Reservation management apparatus, method for managing reservations, program, and system

Abstract

To provide a reservation management apparatus, a method for managing reservations, a program, and a system that can reduce the number of rescheduling operations and efficiently adjust schedules without requiring much effort.SOLUTION: A reservation management apparatus includes: a reservation slot setting unit 11 in which a plurality of reservation slots are preset; a guest characteristic information estimation unit 12 configured to estimate characteristic information of each of a plurality of guests on the basis of response information from the plurality of guests who make reservations for the plurality of reservation slots; a guest characteristic information storage unit in which the estimated characteristic information of each guest is stored; a reservation slot candidate specifying unit 14 configured to specify, on the basis of the characteristic information of each guest, reservation slot candidates for each guest and output the reservation slot candidates to terminal devices of the guests; a desired reservation slot receiving unit 15 configured to receive desired reservation slots selected by the guests from among the reservation slot candidates; and an allocation unit 16 configured to allocate reservations of the respective guests to the plurality of reservation slots on the basis of the desired reservation slots of the respective guests.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a reservation management device, method, program, and system for allocating guest reservations to reservation slots prepared by a host. [Background technology]

[0002] Traditionally, when a school teacher holds a parent-teacher conference, they have to coordinate the date and time of the conference with all parents. Generally, they ask all parents for their preferred date and time, and the school schedules the conference according to their preference.

[0003] In this case, the school must adjust the schedule to take into account the fact that some parents need to be interviewed earlier in the day, while others need to be interviewed at the last available time slot. Furthermore, parents who cannot meet on their preferred day must be asked to reschedule, but making such requests and adjusting the schedule after rescheduling is extremely time-consuming.

[0004] Patent Document 1 proposes an interview schedule arrangement device that can more easily arrange interview dates between recruiters and job seekers. Specifically, Patent Document 1 proposes an interview schedule arrangement device that identifies multiple interview dates and times that are available for interviews based on the recruiter's schedule information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-170151 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-7662 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in Patent Document 1, the availability of the recruiter (interviewer) is taken into consideration, but the availability of the job seeker (interviewee) is not taken into consideration, so the interview date may not always be a day that is convenient for the job seeker, resulting in a problem of frequent rescheduling.

[0007] Additionally, schools could consider presenting potential reservation slots to parents, taking their circumstances into consideration. However, in order to accurately understand each individual's circumstances, detailed information would need to be prepared and questionnaires and interviews would need to be conducted while taking care to protect personal information, which would be extremely time-consuming.

[0008] Patent Document 2 proposes a method for understanding members' preference trends by correlating and analyzing the results of questionnaire responses, but does not make any proposals regarding scheduling the above-mentioned interviews.

[0009] In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a reservation management device, method, program, and system that can reduce the number of reschedulings and enable efficient schedule adjustments without requiring much effort. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] The reservation management device of the present invention includes a reservation slot setting unit in which multiple reservation slots prepared by the host are preset, a guest characteristic information estimation unit that estimates characteristic information of each guest based on response information from multiple guests who make reservations for the multiple reservation slots, a guest characteristic information storage unit that stores the characteristic information of each guest estimated by the guest characteristic information estimation unit, a reservation slot candidate identification unit that identifies reservation slot candidates for each guest based on each guest's characteristic information and outputs the identified reservation slots to each guest's terminal device, a desired reservation slot acceptance unit that accepts a desired reservation slot selected by each guest from the reservation slot candidates, and an allocation unit that allocates reservations for each guest to multiple reservation slots based on each guest's desired reservation slot. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the reservation management device of the present invention, characteristic information of each guest is estimated based on response information from the guests, and reservation slot candidates for each guest are identified based on the estimated characteristic information of each guest. Then, reservations for each guest are assigned to multiple reservation slots based on the desired reservation slot selected by each guest from the reservation slot candidates for that guest. This reduces the number of reschedulings and enables efficient schedule adjustment without requiring much effort. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a reservation management system using an embodiment of the reservation management device of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a preset reservation slot. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a characteristic information estimation table; [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a characteristic information table showing characteristic information of each guardian; [Figure 5] A diagram showing an example of reservation slot candidates for each guardian [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a guardian's family structure, a characteristic information estimation table, and estimated characteristic information of the guardian. [Figure 7] A diagram showing an example of a schedule in which each parent's reservation is assigned to multiple reservation slots. [Figure 8] A sequence diagram illustrating the processing flow of the reservation management system shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 9] A sequence diagram illustrating the processing flow of the reservation management system shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] A reservation management system using an embodiment of a reservation management device of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a reservation management system 1 of this embodiment.

