Reservation management device, method, program, and system

Abstract

To provide a reservation management device, a method, a program, and a system capable of reducing the number of reschedules and efficiently adjusting schedules without requiring much effort.SOLUTION: The reservation management device includes: a reservation slot setting unit 11 in which a plurality of reservation slots prepared by a host are preset; a guest characteristic information storage unit 12 in which characteristic information of a plurality of guests who make reservations for the plurality of reservation slots is stored; a desired reservation slot reception unit 13 for receiving desired reservation slots from the plurality of guests; and an assignment unit 14 for assigning reservations of the respective guests to the plurality of reservation slots on the basis of the desired reservation slots and the characteristic information 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 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] 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]

[0008] The reservation management device of the present invention includes a reservation slot setting unit in which multiple reservation slots prepared by a host are preset, a guest characteristic information storage unit in which characteristic information of multiple guests who make reservations for the multiple reservation slots is stored, a desired reservation slot receiving unit that receives the desired reservation slots of the multiple guests, and an allocation unit that allocates reservations for each guest to the multiple reservation slots based on the desired reservation slot of each guest and the characteristic information of each guest. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the reservation management device of the present invention, reservations for each guest are allocated to a plurality of reservation slots based on the desired reservation slots of each guest and the characteristic information of each guest, so that the number of rescheduling times can be reduced and schedules can be adjusted efficiently without much effort. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [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 table showing characteristic information of each guardian; [Figure 4] A diagram showing an example of the reservation slots desired by each parent [Figure 5]A diagram showing an example of a schedule in which each parent's reservation is assigned to multiple reservation slots. [Figure 6] A sequence diagram illustrating the processing flow of the reservation management system shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 7] A flowchart to explain how reservations are assigned based on priority over parental preference slots. [Figure 8] A flowchart to explain how to evenly allocate reservations for parents with specified dates and times across all reservation slots. [Figure 9] A diagram showing an example of an interview arrangement screen [Figure 10] A flowchart for explaining subroutine A of the flowchart shown in FIG. 8. [Figure 11] An example of reservation slots and parents' second choice [Figure 12] A diagram showing the provisional allocation of reservation slots desired by parents of attendance numbers 22 to 25 [Figure 13] A diagram showing the state in which a reservation has been assigned to the parent of attendance number 21 [Figure 14] A diagram showing the provisional allocation of reservation slots desired by parents of attendance numbers 23 to 25 [Figure 15] A diagram showing the state in which a reservation has been assigned to the parent of attendance number 22 [Figure 16] A diagram showing the provisional allocation of reservation slots desired by parents of attendance numbers 24 and 25 [Figure 17] A diagram showing the state in which a reservation has been assigned to the parent of attendance number 23 [Figure 18] A diagram showing the provisional allocation of the desired reservation slot for the parent of attendance number 25 [Figure 19] A diagram showing the state in which a reservation has been assigned to the parent of attendance number 24 [Figure 20] A diagram showing the reservation slots desired by the parent of attendance number 25 [Figure 21] A diagram showing the state in which a reservation has been assigned to the parent of attendance number 25 [Figure 22] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a modification of the subroutine A shown in FIG. 10. [Figure 23]A flowchart to explain how reservations are assigned based on desired slots rather than parent preference. [Figure 24] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the execution of subroutine A in a method of allocating reservations by prioritizing desired reservation slots over parental priority. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] 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.

[0012] 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, a plurality of parent terminal devices 20 are connected to one reservation management device 10.

[0013] 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.

[0014] The reservation management system 1 of this embodiment is a system that stores parental characteristics information known by the school in advance, and allocates reservations to each parent to multiple preset reservation slots based on the parental characteristics information and the parent's desired reservation slot. In this embodiment, the school (teacher) corresponds to the host of the present invention, and the parent corresponds to the guest of the present invention.

[0015] Hereinafter, each device constituting the reservation management system 1 of this embodiment will be described in detail.

[0016] The reservation management device 10 includes a reservation slot setting unit 11, a guest characteristic information storage unit 12, a desired reservation slot receiving unit 13, and an allocation unit 14.

[0017] 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.

[0018] The guest characteristic information storage unit 12 stores the characteristic information of multiple guardians who make reservations for multiple reservation slots. Fig. 3 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.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, evaluation information of the parents and students and reservation slot setting conditions set based on the evaluation information are stored as the parent characteristic information.

[0020] The parent evaluation information includes, for example, information on the parent's evaluation from the school (teacher's) perspective, information on the parent's personal relationships, and information on the parent's employment status.

[0021] The school (teacher)'s evaluation of parents includes, for example, "interviews take a long time" or "not punctual (high possibility of being late for interviews)." Information on parent relationships includes, for example, information on parents who should not have adjacent appointment slots.

[0022] 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.

[0023] The employment information of parents includes information on the type of occupation of parents and information on whether both parents are working.

[0024] In Figure 3, among the evaluation information of the parents and students mentioned above, the evaluation information of the parents or students is set to "interviews take a long time" and information about parents that should not be placed next to each other, but other evaluation information may also be included.

[0025] The reservation slot setting conditions are set based on the evaluation information of the parents or students as described above. In this embodiment, the reservation slot setting conditions include the number of required slots and the parent IDs of the parents who are not allowed to be adjacent to each other.

[0026] 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.

[0027] 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.

[0028] The desired reservation slot receiving unit 13 receives the desired reservation slot of each guardian output from each guardian's terminal device 20. On the terminal device 20, the guardian checks the reservation slots set in the reservation slot setting unit 11, selects a desired reservation slot from the reservation slots, and outputs the selected reservation slot to the reservation management device 10.

