs and the like read from the removable recording medium 21 are installed in the storage unit 19 as needed.

[0043] In an information processing device having the above hardware configuration, for example, software for processing as the interview support device 1 of this embodiment can be installed via network communication by the communication unit 20 or via the removable recording medium 21. Alternatively, the software may be stored in advance in the ROM 12, the memory unit 19, etc. The control unit 11 performs processing operations based on various programs, thereby executing the information processing and communication processing required by the interview support device 1.

[0044] Although the above has shown an example of an information processing device that functions as the interview support device 1, the person in charge terminal 2, the company's management terminal 3, the customer terminal 5, and the HP server 7 can also be realized by information processing devices with roughly the same configuration. Also, the microphone 4 and transmitter 6 may be configured as built-in devices of an information processing device with a similar configuration.

[0045] Furthermore, the interview support device 1 is not limited to being configured with a single information processing device as shown in Fig. 5, but may be configured as a system of multiple information processing devices. The multiple information processing devices may be systemized using a LAN (Local Area Network) or the like, or may be located in a remote location using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) using the Internet or the like. The multiple information processing devices may include information processing devices as a server group (cloud) available through a cloud computing service.

[0046] Assuming that the interview support device 1 is an information processing device, the control unit 11 has the functions of a DB update unit 11a, a product presentation determination unit 11b, and a notification processing unit 11c, as shown in the figure. For example, these functions are realized in the control unit 11 by a program installed in the information processing device.

[0047] The DB update unit 11a performs an update process for each DB of the DB unit 8. For example, the DB update unit 11a analyzes product material materials, determines words related to the products, and performs a DB update process for updating the material management DB 8b so as to associate the determined words with the product material materials.

[0048] The product presentation determination unit 11b performs a process of searching for product materials by referring to the material management DB 8b based on the content of the customer's utterances during an interview between the customer and the person in charge, and determining whether or not to recommend the product materials to be presented to the customer. "Recommending presentation" means notifying the product material information to the person in charge terminal 2, etc., so that the product materials can be presented to the customer by the person in charge's operation.

[0049] The notification processing unit 11c performs notification processing to notify the person in charge terminal 2 of information on the commercial material that the commercial material presentation determining unit 11b has determined to be presentable.

[0050] <3.DB update process> As an example of processing by the control unit 11 of the interview support device 1, a DB update process performed by the function of the DB update unit 11a will be described.

[0051] Fig. 6 shows the DB update process. The control unit 11 performs the process of Fig. 6 periodically, for example, once to several times a day, or irregularly.

[0052] In step S101, the control unit 11 collects company materials. This is a process of searching whether the company has published, announced, or posted pamphlets or other new materials on its website regarding various commercial materials, and if new commercial material materials exist, the company imports the new commercial material materials.

[0053] For this reason, the control unit 11 detects new product material materials in response to notifications from the company's management terminal 3, or searches for new product material materials by accessing the storage area where the company's management terminal 3 stores the product material materials. The control unit 11 also checks whether new product material materials are posted as content on the company's homepage provided by the HP server 7.

[0054] Generally, when a company creates a pamphlet outlining its products, it often creates the pamphlet not only in paper form but also as electronic data to post on its website. Such electronic pamphlets are uploaded to and stored on HP server 7 and made available to the public. Furthermore, paper pamphlets may be scanned by company staff to create electronic data, which is then uploaded to HP server 7. It is conceivable that control unit 11 may search for these electronic pamphlets as new product materials.

[0055] Additionally, the commercial material may include commercial content such as videos, still images, and articles posted to video posting services and blog posting services on social networking services (SNS). These commercial material may also include product introductions and usage instructions. Therefore, the control unit 11 may include such commercial content in the search targets.

[0056] The control unit 11 searches for the company's product material materials using, for example, these methods, and whenever new product material materials are found, the control unit 11 retrieves the product material materials and stores them in the material DB 8c.