[0014] The reservation management system 1 of this embodiment is a system for reserving dates for interviews between school teachers and the parents of students attending the school, and includes a reservation management device 10 and parent terminal devices 20. Note that while only two parent terminal devices 20 are shown in Fig. 1, in reality, many parent terminal devices 20 are connected to one reservation management device 10.

[0015] The reservation management device 10 and the parent's terminal device 20 are connected via a communication line such as the Internet line, and are configured to be able to communicate with each other.

[0016] The reservation management system 1 of this embodiment estimates characteristic information for each parent based on the results of a questionnaire from each parent, and identifies and presents to the parent candidate reservation slots for the parent's interview date based on the estimated characteristic information and the parent's characteristic information previously known by the school.The reservation management system 1 then accepts the parent's desired reservation slot selected from the presented candidate reservation slots, and allocates each parent's reservation to a plurality of pre-set reservation slots based on the accepted desired reservation slot.In this embodiment, the school (teacher) corresponds to the host in this invention, and the parent corresponds to the guest in this invention.In this embodiment, the questionnaire results correspond to the response information in this invention.

[0017] Hereinafter, each device constituting the reservation management system 1 of this embodiment will be described in detail.

[0018] The reservation management device 10 includes a reservation slot setting unit 11, a guest characteristic information estimation unit 12, a guest characteristic information storage unit 13, a reservation slot candidate specification unit 14, a desired reservation slot reception unit 15, and an allocation unit 16.

[0019] A plurality of reservation slots prepared by the school (teacher) are set in advance in the reservation slot setting unit 11. The reservation slots are set, for example, by inputting them into a terminal device (not shown) owned by the teacher, and set in the reservation slot setting unit 11. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of reservation slots. In Fig. 2, three reservation slots I to III are set on Monday, three reservation slots IV to VI are set on Tuesday, and one reservation slot VII is set on Thursday.

[0020] The guest characteristic information estimation unit 12 estimates the characteristic information of each guardian based on the results of a questionnaire from each guardian. The questionnaire is sent to the terminal device 20 of each guardian, for example, when a student enrolls in school or advances to a higher education. The questionnaire prompts responses to various pieces of information about the guardian and student. In this embodiment, the responses include information about the guardian's occupation, and the responses are output from the terminal device 20 to the reservation management device 10 and input to the guest characteristic information estimation unit 12.

[0021] Then, the guest characteristic information estimation unit 12 estimates the days of the week and time periods when the guardian is available for interviews as guardian characteristic information based on the input information on the guardian's occupation.

[0022] Specifically, the guest characteristic information estimation unit 12 has a characteristic information estimation table as shown in Fig. 3. The characteristic information estimation table shown in Fig. 3 is a table in which occupations and the corresponding available days of the week and available time slots for interviews are preset. The guest identification information estimation unit 12 refers to the characteristic information estimation table shown in Fig. 3 based on the occupation information of each guardian, and estimates the available days of the week and available time slots for interviews for each guardian.

[0023] In the characteristic information estimation table shown in Figure 3, for example, Mondays are set as the available days for consultations for barbers, since they are usually off on Mondays. Also, Wednesdays and Thursdays are set as the available days for real estate workers and medical professionals, respectively, since they are off on Mondays. Furthermore, Monday through Friday is set as the available hours for consultations for freelancers and system engineers, since they are considered to have a relatively high degree of freedom. The available hours for consultations are also set as the hours that are estimated to be available from the perspective of each occupation.

[0024] In the characteristic information estimation table shown in Figure 3, the occupations set are barber, real estate, medical professional, freelance, and system engineer (SE), but this is just an example, and other occupations and their corresponding available days of the week and available time periods for interviews are set.