[0029] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of reservation slots desired by guardians with guardian IDs 1 to 5. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the guardian with guardian ID 1 has selected "ALL," meaning that any date and time of the reservation slot is acceptable. The guardian with guardian ID 2 desires reservation slots I, IV, and VII, meaning that he desires the first reservation slot of each date. The guardian with guardian ID 3 desires reservation slots III and VI, meaning that he desires the last reservation slot of each date. The guardian with guardian ID 4 desires reservation slots IV, V, and VI, meaning that he desires a reservation slot on Wednesday. The guardian with guardian ID 5 desires a reservation slot other than reservation slot VII, meaning that he desires a day of the week other than Thursday.

[0030] The allocation unit 14 allocates reservations for each guardian to a plurality of reservation slots based on the characteristic information of each guardian and the reservation slot desired by each guardian, and completes a final reservation schedule.

[0031] Here, we will explain how to determine the reservation slots for each guardian by referring to the characteristic information table shown in Fig. 3 and the guardian's desired reservation slots shown in Fig. 4 for the reservation slots shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a completed reservation schedule.

[0032] The allocation unit 14 first determines a reservation slot for a parent who "takes a long time for an interview." In the example of the characteristic information table shown in FIG. 3, the characteristic information of the parent with parent ID 5 is "takes a long time for an interview," and the number of required slots is "2." Furthermore, the desired reservation slot for the parent with parent ID 5 shown in FIG. 4 is any slot other than reservation slot VII. Therefore, based on the characteristic information of the parent with parent ID 5 described above, the allocation unit 14 identifies the "last" reservation slot with no constraints on the interview time, and further identifies the last reservation slots III and VI for Monday and Wednesday based on the desired reservation slot. The allocation unit 14 then determines reservation slot III or reservation slot VI as the reservation slot for the parent with parent ID 5, and in the example shown in FIG. 5, reservation slot VI is determined.

[0033] Next, the allocation unit 14 determines a reservation slot for the parent who desires the first reservation slot. In the desired reservation slots shown in Fig. 4, the parent with parent ID 2 desires the first, so the allocation unit 14 identifies reservation slots I, IV, and VII as the reservation slots for the parent with parent ID 2. The allocation unit 14 then determines one of reservation slots I, IV, and VII as the reservation slot for the parent with parent ID 2, and in the example shown in Fig. 5, reservation slot I is determined.

[0034] Next, the allocation unit 14 determines reservation slots for guardians that will not be adjacent to each other. In the example of the characteristic information table shown in Fig. 3, "guardians that will not be adjacent to each other" is set for the guardians with guardian ID 3 and guardian ID 4. Also, the desired reservation slots for the guardian with guardian ID 3 shown in Fig. 4 are the final reservation slots III and VI, but reservation slot VI has already been determined as the reservation slot for guardian ID 5.

[0035] Therefore, the allocation unit 14 first determines reservation slot III as the reservation slot for parent ID 3. Next, the allocation unit 14 determines a reservation slot that is not adjacent to reservation slot III as the reservation slot for parent ID 4. Parent ID 4's desired reservation slots are reservation slots IV, V, and VI for Wednesday, and reservation slot VI has already been determined as the reservation slot for parent ID 5. Therefore, the allocation unit 14 determines reservation slot IV or reservation slot V as the reservation slot for parent ID 4, but in the example shown in FIG. 5, reservation slot V is determined.

[0036] Finally, the allocation unit 14 determines a reservation slot for the guardian, which may be any date. Since any date is acceptable for the guardian with guardian ID 1 based on the guardian's characteristic information and desired reservation slot, the allocation unit 14 determines reservation slot II, reservation slot IV, or reservation slot VII as the reservation slot for the guardian with guardian ID 1, but in the example shown in FIG. 5, reservation slot II is determined.

[0037] After allocating reservation slots to all guardians has been completed, the allocation unit 14 transmits the finally determined reservation slots for each guardian to each guardian's terminal device 20. Note that, when there are siblings in the same school, the allocation unit 14 allocates reservation slots for the same day of the week to the siblings as evaluation information of the student, or allocates adjacent reservation slots to the siblings.

[0038] Here, if the allocation unit 14 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 14 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 14 also transmits information about available reservation slots.

[0039] Then, the guardian again selects a desired reservation slot from among the available reservation slots and transmits the desired reservation slot to the reservation management device 10.

[0040] The allocation unit 14 reallocates the reservation slots to available slots based on the changed desired reservation slots. The allocation unit 14 repeats the notification of the change request and reallocation until allocating reservation slots to all parents is completed.

[0041] The allocation unit 14 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 to be used for preferential allocation when allocating reservation slots from the next time onwards.The allocation unit 14 may then assign the desired reservation slot to the parent with the parent ID for which priority reservation information is set with the highest priority when allocating reservation slots from the next time onwards.

[0042] 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).

[0043] 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.

[0044] 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.

[0045] 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 slots transmitted from the reservation management device 10 on the display unit 22, and transmits the desired reservation slots set and input at the input unit 23 to the reservation management device 10.

[0046] 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.

[0047] 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 .

[0048] 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.

[0049] A parental application is installed in the storage of the terminal device 20. When this parental application is started by the CPU, 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 also be used.

[0050] 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.

[0051] Next, the processing flow of the reservation management system 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG.

[0052] First, the reservation management device 10 stores the characteristic information for each guardian as shown in FIG. 3 (S10).

[0053] Next, each parent checks the reservation slots output from the reservation management device 10 on the terminal device 20, selects a desired reservation slot from the reservation slots (S12), and outputs the selected desired reservation slot to the reservation management device 10 (S14).

[0054] The reservation management device 10 accepts the desired reservation slots output from the terminal device 20 of each guardian (S16), 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 (S18).

[0055] Then, the reservation management device 10 outputs the reservation slots allocated to each guardian to the terminal device 20 of each guardian (S20).