[0057] Here, we assume that the company's product materials are automatically searched for, but it is also conceivable that, for example, when product materials are produced or released, the company's staff may initiate the process shown in Figure 6 for those product materials.

[0058] In step S102, the control unit 11 performs information analysis on the newly imported product material. This is a process of performing text recognition and image analysis to ultimately set words related to the product from the content of the product material. For example, the text data written in the product material is analyzed to determine words related to the product. In the case of product material in the form of a video, it is possible to convert the audio in the video into text data so that it can be used for information analysis to set words.

[0059] These words are words or phrases that indicate, for example, the type of product, the characteristics of the product, the form of the product, how to use the product, the occasion for using the product, the attributes of people suitable for the product (age group, gender, place of residence, occupation, family structure, tastes, hobbies, etc.), the environment suitable for the product, the situation of people suitable for the product (living environment, career path, changes in family structure, etc.), the way of thinking of people suitable for the product (safety-oriented, adventure-oriented, etc.), etc. These words may be extracted by the control unit 11 from the product material, or may be generated by the control unit 11 based on the content of the product material.

[0060] In addition, in analyzing the product material information, the control unit 11 determines the expiration date of the product indicated in the product material information or the product material information itself, the range of people and the range of areas to which the product can be provided, and the like.

[0061] For example, the control unit 11 performs the information analysis process of step S102 for each commercial material discovered in step S101. Then, in step S103, the control unit 11 sets tags for each commercial material, i.e., sets all or part of the words extracted in step S102 as tags to be associated with the commercial material.

[0062] In step S104, the control unit 11 determines whether the product materials stored in the material management DB 8b have been provided to date. "Provision termination" means that the presentation of each product material, such as a product pamphlet, to customers will cease. The control unit 11 determines whether the product material itself has expired, whether sales or service provision of the product indicated by the product material has ended, or whether provision has been temporarily discontinued. For this purpose, the control unit 11 checks the expiration date of the product material itself, notices on the company's homepage about the end of product sales and service provision, and notifications from the company's management terminal 3.

[0063] Furthermore, even if the sales of the product indicated by the product material document are ongoing, the product material document itself may be updated. Therefore, when new product material document is issued for a certain product, the control unit 11 determines the product material document for the same product that has already been registered in the material management DB 8b, and sets information indicating the end of presentation.

[0064] In step S105, the control unit 11 determines whether or not to update tags on the commercial material materials stored in the material management DB 8b up to now. Tags related to product materials are registered in the material management database 8b. The control unit 11 determines whether each tag registered for each product material is valid and searches for unnecessary tags. For example, it determines tags that have never been used in product material material searches within a specified period of time, or tags that have been used in product material material searches but have not led to a sale.

[0065] In step S106, the control unit 11 updates the DB 8b. In this case, the control unit 11 updates the material management DB 8b in accordance with the results of steps S103, S104, and S105.

[0066] FIG. 7 shows an example of the material management DB 8b. In the material management DB 8b, for example, each commercial material stored in the material DB 8c is indicated as a material ID, and the storage location of each commercial material is indicated by a material link. For example, the material link is information for reading out the commercial material from the material DB 8c. Furthermore, one or more tags are registered in the material management DB 8b in correspondence with each material ID. Also, information relating to the history of the commercial material and additional information are stored as history information and additional information. The historical information includes the number of times the product information has been provided, the date and time, the customer to whom it was provided, the person in charge, the number of times each tag triggered the provision, the number of times a deal was made, and customer response information (whether or not they showed interest, etc.). The additional information includes the expiration date of the product material, information on the suspension or termination of the provision of the product, information on the termination of the presentation of the product material itself, and the like.

[0067] The control unit 11 first updates the material management DB 8b in accordance with the results of step S103. For example, the control unit 11 sets a material ID for the newly discovered commercial material, establishes a link with the material DB 8c, and registers one or more tags set in step S103. In addition, the control unit 11 registers the expiration date of the commercial material as additional information. Furthermore, the control unit 11 adds the result of the provision termination determination in step S104 to the additional information. Furthermore, the control unit 11 deletes unnecessary tags or changes words for each commercial material based on the result of step S105.