[0025] The guest characteristic information storage unit 13 stores the characteristic information of multiple guardians who make reservations for multiple reservation slots. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a characteristic information table that associates guardian IDs with guardian characteristic information. A guardian ID is identification information assigned to each guardian.

[0026] As shown in Figure 4, in this embodiment, the parent's characteristic information is stored as evaluation information of the parent and student, reservation slot setting conditions set based on the evaluation information, and information on the days of the week and time periods when the parent is available for interviews.

[0027] The parent's evaluation information includes, for example, information on the parent's employment status, information on the parent's evaluation from the school (teacher's) perspective, and information on the parent's interpersonal relationships.

[0028] Information on parents' employment includes information on the parents' occupations and whether both parents are working. Information on the parents' evaluation from the school (teacher) includes information such as "interviews take a long time" or "not punctual (high possibility of being late for interviews)." Information on parent relationships includes information on parents who should not have adjacent appointment slots.

[0029] Student evaluation information includes evaluation information such as the student's academic ability, whether the student has siblings at the same school, etc. If a student's academic ability is low, the interview will take a long time, so if the student has siblings at the same school, it is better to arrange for them to meet on the same day or in adjacent appointment slots.

[0030] The reservation slot setting conditions are set based on the evaluation information of the parents and students, as described above. In this embodiment, the reservation slot setting conditions are stored as the priority slots, the number of slots required, and the parent IDs of the parents who should not be adjacent. The priority slots indicate the conditions for the reservation slots that are prioritized. When the priority slot is "ALL," it means all reservation slots, "first" means the first reservation slot of each interview date, and "last" means the last reservation slot of each interview date. For example, if the evaluation information of the parents is "both working parents," it is better to finish as early as possible, so "first" is set as the priority slot.

[0031] In addition, if the parent's evaluation information indicates that the interview will take a long time, or if the student's evaluation information indicates that there are problems with academic ability, the interview will take time, so the priority slot will be set to "last."

[0032] The required number of slots indicates the number of reservation slots required for one interview. The required number of slots is usually "1", and the number of required slots increases depending on the evaluation information of the parents and students. For example, if the evaluation information of the parents indicates that the interview will take a long time, or if the evaluation information of the student indicates that there are problems with academic ability, the interview will take time, so the required number of slots will be set to the number of multiple reservation slots.

[0033] The guardian who should not have adjacent reservation slots indicates the guardian ID of the guardian who should not have adjacent reservation slots. For example, in the example of the characteristic information table shown in Figure 3, the evaluation information of the guardian with guardian ID 3 is stored as "Do not have adjacent reservation slots with the guardian with guardian ID 4," and the guardian ID "4" is stored as the guardian ID who should not have adjacent reservation slots for guardian ID 3, and the guardian ID "3" is stored as the guardian ID who should not have adjacent reservation slots for guardian ID 4.

[0034] The information on the days of the week and the time periods when the guardian is available for interviews is set by the guest identification information estimation unit 12 using information estimated from the guardian's occupation.

[0035] The reservation slot candidate specifying unit 14 specifies reservation slot candidates for each guardian based on the above-mentioned characteristic information of each guardian, and outputs the candidates to the terminal device 20 of each guardian.

[0036] Here, a method will be described in which the reservation slot candidate specifying unit 14 specifies reservation slot candidates for each guardian by referring to the characteristic information table shown in Fig. 4 for the reservation slots shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of reservation slot candidates for each guardian.

[0037] The appointment slot candidate identification unit 14 first refers to the priority slots in the parent's characteristic information in the characteristic information table shown in Fig. 4. In the example of the characteristic information table shown in Fig. 4, the parent with parent ID 2 has the priority slot set to "first," and the parent with parent ID 5 has the priority slot set to "last." The parent with parent ID 2 has the information about available days of the week for interviews set to "Monday," and the available time slots for interviews set to "all day." The parent with parent ID 5 has the information about available days of the week for interviews set to "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday," and the available time slots for interviews set to "evening."