[0056] In addition, if, as a result of making allocations based on the parent's characteristic information and the parent's desired reservation slot as described above, a parent is found to be unable to be allocated to the parent's desired reservation slot, the reservation management device 10 notifies the parent's terminal device 20 of a request to change the desired reservation slot (S22).

[0057] Then, the parent again selects a desired reservation slot from among the available reservation slots (S24), and transmits the desired reservation slot to the reservation management device 10 (S26).

[0058] 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 (S28).

[0059] 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 (S30).

[0060] According to the reservation management system 1 of the above embodiment, each guest's reservation is assigned to a plurality of reservation slots based on each parent's desired reservation slot and their characteristic information, thereby reducing the number of reschedulings and enabling efficient schedule adjustments without hassle.

[0061] 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.

[0062] 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.

[0063] 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.

[0064] Furthermore, in the reservation management system 1 of the above embodiment, as described above, the number of slots required and parent IDs that should not be adjacent are set as parent characteristic information, but this is not limited to this. However, parent priority may also be set as parent characteristic information, and reservations may be allocated using that priority.

[0065] The priority is set and input by the teacher who conducts the interview using a terminal device (not shown), for example, and is stored in the guest characteristic information storage unit 12 in advance.

[0066] Priorities are set based on, for example, information about the school's (teachers') evaluation of the parents, information about the parents' relationships with others, information about the parents' employment status, and information about whether the child has any siblings. Priorities are set, for example, as numbers 1, 2, or 3 or letters A, B, or C depending on the level of priority (high, medium, low, etc.).

[0067] The reservation allocation method using priority includes a method of allocating reservations by prioritizing priority over the reservation slots desired by the guardians, and a method of allocating reservations by prioritizing the reservation slots desired by the guardians over priority.

[0068] First, a method for allocating reservations while prioritizing the priority set for each parent will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0069] First, a reservation slot is set by the school (teacher) (S40), and a questionnaire is conducted for parents, whereby the parents select their desired reservation slots for the reservation slots (S42). The questionnaire is conducted, for example, by sending the questionnaire to the parent's terminal device 10, and a first preferred date and time and a second preferred date and time are selected as the desired reservation slots. In addition to selecting the desired reservation slot (desired date and time), the questionnaire also displays, for example, a remarks column, in which the parent can enter any information to be communicated to the teacher.

[0070] The information to be communicated includes the parents' preferences, such as "I would like to reserve after 3:00 p.m. on XX day of XX month," "The desired date and time is the only available reservation," "I would like to reserve the same date for siblings," "I would like the earliest possible time," and "I would like the latest possible time."

[0071] The teacher then uses a terminal device (not shown) to display the survey results for each parent and set a priority for each parent based on the desired reservation slots and the contents of the remarks column (S44). The priorities set by the teacher are stored in advance in the guest characteristic information storage unit 12. They are also received and stored by the desired reservation slot receiving unit 13 for each parent.

[0072] Next, the allocation unit 14 allocates reservations to reservation slots for each guardian based on the priority of each guardian stored in the guest characteristic information storage unit 12. Specifically, the allocation unit 14 first extracts the guardian with the highest priority (S46). Then, the allocation unit 14 identifies the first preferred date and time of the extracted guardian with the highest priority, and allocates a reservation to that first preferred date and time (S48).

[0073] The allocation unit 14 then determines whether the first-choice dates and times of the highest-priority guardians overlap (S50). If there is an overlap between multiple guardians (S50, YES), the allocation unit 14 identifies the second-choice dates and times of the overlapping guardians and adjusts the reservation to the second-choice dates and times (S52). Specifically, if the second-choice dates and times of the overlapping guardians are available, the allocation unit 14 allocates a reservation to the second-choice dates and times of the overlapping guardians. In this case, if the second-choice dates and times of all the overlapping guardians are available, the allocation unit 14 allocates one of the guardians to the first-choice dates and times, and the other guardians to the second-choice dates and times. A method for determining the guardian to be allocated the first-choice dates and times may be, for example, to the guardian with the student's highest attendance number to the first-choice dates and times. If there is no overlap between multiple guardians in S50 (S50, NO), the process proceeds to S58, which will be described later.

[0074] Then, when the allocation unit 14 allocates reservations for the second preferred date and time in S52, it determines whether there is an overlap between the parents (S54). If there is an overlap between multiple parents (YES in S54), it re-allocates reservations for the first preferred date and time to the overlapping parents as temporary reservations (S56). That is, at this point, multiple parents overlap for the first preferred date and time. Note that when multiple parents overlap in S54, this may mean that a reservation for the first preferred date and time has already been allocated to the second preferred date and time of a parent, or that the second preferred date and time overlaps between two parents. If there is an overlap between the second preferred dates and times of two parents, one of the parents' reservations is allocated for the second preferred date and time, and the other parents are re-allocated for the first preferred date and time. If there is no overlap between multiple parents in S54 (NO in S54), the process proceeds directly to S58.

[0075] The allocation unit 14 then determines whether allocation of reservations to all parents has been completed (S58), and if not (NO in S58), extracts the parent with the next highest priority (S60). Next, the allocation unit 14 replaces the parent with the highest priority with the parent with the next highest priority, and repeats the processes from S48 to S56.

[0076] The allocation unit 14 then determines whether allocation of reservations to all parents has been completed (S58), and if not (NO in S58), extracts the parent with the third highest priority (S60). Next, the allocation unit 14 replaces the parent with the highest priority with the parent with the third highest priority, and repeats the processes from S48 to S56.

[0077] The allocation unit 14 repeats the processes from S48 to S58 until it is determined in S58 that the allocation of reservations for all guardians has been completed.

[0078] In S58, when the allocation of reservations to all parents has been completed (including the allocation of the provisional reservations described above) (S58, YES), the allocation unit 14 identifies reservation slots where multiple parents overlap, displays the reservation slots on the teacher's terminal device, and prompts the teacher to manually adjust them.The teacher then manually adjusts the reservation slots using the terminal device so that there are no overlapping reservation slots (S62).