[0068] By periodically updating the tags as shown in FIG. 6, the document management DB 8b shown in FIG. 7 is kept up to date. For example, if your company has real estate-related materials such as apartments, detached houses, and rental offices as part of its company documents, tags such as "living alone," "moving," and "going to college" may be registered as associated with a particular one-room apartment.

[0069] Although tags are set automatically through the above process, it is also possible to have company staff manually set tags on product materials using the company's management terminal 3, for example. Furthermore, it is also conceivable that the customer response information, the contract status, and the like in the history information may be generated as registered information based on manual input by the person in charge.

[0070] <4. Product presentation judgment and notification processing> The control unit 11 of the interview support device 1 supports business negotiations using the functions of the product presentation determination unit 11b and the notification processing unit 11c. Specifically, the control unit 11 uses the above-mentioned material management DB 8b to notify the person in charge of materials for another product that should be proposed to the customer during a business negotiation for a certain product, or to notify the person in charge of product materials that should be presented to the customer at the next business negotiation after the business negotiation is over.

[0071] 8 shows an example of processing by the interview support device 1 for providing support to a person in charge of a certain business negotiation when that negotiation is being carried out. When a certain business negotiation is being carried out, the control unit 11 of the interview support device 1 responds to the negotiation in real time and performs the processing of FIG.

[0072] When the business negotiation starts, the control unit 11 starts inputting conversational voice in step S201. After that, the control unit 11 repeats the processing from step S202 to step S210 for the input conversational voice until the business negotiation is completed.

[0073] In step S202, the control unit 11 performs conversation separation. This is a process of separating the input conversation voice (voice data or text data obtained by converting voice into text) into whether it is a speech of a salesperson or a customer. Separation can be performed by determining the speaker based on voiceprints, determining the speaker based on the audio input path (whether the audio was collected by the staff terminal 2 or the customer terminal 5, etc.), determining the speaker based on the positioning of the audio collected by the microphone 4, or determining the speaker based on the context.

[0074] In step S203, the control unit 11 analyzes the customer's utterance content extracted by conversation separation, and then searches for commercial material related to the utterance content by referring to the material management DB 8b based on the utterance content obtained as a result of the analysis. For example, the control unit 11 analyzes the extracted customer utterances and determines whether there are any utterances that correspond to tags associated with each product material, or any utterances that are determined to have the same meaning as the tagged words (for example, "moving" and "moving house"). If there are any words in the customer utterances that match or are semantically identical to the tags, the control unit 11 extracts the product material in which the tags are registered.

[0075] In step S204, it is determined whether one or more product materials have been extracted by the above search. If no product materials have been extracted from the material management DB 8b, the process returns to step S202 via steps S209 and S211, and the same process is performed on the negotiation voices that continue to be input.

[0076] If a commercial material tagged with a word corresponding to a certain customer utterance is extracted in step S203, the control unit 11 proceeds from step S204 to step S205 and stores the utterance. The purpose of storing the utterance is to determine the number of times the same utterance has been made. For example, if a customer makes an utterance equivalent to "living alone," this is stored, and if it has already been stored, the number of times the utterance has been made is updated.

[0077] In step S206, the control unit 11 performs a product presentation determination for each of the one or more extracted product materials, that is, determines whether or not to recommend the person in charge to present the product material to the customer. That is, the product information extracted based on the semantic match between the customer's utterance and the tagged words is not notified to the person in charge as it is to be presented to the customer, but the appropriateness of the presentation is judged. This product presentation decision is made based on the following factors:

[0078] (1) The number of times a certain tag is used (2) Whether or not there are utterances corresponding to more than a specified number of tags for one product material (3) Whether or not there is any urgency in the content of the utterance (4) Reference to history information and additional information (5) Vector search of customer speech to identify product affinity

[0079] The above (1) determines the customer's level of interest in the content of the utterance and its importance to the customer from the number of times the customer utters a certain tag. For example, if the customer utters "living alone" only once, it is not determined that product materials with the tag "living alone" should be presented, but if the customer utters "living alone" a predetermined number of times or more, it is used as an element in determining that the product materials in question should be presented.