[0038] Therefore, the reservation slot candidate identification unit 14 first identifies reservation slot I as a reservation slot candidate for the guardian with guardian ID 2, and identifies reservation slots III and VI as reservation slot candidates for the guardian with guardian ID 5. Note that in this embodiment, reservation slot VII is simply an available time slot with no reservation slots set after it, and is not considered to be the "final" reservation slot.

[0039] 4, there is no contradiction between the priority slots and the available appointment times. However, if the time slots set in the priority slots differ from the estimated available appointment times, the time slots set in the priority slots are given priority when identifying the appointment slot candidates. Alternatively, the estimated available appointment times may be set instead of the priority slots in the characteristic information table shown in FIG.

[0040] In addition, in this embodiment, the days of the week and time periods available for interviews are estimated based on information about the guardian's occupation, but it is also possible to estimate the guardian's characteristic information based on information about the guardian's family structure in the questionnaire results.

[0041] Figure 6A is a diagram showing an example of the family structure of guardians with guardian IDs 6 to 10, Figure 6B is a diagram showing an example of a characteristic information estimation table, and Figure 6C is a diagram showing an example of estimated characteristic information of guardians with guardian IDs 6 to 10.

[0042] The characteristic information estimation table shown in FIG. 6B estimates the required interview time, available interview time, and priority. The required interview time is the same as the required time slot shown in FIG. 4. A required interview time of 30 minutes corresponds to required time slot "1." In the characteristic information estimation table shown in FIG. 6B, for "single-mother, single-father households," the required interview time is set to 60 minutes, which is longer than usual, because it is necessary to listen to what the child has to say with empathy. Furthermore, for "siblings," the required interview time is set to 20 minutes, which is shorter than 30 minutes. If both siblings are enrolled in school, multiple appointment slots will need to be reserved, and there is a possibility that the content of the appointments will overlap between siblings, so the required interview time will be shortened, and consecutive appointment slots will be set, for example.

[0043] In addition, the available interview times in the characteristic information estimation table shown in Figure 6B are set to times other than the evening when interviews are possible, since it is assumed that there will be time to pick up the child if the person has a kindergarten child.

[0044] Priority means that reservations are allocated preferentially, with priority "1" taking precedence over priority "2." In the characteristic information estimation table shown in FIG. 6B, priority "1" is set for "single-parent households" because it is estimated that it will be difficult to secure time due to the single parent. Priority "1" is also set for "siblings" because multiple reservation slots must be secured.

[0045] FIG. 6C shows the family structure of the guardians ID6 to ID10 shown in FIG. 6A. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing characteristic information estimated for guardians with guardian IDs 6 to 10 by referring to a specific information estimation table.

[0046] When using a combination of the characteristic information shown in Figure 4 and the characteristic information estimated using the characteristic information estimation table shown in Figure 6B, reservations can be allocated by giving priority to the characteristic information shown in Figure 4, for example, but the priority of the characteristic information can be set in advance.

[0047] Next, the reservation slot candidate specification unit 14 refers to the number of required slots in the parent's characteristic information. In the example of the characteristic information table shown in FIG. 4, the number of required slots for the parent with parent ID 5 is set to "2", but the priority slot for the parent with parent ID 5 is set to "final". In other words, in the case of the final reservation slot, there is no need to take into account the reservation slot for the next parent, so in this embodiment, this does not particularly affect the reservation slot candidates. Note that, for example, if the priority slot for the parent is not set to "final" and the number of required slots is "2", two consecutive reservation slots are specified as reservation slot candidates.

[0048] Next, the appointment slot candidate identification unit 14 refers to the parent IDs that are not adjacent. In the example of the characteristic information table shown in Fig. 4, parent ID 4 is set for parent ID 3, and parent ID 3 is set for parent ID 4. For the parents with parent IDs 3 and 4, the information on the available days of the week for interviews is "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday," and the information on the available time slots for interviews is "all day," so appointment slots II, IV, V, and VII other than the appointment slots for parent IDs 2 and 5 are identified as appointment slot candidates.