[0079] Then, the allocation unit 14 transmits the reservation slots to which the reservations have been allocated to the terminal devices 20 of the parents (S64).

[0080] By allocating reservations with priority given to parents as described above, reservations can be scheduled with priority given to the wishes of the school (teacher).

[0081] In addition, if a parent is not assigned to a designated reservation slot in the scheduling according to the flowchart shown in Figure 7, the teacher will manually adjust the slot using the terminal device.

[0082] Next, in the above explanation, we have described scheduling when a parent or guardian specifies a first and second preferred date and time as their desired reservation slots. However, some parents may specify that any date and time within the reservation slots is acceptable, as in the above-mentioned "ALL" option, rather than specifying a specific date and time. As such, one method of allocating reservations for parents who have not specified a specific date or time is to allocate reservations starting from the earliest date and time slots. However, with this method, reservation slots near the beginning of the schedule tend to be filled up relatively frequently, resulting in uneven allocation of reservations, which can prevent reservations from being allocated evenly across the entire schedule. Furthermore, if uneven allocation occurs, there is a problem in that the wishes of parents who wish to use dates and times that are biased will not be met.

[0083] Therefore, a method for allocating reservations by guardians who have not specified a specific date or time as evenly as possible to the entire reservation slots will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0084] First, the process from setting a reservation slot to allocating a reservation to the first preferred date and time of the guardian with the highest priority (S90 to S98) is the same as S40 to S48 in the flowchart shown in Figure 7. However, when conducting the questionnaire in S92, the guardian must specify a specific date and time for their first preference, but can select "no date specified" or "no time specified" for their second preference. Figure 9 is a diagram showing an example of an interview arrangement screen displayed on the guardian's terminal device 20, where "no date specified" or "no time specified" can be selected.

[0085] On the interview arrangement screen shown in Figure 9, for the first preference, a specific date and time are displayed so that they can be accepted. The dates and times of the reservation slots are set in advance as a pull-down menu, and the parent or guardian can select one of the dates and times. For the second preference, the date and time of the reservation slot can be selected in the same way as for the first preference, and the above-mentioned "no date specified" or "no time specified" can also be selected. If the parent or guardian prefers any date, they can select "no date specified," and if the parent or guardian prefers any time, they can select "no time specified." Furthermore, the parent or guardian can select "no date specified" only for the date, and "no time specified" only for the time.

[0086] Then, in S96, the allocation unit 14 extracts the guardian with the highest priority, and then identifies the first-choice date and time of the guardian with the highest priority and allocates a reservation to that first-choice date and time (S98).The allocation unit 14 then determines whether or not there is an overlap between the guardians when allocating reservations to the first-choice date and time of the guardian with the highest priority (S100).Here, overlap between the guardians means, when one guardian is allocated to one reservation slot, that there are two or more applicants for one reservation slot, or, when four guardians are allocated to one slot, that there are more than four applicants for one reservation slot.

[0087] Then, when allocating reservations for the first preferred date and time, if there is no overlap between the parents (S100, NO), the allocation unit 14 allocates the reservation for the first preferred date and time to the parent with the highest priority, and then proceeds to S114 described below.

[0088] On the other hand, when allocating reservations for the first preferred date and time, if there is an overlap between parents (S100, YES), the allocation unit 14 checks the second preferred date and time of the overlapping parents, calculates the number of remaining reservation slots (number of people) for the second preferred date and time specified by each parent, identifies the parent with the smallest total remaining number of slots (number of people), and allocates a reservation for the first preferred date and time to that identified parent. Note that when calculating the number of remaining reservation slots for the second preferred date and time, if "no date specified" or "no time specified" is selected as the second preferred date or time, all of the corresponding reservation slots will be added to the remaining number of slots (number of people).

[0089] The allocation unit 14 then extracts guardians who were not assigned a reservation for their first preferred date and time in the processes of S98 to S100, but who have specified both a specific date and time as their second preferred date and time (S102).The allocation unit 14 then adjusts the second preferred date and time of the extracted guardians (S104).

[0090] Specifically, the allocation unit 14 determines whether or not there is an overlap between the guardians when the reservations are allocated to the second preferred dates and times of the guardians extracted in S102 (S106).

[0091] Then, when allocating the reservation for the second preferred date and time, if there is no overlap between the parents (S106, NO), the allocation unit 14 allocates the reservation for the second preferred date and time to the parent extracted in S102, and then proceeds to S110, which will be described later.

[0092] On the other hand, when allocating a reservation for the second preferred date and time, if there is a conflict with the parents extracted in S102 (S106, YES), the allocation unit 14 re-allocates a reservation for the first preferred date and time to the overlapping parents as a temporary reservation (S108). That is, at this point, there is an overlap between multiple parents for the first preferred date and time. Note that cases where there is an overlap between multiple parents in S106 include cases where a reservation for the first preferred date and time has already been allocated to the second preferred date and time of a parent, or where the second preferred date and time of two parents overlap. If there is an overlap between the second preferred dates and times of two parents, one of the parents' reservations is allocated to the second preferred date and time, and the other parents are re-allocated to the first preferred date and time.

[0093] That is, when processing has been completed up to S108, the allocation unit 14 allocates a reservation for the first or second preferred date and time for a parent who has specified a specific date and time up to their second preferred date and time (including a tentative reservation for the first date and time).

[0094] Next, based on the results of the parent / guardian questionnaire, the allocation unit 14 extracts parents who have not been assigned a first-choice date and time and who have not specified a specific date or time as their second choice (S110). That is, the allocation unit 14 extracts parents who selected "no date specified" or "no time specified" as their second choice on the interview arrangement screen. In this case, parents who selected both "no date specified" and "no time specified" are not extracted. Parents who selected both "no date specified" and "no time specified" are given a lower reservation priority, and reservations are allocated after the reservations of parents who selected "no date specified" or "no time specified" have been confirmed.