[0080] (2) above determines the suitability of a product for a customer based on the number of times a customer speaks of a specific tag associated with that product material. For example, if there are utterances such as "living alone," "moving," and "going to college," and each of these are used as tags in a certain product material, this is used as a factor in determining whether that product material should be presented.

[0081] The above (3) uses the customer's utterances corresponding to tags associated with certain extracted product materials and whether or not there was any utterance expressing urgency in the content of the utterance as factors for deciding whether to execute a proposal. For example, if there is an utterance such as "next week" or "hurry" regarding "moving," this can be used as a factor in determining that the product materials associated with the tag "moving" are the product materials that should be presented.

[0082] The above (4) judges whether the extracted product material should be presented based on the history information and additional information of the product material. For example, if the history information or additional information contains the following information, it is determined that there are factors that inhibit presentation and the product material should not be presented to the customer. - Product materials previously presented to customers in negotiations (especially product materials that customers were not interested in) - Product information for products that have been sold by customers currently in negotiation -Product information for products that are no longer available due to sales, production being discontinued, or temporary sales suspension

[0083] For example, if the history information or additional information contains the following information, it is considered to be an element in the direction of providing it. - Sales documents that showed interest when previously presented to a customer during a sales negotiation -Product materials that have not been previously presented to the customer during the negotiation ·Product materials related to the products that the customer has concluded a contract for during the negotiation

[0084] (5) above performs a vector search on the content of customer utterances, and determines whether or not there is a high affinity between the customer's interests and the product, which is then used as a deciding factor for making a proposal. Vector search is a search technology that converts data such as text and images into numerical vectors and calculates the distance and similarity between these vectors. For example, it determines the affinity between the text data of a customer's utterance and the text data showing tagged words, and if the affinity is high, it is used as a factor in deciding whether to offer the product.

[0085] The control unit 11 performs at least one of the above (1) to (5) as the product presentation determination in step S206, but preferably performs a combination of two or more. For example, the control unit 11 adds a determination value according to the element of the direction of determining that the product material should be presented, and when a determination value equal to or greater than a predetermined value is obtained, the control unit 11 determines that the product material is product material that should be presented to the customer. Furthermore, if there is one or a predetermined number of presentation inhibiting factors, it is determined that the product material will not be presented to the customer.

[0086] When it is determined that the presentation of the extracted product material is not recommended, the control unit 11 returns from step S207 to step S202 via steps S209 and S211. If it is recommended to present product materials, i.e., if it is determined that one or more of the extracted product materials should be presented to the customer, the control unit 11 proceeds from step S207 to step S208 and performs a notification process to the person in charge. For example, the control unit 11 transmits proposal information indicating the merchandise to be proposed to the person in charge terminal 2, and performs processing to display on the screen of the person in charge terminal 2, as shown in Figure 3, a message 35 indicating the content that should be proposed in the business negotiation and a document sharing button 36.

[0087] This allows salespeople in negotiations to recognize the products they are recommending to customers. By looking at this, salespeople can direct the negotiations toward selling the proposed products. In the case of remote negotiations, the customer will not notice if message 35 is displayed on the screen of the person in charge terminal 2 as shown in Figure 3, but in the case of face-to-face negotiations, the person in charge and the customer may be looking at a tablet device or the like together. Therefore, the control unit 11 may set the notification destination in step S208 to a device designated by the person in charge. For example, if the person in charge is looking at a tablet device serving as the person in charge terminal 2 together with the customer, the notification destination may be the person in charge's smartphone. Alternatively, when sending to the person in charge terminal 2 that may be viewed by the customer, a specific icon that only the person in charge can see may be displayed so that the person in charge can check the message content at an appropriate time.