[0049] Finally, the reservation slot candidate identifying unit 14 identifies a reservation slot candidate for which a reservation slot can be set most freely for the guardian with guardian ID 1. In this embodiment, all reservation slots I to VII are identified as reservation slot candidates for the guardian with guardian ID 1.

[0050] As described above, the reservation slot candidate specification unit 14 first specifies rough reservation slot candidates by referring to information on priority slots, number of required slots, available days of the week for interviews, and available time slots from the parent's characteristic information. Note that, if there are siblings in the same school as the student's evaluation information, reservation slots for the siblings on the same day of the week are specified as reservation slot candidates, or adjacent reservation slots are included in the reservation slot candidates.

[0051] Then, the reservation slot candidate specifying unit 14 outputs the reservation slot candidates specified for each guardian as described above to each guardian's terminal device 20. Note that the guardian ID of each guardian and the identification information of the terminal device 20 of each guardian are linked in advance, and the reservation slot candidate specifying unit 14 outputs the reservation slot candidate corresponding to a specific guardian ID to the terminal device 20 of the identification information linked to that guardian ID.

[0052] The parent selects a desired reservation slot (desired reservation slot) from the reservation slot candidates output to the terminal device 20 and outputs it to the reservation management device 10.

[0053] The desired reservation slot receiving unit 15 receives the desired reservation slot of each guardian output from the terminal device 20 of each guardian.

[0054] The allocation unit 16 allocates reservations for each guardian to a plurality of reservation slots based on the guardian's desired reservation slot and the guardian's characteristic information received by the desired reservation slot receiving unit 15, and completes a final reservation schedule. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the completed reservation schedule.

[0055] The allocation unit 16 allocates reservation slots starting with parents who take the longest time for an interview. Specifically, the allocation unit 16 allocates reservation slots first to parents whose priority slot is set to "last" or whose required number of slots is set to multiple reservation slots. For example, if the desired reservation slot for parent ID 5 whose priority slot is "last" is reservation slot III, the allocation unit 16 allocates the reservation of parent ID 5 to reservation slot III.

[0056] Next, the allocation unit 16 allocates a reservation slot to a parent whose priority slot is set to "first." For example, if the desired reservation slot of parent ID 2 whose priority slot is set to "first" is reservation slot I, the allocation unit 16 allocates the reservation of the parent with parent ID 2 to reservation slot I.

[0057] Next, the allocation unit 16 refers to the guardians that should not be adjacent to each other among the guardians' characteristic information. In the example of the characteristic information table shown in Fig. 4, as described above, the guardian ID "4" is stored as the guardian ID that should not be adjacent to the guardian ID 3, and the guardian ID "3" is stored as the guardian ID that should not be adjacent to the guardian ID 4.

[0058] Therefore, reservations are allocated so that the reservation slots of the parent with parent ID 3 and the parent with parent ID 4 are not adjacent to each other. Specifically, the allocation unit 16 allocates reservations so that the combination of reservation slots of the parent with parent ID 3 and the parent with parent ID 4 is one of reservation slots II and IV, reservation slots II and V, reservation slots II and VII, reservation slots IV and VII, and reservation slots V and VII. Note that Fig. 7 shows a schedule in which the desired reservation slot of the parent with parent ID 3 is reservation slot II, and the desired reservation slot of the parent with parent ID 4 is reservation slot IV.

[0059] Finally, the allocation unit 16 allocates one of reservation slots V, VI, or VII to the parent with parent ID 1. Fig. 7 shows a schedule when the parent with parent ID 1's desired reservation slot is reservation slot V.

[0060] After allocating reservation slots to all parents has been completed, the allocation unit 16 outputs the finally determined reservation slots for each parent to each parent's terminal device 20. Note that if the student has siblings in the same school as the student's evaluation information, the allocation unit 16 allocates reservation slots for the same day of the week to the siblings or allocates adjacent reservation slots to the siblings, just as in the case where reservation slot candidates are identified.

[0061] Here, if the allocation unit 16 performs allocation based on the guardian's characteristic information and the guardian's desired reservation slot as described above and finds that a guardian cannot be allocated to the guardian's desired reservation slot, the allocation unit 16 notifies the guardian's terminal device 20 of a request to change the desired reservation slot. When notifying the guardian's terminal device 20 of the change request, the allocation unit 16 also outputs information on available reservation slots.