[0095] Then, the allocation unit 14 executes subroutine A to allocate reservations to the guardians who selected "no date specified" or "no time specified" extracted in S110 (S112).

[0096] The processing of subroutine A will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in Fig. 10. Here, as shown in Fig. 11A, three days, 4 / 22, 4 / 23, and 4 / 24, are set as the reservation slot dates, and 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, and 16:00 are set as the reservation slot times, and reservations for four parents can be assigned to one reservation slot. Reservations are assigned to parents with attendance numbers 1 to 25, and Fig. 11A shows the state after the processing of S108 described above has been completed. The numbers in the table in Fig. 11A are the attendance numbers of the parents (students).

[0097] In addition, it is assumed here that the parents of attendance numbers 1 to 20 have specified a specific date and time as their second preference, and the parents of attendance numbers 21 to 25 have selected "no date specified" or "no time specified" as their second preference. FIG. 11B is a diagram showing an example of the second preferences of the parents of attendance numbers 21 to 25. In subroutine A, reservations are assigned to the parents of attendance numbers 21 to 25.

[0098] First, the allocation unit 14 selects predetermined guardians in order from the guardians extracted in S110 (S200). Note that here, it is assumed that guardians are selected in the order of attendance numbers. The allocation unit 14 first selects the guardian with attendance number 21.

[0099] Next, the allocation unit 14 acquires the desired dates and times of all parents other than the selected parent who have unconfirmed reservations (S202). Unconfirmed parents include not only the parent with the highest priority, but also parents of all priorities who have not yet been assigned a reservation. In this embodiment, the allocation unit 14 acquires the second desired dates and times of the parents with attendance numbers 22 to 25 other than the parent with attendance number 21.

[0100] Then, the allocation unit 14 provisionally allocates all of the undetermined desired dates and times of the guardian acquired in S202 to reservation slots (S204). At this time, if the second desired date is "no date specified," the allocation unit 14 provisionally allocates to reservation slots for all dates, and if the second desired time is "no time specified," the allocation unit 14 provisionally allocates to reservation slots for all times.

[0101] Specifically, for example, the second preferred date for attendance number 22 is 4 / 23 and the time is "no time specified," so reservations for the parent of attendance number 22 are provisionally assigned to all reservation slots for 4 / 23, as shown in Figure 12. Note that in Figure 12, attendance numbers for which reservations have already been confirmed are marked with (confirmed), and attendance numbers for which reservations have been provisionally assigned are marked with (provisional).

[0102] Similarly, the second preferred date for attendance number 23 is "no date specified" and the time is 3:00 PM, so reservations for the parent of attendance number 23 are provisionally assigned to the 3:00 PM reservation slots for all dates, as shown in Figure 12. Reservations are provisionally assigned in the same way for the second preferred dates for the remaining parents of attendance numbers 24 to 25. Figure 12 shows the state in which reservations for all second preferred dates and times for the parents of attendance numbers 22 to 25 have been provisionally assigned.

[0103] Next, the allocation unit 14 calculates the predicted number of parents to be allocated for each reservation slot by adding the number of parents whose reservations have been confirmed and the number of parents whose reservations have been provisionally allocated (S206).

[0104] Then, the allocation unit 14 identifies the reservation slot with the smallest predicted number of people to be allocated among the second preferred dates and times of the guardian selected in S200, and allocates the reservation of the selected guardian to that reservation slot (S208).

[0105] Specifically, the second preferred date and time for the parent of attendance number 21 is 4 / 24 for the date and "no time specified," so the predicted number of people to be assigned to reservation slots for all time slots on 4 / 24 shown in Figure 12 is checked, and the reservation for the parent of attendance number 21 is assigned to the 1:00 pm reservation slot, which has the fewest predicted number of people to be assigned. Figure 13 shows the state in which the reservation for the parent of attendance number 21 has been assigned to the table shown in Figure 11A.

[0106] If the allocation unit 14 is unable to confirm the reservation for the selected guardian in S210 (S210, NO), specifically, if reservations for four guardians have already been confirmed for the reservation slot with the smallest predicted number of people to be allocated, it checks whether reservations can be allocated for all desired reservation slots in order of the number of people to be allocated for the reservation with the smallest number of people to be allocated, and if reservations for four guardians have already been confirmed for all desired reservation slots, it tentatively allocates the reservation to the reservation slot for the selected guardian's first preferred date and time (S212).

[0107] On the other hand, if the allocation unit 14 is able to confirm the reservation for the selected guardian (S210, YES), that is, if the reservation can be confirmed in one of the reservation slots desired by the selected guardian, it checks whether there are any guardians extracted in S110 who have not been selected in S200 (S214), and if there are any unconfirmed guardians (S214, NO), it returns to S200 and selects the next guardian in the order. Specifically, it selects the guardian with attendance number 22.

[0108] Then, the allocation unit 14 repeats the processes from S202 to S212. Specifically, the allocation unit 14 acquires the second preferred date and time of all the parents of attendance numbers 23 to 25 other than the parent of the selected attendance number 22, and provisionally allocates reservations for the acquired date and time. Fig. 14 shows the state where the second preferred date and time of all the parents of attendance numbers 23 to 25 have been provisionally allocated.

[0109] The allocation unit 14 then identifies the reservation slot with the fewest predicted number of participants among the second-choice date and time of the parent of attendance number 22 selected in S200, and allocates the reservation of the parent of attendance number 22 to that reservation slot. Specifically, the second-choice date and time of the parent of attendance number 22 is 4 / 23 for the date and time "no time specified." Therefore, the allocation unit 14 checks the predicted number of participants for all time slots on 4 / 23 shown in FIG. 14, and allocates the reservation of the parent of attendance number 22 to the reservation slot at 1:00 PM, which has the fewest predicted number of participants. Note that among all time slots on 4 / 23, the two with the fewest predicted number of participants are 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM. If there are multiple reservation slots with the fewest predicted number of participants, an earlier reservation slot may be selected. FIG. 15 illustrates the state in which the reservation of the parent of attendance number 22 is allocated to the table shown in FIG. 13.