[0088] When the above notification process has been performed, the person in charge can operate the material sharing button 36 at any time. When the material sharing button 36 is operated on the person in charge terminal 2, the control unit 11 proceeds from step S209 to step S210, and performs processing to enable the corresponding product material to be shared between the person in charge terminal 2 and the customer terminal 5. For example, link information for the product material may be sent to the person in charge terminal 2, enabling it to be shared with the customer terminal 5.

[0089] As a result, the relevant product information is displayed on the customer terminal 5 as shown in Figure 4. Although not shown, the product information is also displayed on the staff terminal 2 in a similar manner, and the staff can proceed with negotiations about the new product while referring to the information.

[0090] While the negotiation is ongoing, the control unit 11 continues to execute the above process. When the negotiation is over, the control unit 11 ends the process of FIG. 8 from step S211.

[0091] The above process enables sales representatives to receive useful information during sales negotiations. In particular, the system searches for product materials about products that the customer potentially desires based on what the customer says, and determines whether or not the product should be proposed to the customer. If it is determined that the product should be proposed, the sales representative is notified of the product materials recommended for presentation. The sales representative can then share the product materials with the customer at their discretion.

[0092] This prevents a wide variety of products from being proposed to the customer, and instead selects product materials that are highly suitable for the customer and notifies them to the salesperson, eliminating the need for frequent notifications that can be irritating to the salesperson. Furthermore, since the products are only presented to the customer after the salesperson's judgment during the negotiation, it is possible to propose products to the customer with minimal but effective methods.

[0093] In the processing example of FIG. 8, the proposed product is determined using the customer's speech during the business negotiation and notified to the person in charge terminal 2. However, information on the proposed product may be sent to the person in charge terminal 2 after the business negotiation, for example. FIG. 9 shows an example of processing that the control unit 11 performs after the business negotiation is completed.

[0094] In step S301, the control unit 11 acquires business negotiation information. This is processing for acquiring business negotiation information including voice data and text data about a certain business negotiation from the business negotiation DB 8a.

[0095] In step S302, the control unit 11 extracts the contents of the customer's utterance from the acquired business negotiation information. In step S303, the control unit 11 analyzes the content of the customer's utterance during the negotiation and searches for proposed product materials. That is, similar to step S203 in Fig. 8, the control unit 11 analyzes the extracted content of the customer's utterance, and based on the content of the utterance obtained as a result of the analysis, refers to the material management DB 8b and searches for product materials in which tags corresponding to the content of the utterance are registered.

[0096] If there is no corresponding commercial material, the control unit 11 ends the processing of FIG. If one or more product materials are present, the control unit 11 proceeds from step S305 to step S306 and makes a product presentation determination for the relevant product materials.For example, similar to step S206 described above, the control unit 11 determines whether or not to recommend the presentation of the product materials based on the determinations (1) to (5) above.

[0097] If it is determined that the method is not recommended, the control unit 11 ends the process of FIG. 9 from step S307. If there is a business negotiation material that is recommended for presentation, the control unit 11 proceeds from step S307 to step S308, and performs a process of notifying the person in charge and a process of making the material available for sharing. For example, the control unit 11 notifies the person in charge terminal 2 of the existence of product materials as preparation information for the next business negotiation. In this case, the business negotiation is not in progress and the customer cannot see the materials, so the notification can be sent directly to the person in charge terminal 2. In addition, link information for the business negotiation materials is also sent so that they can be shared and displayed on the customer terminal 5 during the next business negotiation.

[0098] By performing the above-described processing of FIG. 9 by the interview support device 1, the person in charge can know which products to propose in the next business negotiation with the customer, and can make appropriate preparations for the next business negotiation.