[0062] Then, the guardian again selects a desired reservation slot from among the available reservation slots and outputs the desired reservation slot to the reservation management device 10.

[0063] The allocation unit 16 reallocates the reservation slots to available slots based on the changed desired reservation slots. The allocation unit 16 repeats the notification of the change request and reallocation until allocating reservation slots to all parents is completed.

[0064] The allocation unit 16 may also set priority reservation information for the parent ID of a parent who has changed the desired reservation slot as described above, so that the priority reservation information is used for allocation to the next and subsequent reservation slots.The allocation unit 16 may then assign the desired reservation slot to the parent of the parent ID for which the priority reservation information is set, with the highest priority, when the next and subsequent reservation slots are allocated to the parent.

[0065] The reservation management device 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), semiconductor memories such as ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory), storage such as a hard disk, and a communication I / F (Interface).

[0066] A reservation management program, which is a web application, is installed in the storage of the reservation management device 10. When this reservation management program is started by the CPU, the functions of each unit of the reservation management device 10 are executed.

[0067] Some or all of the functions executed by the reservation management program may be configured using hardware such as an ASCI (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or other electrical circuits.

[0068] The parent's terminal device 20 includes a control unit 21. The control unit 21 controls the entire terminal device 20. In particular, the control unit 21 displays the reservation candidate slots output from the reservation management device 10 on the display unit 22, and outputs the desired reservation slots set and input at the input unit 23 to the reservation management device 10.

[0069] The display unit 22 is composed of a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and the input unit 23 is composed of input devices such as a mouse and a keyboard.

[0070] When a tablet terminal or a smartphone is used as the terminal device 20, a touch panel of the tablet terminal or smartphone functions as both the display unit 22 and the input unit .

[0071] The terminal device 20 includes a CPU, semiconductor memories such as ROM and RAM, storage such as a hard disk, and a communication I / F.

[0072] A parental application is installed in the storage of the terminal device 20. When this parental application is started by the CPU, potential reservation slots are displayed on the terminal device 20, and the desired reservation slot can be set and input. Note that instead of using a parental application installed in the storage as in this embodiment, a parental application provided via a web browser may be used.

[0073] In addition, some or all of the functions executed by the parental application may be configured using hardware such as ASCI, FPGA, or other electrical circuits.

[0074] Next, the processing flow of the reservation management system 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagrams shown in FIGS.

[0075] First, the reservation management device 10 outputs the above-mentioned questionnaire to each parent's terminal device 20 (S10). Then, the parent's terminal device 20 outputs the questionnaire results (answer information) to the reservation management device 10 (S12).

[0076] Next, the reservation management device 10 refers to the characteristic information estimation table shown in Fig. 3 based on the questionnaire results (occupation) of each guardian, and estimates the days of the week and time periods available for consultation among the characteristic information of each guardian (S14). Then, characteristic information other than the days of the week and time periods available for consultation is also set, and the characteristic information for each guardian as shown in Fig. 4 is stored (S16).

[0077] Next, based on the characteristic information for each guardian, reservation slot candidates for each guardian are identified as shown in FIG. 5 (S18), and the reservation slot candidates are output to the terminal device 20 of each guardian (S20).

[0078] Next, each parent checks the reservation slot candidates output from the reservation management device 10 on the terminal device 20, selects a desired reservation slot from the reservation slot candidates (S22), and outputs the selected desired reservation slot to the reservation management device 10 (S24).

[0079] The reservation management device 10 accepts the desired reservation slots output from the terminal device 20 of each guardian (S26), and allocates reservations of each guardian to the reservation slots based on the desired reservation slots output from the terminal device 20 of each guardian and the characteristic information of each guardian (S28).

[0080] Then, the reservation management device 10 outputs the reservation slots allocated to each guardian to the terminal device 20 of each guardian (S30).