[0110] Next, the allocation unit 14 selects the parent of the next attendance number 23, obtains the second preferred date and time of all parents of attendance numbers 24 to 25 other than the parent of attendance number 23, and provisionally allocates reservations for the obtained date and time. Fig. 16 shows the state in which reservations for the second preferred date and time of all parents of attendance numbers 23 to 25 have been provisionally allocated. Then, the allocation unit 14 identifies the reservation slot with the fewest predicted allocated number of participants among the second preferred dates and times of the parent of attendance number 23 selected in S200, and allocates the reservation of the selected parent of attendance number 22 to that reservation slot.

[0111] Specifically, the second preferred date and time for the parent of attendance number 23 is "no date specified" and 3:00 p.m., so the predicted number of people to be allocated for the 3:00 p.m. reservation slots for all dates shown in Figure 16 is checked, and the reservation for the parent of attendance number 23 is allocated to the 3:00 p.m. reservation slot for 4 / 24, which has the fewest predicted number of people to be allocated. Figure 17 shows the state in which the reservation for the parent of attendance number 23 has been allocated based on the table shown in Figure 15.

[0112] Next, the allocation unit 14 selects the parent of the next attendance number 24, obtains the second preferred date and time of the parent of attendance number 25 other than the parent of attendance number 24, and provisionally allocates a reservation for the obtained date and time. Fig. 18 shows the state in which the reservation for the second preferred date and time of the parent of attendance number 25 has been provisionally allocated. Then, the allocation unit 14 identifies the reservation slot with the fewest predicted allocated number of participants among the second preferred dates and times of the parent of attendance number 24 selected in S200, and allocates the reservation of the selected parent of attendance number 24 to that reservation slot.

[0113] Specifically, the second preferred date and time for the parent of attendance number 24 is "no date specified" and 4:00 p.m., so the predicted number of people to be allocated for the 4:00 p.m. reservation slots for all dates shown in Figure 18 is checked, and the reservation for the parent of attendance number 24 is allocated to the 4:00 p.m. reservation slot for 4 / 24, which has the fewest predicted number of people to be allocated. Figure 19 shows the state in which the reservation for the parent of attendance number 24 has been allocated based on the table shown in Figure 17.

[0114] Next, the allocation unit 14 selects the parent with the last attendance number 25, and since there are no other parents other than the parent with attendance number 25, it does not perform the processes from S202 to S208, but instead identifies the reservation slot with the fewest number of parents who have confirmed reservations among the second preferred date and time of the parent with attendance number 25, and allocates the reservation of the parent with attendance number 25 to that reservation slot.

[0115] Specifically, the second preferred date and time for the parent of attendance number 25 is "No date specified" and 4:00 p.m., so the number of parents who have confirmed reservations for the 4:00 p.m. slots for all dates shown in Figure 20 is checked, and the reservation for parent of attendance number 25 is assigned to the 4:00 p.m. slot for 4 / 24, which has the fewest number of confirmed parents. In this case, if four parents have confirmed reservations for all of the reservation slots for the second preferred date and time of the parent of attendance number 25, the reservation is tentatively assigned to the first preferred date and time of the parent of attendance number 25. Figure 21 shows the state in which the reservation for the parent of attendance number 25 has been assigned to the table shown in Figure 19.

[0116] If the allocation unit 14 confirms in S214 that there are no undetermined guardians among those extracted in S110 who were not selected in S200 (YES in S214), it returns to the flowchart shown in Fig. 8 and checks whether the processes of S98 to S114 have been completed for all guardians of all priorities (S114). If they have not been completed (NO in S114), it extracts the guardian with the next highest priority (S116). Next, the allocation unit 14 replaces the guardian with the highest priority with the guardian with the next highest priority, and repeats the processes of S98 to S116.

[0117] Then, when the allocation unit 14 confirms in S114 that the processes of S98 to S114 have been completed for parents of all priorities, it extracts parents whose reservations have not been confirmed (S118). The parents extracted in S118 are parents who selected both "no date specified" and "no time specified." The allocation unit 14 then repeats the process of subroutine A again for parents who selected both "no date specified" and "no time specified" (S120).

[0118] Then, in S214 of subroutine A, when the allocation of reservations for all parents has been completed (including the tentative reservation for the first desired date) (S214, YES), the allocation unit 14 identifies reservation slots that exceed the capacity of four people and displays those reservation slots on the teacher's terminal device to prompt manual adjustment.The teacher then manually adjusts the reservation slots using the terminal device so that there are no more reservation slots that exceed the capacity of four people (S122).

[0119] Then, the allocation unit 14 transmits the reservation slots to which the reservations have been allocated to the terminal devices 20 of the respective guardians (S124).

[0120] As described above, by allocating reservations to guardians who specify any date and time, the entire reservation slots can be allocated evenly.

[0121] The above describes how reservations are assigned when a parent selects "no specified date" and / or "no specified time" as the desired reservation slot, but there may be times when a teacher would prefer to avoid certain time slots if no parents have a specific date and time preference. In such cases, scheduling that takes the teacher's wishes into consideration as described above will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in Figure 22. The flowchart shown in Figure 22 is a modified version of subroutine A shown in Figure 10, so the explanation will focus on the differences from the explanation of subroutine A above.

[0122] In a modification of subroutine A, after determining the predicted number of people to be allocated in S206, the allocation unit 14 excludes the date and time that the teacher wants to avoid from the second preferred date and time of the guardian selected in S200 (S207).