[0099] <5. Effects of the embodiment and variations> The interview support device 1 according to the above embodiment provides the following effects.

[0100] The control unit 11 of the interview support device 1 of the embodiment analyzes product materials, determines words related to the product, and performs a database update process to update the material management DB 8b so that the determined words are associated with the product materials. The control unit 11 also performs a product presentation determination process to search for product materials by referring to the material management DB 8b based on the content of the customer's utterances during business negotiations between the person in charge (host) and the customer (guest), and to determine whether the product materials should be recommended for presentation to the customer. The control unit 11 also performs a notification process to notify the person in charge of information about the product materials in question, depending on the determination result that the presentation is recommended. With this type of interview support device 1, during negotiations for a certain product, it is possible to estimate other products that a customer may need and make those product materials available for the salesperson to present to the customer. Furthermore, rather than simply presenting product materials found through a word search, the device determines whether or not proposing the product is appropriate, and only if appropriate does the salesperson recommend presenting the product materials to the customer. This prevents the customer from being presented with a large number of different products, and allows the salesperson to present the appropriate product at the appropriate opportunity.

[0101] In the embodiment, an example of processing is described in which product materials are searched for by referring to the material management DB8b based on the content of the customer's speech during an interview between the representative and the customer, and it is determined whether or not the product materials found by the search should be presented to the customer. As a variant, it is possible to determine the words that the customer considers important from the content of the customer's utterance, determine the product materials associated with those words as the products that should be presented, and then search for product materials that have those words registered as tags.In other words, the product presentation determination as described above in (1), (2), (3), and (5) is first made on the customer's utterance to limit the content of the utterance to be searched, and the conditions for exclusion are determined using the element (4) above, and then the search is performed.

[0102] In the embodiment, an example is described in which the control unit 11 performs a product presentation determination process by comparing words associated with product materials in the material management DB8b with the content of the customer's speech, and discovering product materials that have an affinity with the content of the customer's speech. By associating one or more words as tags with product materials in the material management DB 8b, product materials that have a high affinity with the customer's utterance can be easily found by matching or semantically matching the word (tag) with the customer's utterance.Then, the discovered product materials can be made into presentation candidates.

[0103] In the embodiment, an example is described in which the control unit 11, in the product presentation determination process, uses the number of times a guest utters that are identical or have the same meaning as words associated with product materials registered in the material management DB8b to determine whether or not to recommend the presentation of the product materials (see (1) above). When a product material candidate for presentation is found, it is determined whether the event related to the word (tag) associated with the product material is of high importance to the customer. To this end, if a speech content identical to or with the same meaning as the tag is uttered a predetermined number of times or more, it is interpreted as an important speech to the customer, and the product material associated with the speech content is selected as the product material to be presented. This increases the possibility of proposing a product that is useful to the customer.

[0104] In the embodiment, an example is described in which the control unit 11, in the product presentation determination process, uses whether or not a guest has spoken an utterance that is identical to or has the same meaning as a predetermined number or more of words associated with product materials registered in the material management DB8b to determine whether or not to recommend or present the product materials (see (2) above). When a product material candidate for presentation is found, if the words (tags) associated with that product contain utterances that are identical or have the same meaning as multiple tags, the product is likely to be the product the customer desires. Therefore, whether or not the customer's utterances contain utterances that match a predetermined number or more of tags associated with the product material is used as a presentation decision factor. This increases the chances of proposing a product that is useful to the customer.

[0105] In the embodiment, an example is described in which the control unit 11, in the product presentation determination process, uses whether or not there has been a customer utterance indicating urgency in relation to words associated with the product materials registered in the material management DB8b to determine whether or not to recommend the presentation of the product materials (see (3) above). When a product document that is a candidate for presentation is found, if the customer uses words (tags) related to that product that convey urgency, there is a high possibility that that product is the product the customer currently desires. Therefore, whether or not the customer has spoken of urgency is used as a presentation decision factor. This increases the chances of suggesting products that are urgent and useful to the customer.