[0081] In addition, if a parent is unable to be allocated to the desired reservation slot as a result of allocation based on the parent's characteristic information and the parent's desired reservation slot as described above, the reservation management device 10 notifies the parent's terminal device 20 of a request to change the desired reservation slot (S32).

[0082] Then, the parent again selects a desired reservation slot from among the available reservation slots (S34), and outputs the desired reservation slot to the reservation management device 10 (S36).

[0083] The reservation management device 10 then repeats the notification of the change request and the reassignment until reservation slots have been assigned to all parents (S38).

[0084] When the reservation management device 10 has completed allocating reservation slots to all guardians, it outputs the reservation slots of each guardian to the terminal device 20 of each guardian (S40).

[0085] According to the reservation management system 1 of the above embodiment, characteristic information of each parent is estimated based on the answers to a questionnaire from the parents, and reservation slot candidates for each parent are identified based on the estimated characteristic information of each parent. Then, reservations for each guest are assigned to multiple reservation slots based on the desired reservation slot selected by each parent from the reservation slot candidates, which reduces the number of reschedulings and enables efficient schedule adjustments without requiring much effort.

[0086] Furthermore, in the reservation management system 1 of the above embodiment, the parent's characteristic information is estimated based on the parent's occupation information, so that scheduling can be performed taking into account circumstances specific to the parent's occupation, thereby enabling more appropriate scheduling.

[0087] Furthermore, in the reservation management system 1 of the above embodiment, the guardian's characteristic information is estimated based on information about the guardian's family structure, so that scheduling can be performed taking into account circumstances specific to the guardian's family structure, thereby enabling more appropriate scheduling.

[0088] Furthermore, in the reservation management system 1 of the above embodiment, a request to change the desired reservation slot is notified to the terminal device 20 of a parent who is unable to be assigned to a desired reservation slot, and the reservation slot is reassigned based on the desired reservation slot changed in accordance with the change request. The notification of the change request and reassignment are repeated until reservation slots have been assigned to all guests, so that reservation slots can be reliably assigned to each parent and the reservation slots desired by each parent can be efficiently assigned.

[0089] Furthermore, in the reservation management system 1 of the above embodiment, if priority reservation information is added to a guest who has changed their desired reservation slot, which will give them priority when allocating reservation slots from the next time onwards, an advantage can be given to the parent who has changed their desired reservation slot, making it possible for the parent to change their desired reservation slot more smoothly.

[0090] Furthermore, in the reservation management system 1 of the above embodiment, parent characteristic information is set based on the evaluation of the parent or student, so that the school's evaluation of the parent can be reflected in the allocation of reservation slots, allowing for more appropriate scheduling.

[0091] The reservation management system 1 of the above embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to making reservations for teacher-parent meetings, but the present invention is not limited to this and may be applied to making other reservations, such as reservations for hospitals, restaurants, tickets, etc.

[0092] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the components can be modified and embodied in practice without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining multiple components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, all of the components shown in the embodiments can be appropriately combined. Naturally, various modifications and applications are possible within the scope of the invention.

[0093] The present invention further discloses the following supplementary notes.

[0094] (Appendix 1) The reservation management device of the present invention includes a reservation slot setting unit in which multiple reservation slots prepared by the host are preset, a guest characteristic information estimation unit that estimates characteristic information of each guest based on response information from multiple guests who make reservations for the multiple reservation slots, a guest characteristic information storage unit that stores the characteristic information of each guest estimated by the guest characteristic information estimation unit, a reservation slot candidate identification unit that identifies reservation slot candidates for each guest based on each guest's characteristic information and outputs the identified reservation slots to each guest's terminal device, a desired reservation slot acceptance unit that accepts a desired reservation slot selected by each guest from the reservation slot candidates, and an allocation unit that allocates reservations for each guest to multiple reservation slots based on each guest's desired reservation slot.

[0095] (Appendix 2) In the reservation management device described in Supplementary Note 1, the answer information from the guest may be information about the guest's occupation.

[0096] (Appendix 3) In the reservation management device according to Supplementary Note 1 or 2, the response information from the guest may be information about the family structure of the guest.