[0123] Next, the allocation unit 14 identifies the reservation slot with the fewest predicted number of people to be allocated among the dates and times excluding the dates and times that the teacher wants to avoid from the second preferences of the guardian selected in S200, and allocates the reservation of the selected guardian to that reservation slot (S208).

[0124] If the allocation unit 14 is unable to confirm the reservation for the selected guardian in S210 (S210, NO), specifically, if reservations for four guardians have already been confirmed for the reservation slot with the smallest predicted number of people to be allocated, it checks whether reservations can be allocated in all desired reservation slots in order of the number of people to be allocated for the least number of people to be allocated, and if reservations for four guardians have already been confirmed for all desired reservation slots, it checks whether reservations can be confirmed for the date and time excluded in S207 (S216).

[0125] If the reservation can be confirmed on the date and time excluded in S207 (YES in S216), the allocation unit 14 identifies the date and time with the smallest predicted number of people to be allocated among the excluded allocable dates and times, and allocates the reservation of the selected guardian to the identified date and time (S218).

[0126] On the other hand, if the allocation unit 14 cannot confirm the reservation for the selected guardian in S216 (S216, NO), specifically, if the reservation cannot be confirmed even for the date and time excluded by the teacher, it provisionally allocates the reservation to the reservation slot for the selected guardian's first preferred date and time (S220).

[0127] In addition, if the allocation unit 14 is able to confirm the reservation for the selected guardian in S210 (S210, YES), that is, if the reservation can be confirmed in one of the reservation slots desired by the selected guardian, the processing is the same as the processing of subroutine A described above.

[0128] As described above, by excluding dates and times that the teacher wants to avoid when allocating reservations, scheduling can be done that takes the teacher's convenience into consideration.

[0129] Next, in the above explanation, we explained a method for allocating reservations by prioritizing priority over the parent's desired reservation slot.Next, we will explain a method for allocating reservations by prioritizing the parent's desired reservation slot over priority, with reference to the flowchart shown in Figure 23.

[0130] First, the process from setting the reservation slots to setting the priority of each guardian (S70 to S74) is the same as S40 to S44 in the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0131] Next, the allocation unit 14 first allocates the reservations of each guardian to the reservation slots for the first preferred date and time of all the guardians (S76).

[0132] The allocation unit 14 then determines whether the first preferred date and time overlaps among the parents (S78). If there is an overlap among multiple parents (S78, YES), the allocation unit 14 identifies the second preferred date and time of the overlapping parents, and if any parent is available to move to that second preferred date and time (the parent's reservation for the first preferred date and time is not assigned to the move destination), moves that parent's reservation to the second preferred date and time and allocates it (S80). At this time, if all the overlapping parents are available to move to their second preferred date and time, the parent with the highest priority among the parents is allocated a reservation for the first preferred date and time, and the other parents are moved to their second preferred date and time. Note that if there is no overlap among multiple parents in S78 (S78, NO), the process proceeds to S88, described below, and reservation slots are sent to each parent.

[0133] Then, when the second preferred date and time are adjusted in S80, the allocation unit 14 determines whether the second preferred date and time overlaps among the parents (S82). If there is an overlap among multiple parents (S82, YES), the allocation unit 14 re-allocates reservations for the first preferred date and time as temporary reservations to the overlapping parents (S84). That is, at this point, multiple parents overlap for the first preferred date and time. Note that when multiple parents overlap in S82, this refers to cases where a reservation for the first preferred date and time has already been assigned to the second preferred date and time of a parent, or where the second preferred date and time overlaps among multiple parents. If there is an overlap among the second preferred dates and times of multiple parents, the reservation of the parent with the highest priority is assigned to the second preferred date and time, and the other parents are re-allocated to reservations for the first preferred date and time. If there is no overlap among multiple parents in S82 (S82, NO), the allocation unit 14 proceeds to S88, described below, and transmits reservation slots to each parent.

[0134] After allocating reservations for all parents for the first or second preferred date and time as described above (including the allocation of tentative reservations), the allocation unit 14 identifies any overlapping reservation slots for multiple parents and displays those slots on the teacher's terminal device to prompt manual adjustment.The teacher then manually adjusts the slots using the terminal device to eliminate the overlapping reservation slots (S86).

[0135] Then, the allocation unit 14 transmits the reservation slots to which the reservations have been allocated to the terminal devices 20 of the respective guardians (S88).

[0136] By allocating reservations by giving priority to the reservation slots desired by the parents as described above, reservations can be scheduled with priority given to the parents' wishes.

[0137] In addition, if any parent is not assigned to a designated reservation slot in the scheduling according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 8, the teacher will manually adjust the slot using the terminal device.

[0138] Next, even in the method of allocating reservations by prioritizing desired reservation slots over parental priority as described above, there are cases where the parent selects "no date specified" and / or "no time specified," just as in scheduling that prioritizes priority. In such cases, subroutine A can be executed to allocate reservations, just as in scheduling that prioritizes priority. Figure 24 is a flowchart for executing subroutine A in the method of allocating reservations by prioritizing desired reservation slots over parental priority.

[0139] First, the process from setting a reservation slot to allocating a reservation to the first preferred date and time of the parent with the highest priority (S300 to S308) is the same as S70 to S78 in the flowchart shown in Fig. 23. However, when conducting the questionnaire in S302, the parent must specify a specific date and time for their first preference, but can select "no date specified" or "no time specified" for their second preference.

[0140] Then, in S306, the allocation unit 14 allocates reservations for the first preferred date and time to all of the guardians. Then, the allocation unit 14 determines whether or not there is an overlap between the guardians when allocating reservations for the first preferred date and time of all of the guardians (S308). If there is no overlap between the guardians when allocating reservations for the first preferred date and time (S308, NO), the allocation unit 14 allocates reservations for the first preferred date and time, and then proceeds to S322, which will be described later.