[0106] In the embodiment, an example has been described in which the control unit 11 uses historical information indicating the history of the provision of product materials found from the material management DB8b by search to the customer terminal 5, or additional information indicating additional information about the product materials, in the product presentation determination process to determine whether or not to recommend the presentation of the product materials (see (4) above). For example, the system determines whether or not to present the product information by referring to historical information such as the past presentation date and time, number of presentations, contract status, and presentation cancellation settings. This makes it possible to avoid proposing the same product to the same customer multiple times, proposing a product that was rejected in the past, or proposing a product that is currently out of stock, thereby making it possible to make appropriate product proposals.

[0107] In the embodiment, an example has been described in which the control unit 11, in the product presentation determination process, performs vector analysis on the content of the customer's speech to estimate its affinity with words associated with product materials registered in the material management DB8b, and uses this affinity to determine whether or not to recommend the presentation of the product materials (see (5) above). By performing a vector search on the content of customer utterances, it is possible to determine the affinity between the content of the utterances and tags. If there is a high affinity between the tag for a certain product document and the content of the customer utterances, it is determined that the product document should be presented, thereby increasing the possibility of making an appropriate product proposal.

[0108] In the embodiment, an example has been given in which the control unit 11 performs a DB update process in which it analyzes the commercial material materials and determines the words to register them in the material management DB 8b as tag information related to the commercial material materials (see Figures 6 and 7). For example, tags can be registered in DB8 in correspondence with product documents, as shown in Figure 7. This makes it possible to determine which product documents are candidates for presentation by matching the words spoken by the customer during negotiations with the tagged words. This makes it easier to search for product documents that are candidates for presentation.

[0109] In the embodiment, an example has been described in which the control unit 11, in the DB update process, determines which commercial materials registered in the material management DB 8b should have their presentation terminated or temporarily suspended, and performs a process to register information on the termination or suspension of presentation (see steps S104 and S106 in Figure 6). This makes it possible to exclude from presentation candidates or not present merchandise materials registered in the material management DB 8b that are no longer appropriate to present to customers because they have already sold out, production has been discontinued, service has been discontinued, etc., or that are temporarily unavailable. This is therefore effective in terms of appropriate presentation of merchandise materials.

[0110] The program of the embodiment is a program that causes the control unit 11 to execute the following steps: a DB update process that analyzes product materials, determines words related to the product, and updates the material management DB8b so that the determined words are associated with the product materials; a product presentation determination process that searches for product materials by referring to the material management DB8b based on the content of the customer's utterances during a business negotiation between the person in charge and the customer, and determines whether to recommend the product materials to the customer; and a notification process that notifies the person in charge of information about the product materials in question depending on the determination result that the product materials are recommended. For example, the program causes the control unit 11 to execute the processes of FIGS. 6, 8, and 9.

[0111] Such a program can realize an information processing device that executes all or part of the functions of the interview support device 1 described in the embodiment. For example, by downloading the program to a personal computer, portable information processing device, etc., the personal computer, etc. can be made to function as the interview support device 1.

[0112] Such programs can be recorded on a recording medium. Examples of recording media include a hard disk drive (HDD) built into a computer or other device, a ROM or nonvolatile memory in a microcomputer, and the programs can be pre-recorded on these recording media. Alternatively, the programs can be provided by temporarily or permanently recording them on a removable recording medium such as a memory card or optical disk. Furthermore, such programs can be downloaded from a download site via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet.