[0097] (Appendix 4) In the reservation management device described in any of Appendices 1 to 3, the host can be a school, the guest can be a parent of a student attending the school, and the reservation slot can be a reservation slot for a meeting between a school teacher and a parent.

[0098] (Appendix 5) The reservation management system of the present invention includes the reservation management device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 4 and a guest terminal device.

[0099] (Appendix 6) The reservation management method of the present invention sets in advance a plurality of reservation slots prepared by a host, estimates characteristic information of each guest based on response information from a plurality of guests who make reservations for the plurality of reservation slots, stores the estimated characteristic information of each guest in advance, identifies reservation slot candidates for each guest based on the characteristic information of each guest and outputs them to each guest's terminal device, accepts the desired reservation slot selected by each guest from the reservation slot candidates, and allocates reservations for each guest to a plurality of reservation slots based on the desired reservation slot of each guest.

[0100] (Appendix 7) The reservation management program of the present invention causes a computer to execute the following steps: a step of presetting multiple reservation slots prepared by a host; a step of estimating characteristic information for each guest based on response information from multiple guests who make reservations for the multiple reservation slots; a step of pre-storing the estimated characteristic information for each guest; a step of identifying reservation slot candidates for each guest based on each guest's characteristic information and outputting them to each guest's terminal device; a step of accepting a desired reservation slot selected by each guest from the reservation slot candidates; and a step of allocating reservations for each guest to multiple reservation slots based on each guest's desired reservation slot. [Explanation of symbols]

[0101] 1. Reservation Management System 10 Reservation management device 11 Reservation Slot Setting Department 12 Guest characteristic information estimation unit 13 Guest characteristic information storage unit 14. Reservation slot candidate identification section 15. Reservation Reception 16 Allocation Section 20 Terminal equipment 21 Control section 22 Display section 23 Input section

Claims

1. a reservation slot setting unit in which a plurality of reservation slots prepared by a host are preset; a guest characteristic information estimation unit that estimates characteristic information of each of the guests based on response information from the guests who make reservations for the plurality of reservation slots; a guest characteristic information storage unit in which the characteristic information of each guest estimated by the guest characteristic information estimation unit is stored; a reservation slot candidate specifying unit that specifies a reservation slot candidate for each of the guests based on the characteristic information of each of the guests and outputs the specified reservation slot candidate to a terminal device of each of the guests; a desired reservation slot receiving unit that receives a desired reservation slot selected by each guest from the reservation slot candidates for each guest; and an allocation unit that allocates reservations for each guest to the plurality of reservation slots based on the reservation slots desired by each guest.

2. 2. The reservation management device according to claim 1, wherein the answer information from the guest is information about the guest's occupation.

3. 2. The reservation management device according to claim 1, wherein the response information from the guest is information about the family structure of the guest.

4. the host is a school; The guest is a parent or guardian of a student attending the school, 2. The reservation management device according to claim 1, wherein the reservation slot is a reservation slot for a meeting between the teacher of the school and the parent / guardian.

5. 2. A reservation management system comprising the reservation management device according to claim 1 and a terminal device of the guest.

6. Hosts can set up multiple reservation slots in advance, Estimating characteristic information of each of the guests based on response information from the guests who make reservations for the plurality of reservation slots; The estimated characteristic information of each guest is stored in advance; Identifying reservation slot candidates for each of the guests based on the characteristic information of each of the guests and outputting the candidates to the terminal device of each of the guests; Accept the desired reservation slot selected by each guest from the reservation slot candidates for each guest, A reservation management method for allocating reservations for each guest to one of the plurality of reservation slots based on the desired reservation slot of each guest.

7. A step of setting up a plurality of reservation slots prepared by a host in advance; a step of estimating characteristic information of each of the guests based on response information from the guests who make reservations for the plurality of reservation slots; a step of storing the estimated characteristic information of each guest in advance; identifying reservation slot candidates for each of the guests based on the characteristic information of each of the guests and outputting the candidates to a terminal device of each of the guests; A step of accepting a desired reservation slot selected by each guest from the reservation slot candidates of each guest; and allocating reservations for each guest to the plurality of reservation slots based on the reservation slots desired by each guest.

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