[0113] The interview support device 1 of the embodiment performs processing to support business negotiations between a person in charge and a customer, but the technology of the interview support device 1 is not limited to so-called business negotiations, and can be applied to estimating the intentions of the guest, particularly the items and services required, during various interviews in fields such as medicine, education, consulting, counseling, etc. For example, there can be a case where the potential desires of the guest, who is the person seeking advice, are estimated and items and services corresponding to those desires are presented. [Explanation of symbols]

[0114] 1 Interview support device 2. Personnel terminal 3 Company-managed devices 4 microphones 5. Customer terminal 6 Transmitter 8 DB 8a Business negotiation DB 8b Material management DB 8c Document DB 9 Network 11 Control section 11a DB update section 11b Product presentation judgment section 11c Notification processing section 36 Document sharing button 37 Reference Images

Claims

1. a database update process for analyzing the product material data, determining words related to the product material, and updating the database so as to associate the determined words with the product material data; A product presentation determination process that searches for product information by referring to the database based on the content of the guest's speech during an interview between the host and the guest, and determines whether or not to recommend presenting the product information to the guest; a notification process for notifying the host of information regarding the corresponding product material according to the determination result that the presentation is recommended; A control unit that performs Interview support device.

2. The control unit In the product presentation determination process, a process is performed in which words associated with product materials in the database are compared with the guest's speech content to find product materials that have an affinity with the guest's speech content. The interview support device according to claim 1 .

3. The control unit In the product presentation determination process, The number of times that the guest has uttered an utterance that is the same as or has the same meaning as a word associated with the product material registered in the database is used to determine whether or not to recommend the presentation of the product material. The interview support device according to claim 1 .

4. The control unit In the product presentation determination process, Whether or not there is an utterance by the guest that is identical to or has the same meaning as a predetermined number of words or more associated with the product material registered in the database is used to determine whether or not to recommend the presentation of the product material. The interview support device according to claim 1 .

5. The control unit In the product presentation determination process, Whether or not there is a guest utterance indicating urgency in relation to a word associated with the product material registered in the database is used to determine whether or not to recommend the presentation of the product material. The interview support device according to claim 1 .

6. The control unit In the product presentation determination process, History information indicating the history of providing the product material found from the database by the search to the guest, or additional information indicating additional information about the product material, is used to determine whether or not to recommend the presentation of the product material. The interview support device according to claim 1 .

7. The control unit In the product presentation determination process, The affinity between the guest's speech and words associated with the product materials registered in the database, estimated by vector analysis of the guest's speech, is used to determine whether or not to recommend the product materials. The interview support device according to claim 1 .

8. The control unit In the database update process, the words determined by analyzing the product material are registered in the database as tag information related to the product material. The interview support device according to claim 1 .

9. The control unit In the database update process, a process is performed to determine which commercial material materials are to be terminated or temporarily stopped from being presented, and to register information on the termination or suspension of presentation, from among the commercial material materials registered in the database. The interview support device according to claim 1 .

10. The information processing device a database update process for analyzing the product material data, determining words related to the product material, and updating the database so as to associate the determined words with the product material data; A product presentation determination process that searches for product information by referring to the database based on the content of the guest's speech during an interview between the host and the guest, and determines whether or not to recommend presenting the product information to the guest; a notification process for notifying the host of information regarding the corresponding product material according to the determination result that the product material should be presented; Interview support method.

11. a database update process for analyzing the product material data, determining words related to the product material, and updating the database so as to associate the determined words with the product material data; A product presentation determination process that searches for product information by referring to the database based on the content of the guest's speech during an interview between the host and the guest, and determines whether or not to recommend presenting the product information to the guest; a notification process for notifying the host of information regarding the corresponding product material according to the determination result that the product material is recommended to be presented; A recording medium on which a program for causing an information processing device to execute the above is temporarily or permanently recorded.

12. a database update process for analyzing the product material data, determining words related to the product material, and updating the database so as to associate the determined words with the product material data; A product presentation determination process that searches for product information by referring to the database based on the content of the guest's speech during an interview between the host and the guest, and determines whether or not to recommend presenting the product information to the guest; a notification process for notifying the host of information regarding the corresponding product material according to the determination result that the product material is recommended to be presented; A program that causes an information processing device to execute the above.

Images