[0141] On the other hand, when allocating reservations for the first preferred date and time, if there is an overlap between parents (S308, YES), the allocation unit 14 checks the second preferred date and time of the overlapping parents, calculates the number of remaining reservation slots (number of people) for the second preferred date and time specified by each parent, identifies the parent with the smallest total remaining number of slots (number of people), and allocates a reservation for the first preferred date and time to that identified parent. Note that when calculating the number of remaining reservation slots for the second preferred date and time, if "no date specified" or "no time specified" is selected as the second preferred date or time, all of the corresponding reservation slots will be added to the remaining number of slots (number of people).

[0142] The allocation unit 14 then extracts guardians who were not assigned a reservation for their first preferred date and time in the processes of S306 to S308, but who have specified both a specific date and time as their second preferred date and time (S310).The allocation unit 14 then adjusts the second preferred date and time of the extracted guardians (S312).

[0143] Specifically, the allocation unit 14 determines whether or not there is an overlap between the guardians when the reservations are allocated to the second preferred dates and times of the guardians extracted in S310 (S314).

[0144] Then, when allocating the reservation for the second preferred date and time, if there is no overlap between the parents (S314, NO), the allocation unit 14 allocates the reservation for the second preferred date and time to the parent extracted in S310, and then proceeds to S318, which will be described later.

[0145] On the other hand, when the allocation unit 14 allocates a reservation for the second preferred date and time, if the reservation overlaps with the parent extracted in S310 (YES in S314), it re-allocates a reservation for the first preferred date and time to the overlapping parent as a tentative reservation (S316). That is, at this point, multiple parents overlap with the first preferred date and time. Note that the case where multiple parents overlap in S314 means that a reservation for the first preferred date and time has already been allocated to the second preferred date and time of a parent, or the second preferred date and time overlaps between two parents. If the second preferred date and time overlaps between two parents, the allocation unit 14 allocates a reservation for one parent to the second preferred date and time, and re-allocates a reservation for the first preferred date and time to the other parents. That is, for parents who have specified specific dates and times up to their second preference at the stage of processing up to S316, the allocation unit 14 allocates a reservation for the first preferred date and time or the second preferred date and time (including tentative reservations for the first date and time).

[0146] Next, based on the results of the parent / guardian questionnaire, the allocation unit 14 extracts parents who have not been assigned a first-choice date and time and who have not specified a specific date or time as a second choice (S318).

[0147] Then, the allocation unit 14 executes subroutine A to allocate reservations to the parents who selected "no date specified" or "no time specified" extracted in S318 (S320). The processing of subroutine A is the same as that described in the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0148] Then, in S214 of subroutine A, if the allocation unit 14 confirms that there are no unconfirmed parents among the parents extracted in S318 who were not selected in S200 (S214, YES), the allocation unit 14 returns to the flowchart shown in FIG. 23 and extracts parents with unconfirmed reservations (S322). The parents extracted in S322 are parents who selected both "no date specified" and "no time specified." The allocation unit 14 then repeats the processing of subroutine A again for parents who selected both "no date specified" and "no time specified" (S324).

[0149] Then, in S214 of subroutine A, when the allocation of reservations for all parents has been completed (including the tentative reservation for the first preferred date) (S214, YES), the allocation unit 14 identifies reservation slots that exceed the capacity of four people and displays those reservation slots on the teacher's terminal device to prompt manual adjustment.The teacher then manually adjusts the reservation slots using the terminal device so that there are no more reservation slots that exceed the capacity of four people (S326).

[0150] Then, the allocation unit 14 transmits the reservation slots to which the reservations have been allocated to the terminal devices 20 of the respective guardians (S328).

[0151] As described above, by allocating reservations to guardians who specify any date and time, it is possible to allocate the reservations evenly to the entire reservation slots.

[0152] Note that a modified version of the subroutine A shown in FIG. 22 can be applied to the subroutine A shown in FIG. 24 as well, allowing for scheduling that takes into account dates that the teacher wants to avoid.

[0153] 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.

[0154] For example, when applied to restaurant reservations, reservation slots are set to the restaurant's business hours on a specific date. Guest characteristic information can include, for example, whether the guest is a first-time visitor or a repeat customer; if a repeat customer, the number of times the guest has visited and the amount of money the guest has spent to date; and, if a first-time visitor, the guest's stated budget. Reservation slots are allocated based on such characteristic information. Specifically, reservations can be allocated preferentially to repeat customers over first-time customers; if a repeat customer, reservations can be allocated preferentially to customers who have visited frequently or who have spent a large amount, as these customers are considered important customers; and, if a first-time visitor, reservations can be allocated preferentially to customers who have presented a larger budget. Furthermore, the restaurant may set priorities based on the information described above and allocate reservations based on those priorities.

[0155] Furthermore, when applied to hospital reservations, appointment slots are set with consultation times for each medical department. Guest characteristic information can include, for example, whether the patient is a first or repeat visitor, the urgency of the consultation, and whether the consultation will take a long time. Appointment slots can be allocated based on such characteristic information. Specifically, for example, first-time patients can be given priority over repeat patients, and more consultation time can be allocated, or appointments and consultation time can be allocated with the highest priority to patients with a high level of urgency. It is also possible to allocate more appointment time to patients who require more time for explanations.

[0156] For example, when applied to a ticket reservation system, reservation slots are set for the date and time of the performance. Guest characteristic information can include whether the guest is making a reservation for the first time or a repeat customer, and if they are a repeat customer, the number of times they have made a reservation, the amount they have spent so far, and, if tickets are purchased by lottery, the ticket success rate so far. Reservation slots can be allocated based on this characteristic information. Specifically, ticket reservations can be allocated with priority to either first-time customers or repeat customers, or to repeat customers whose ticket success rate is below a certain value, or to first-time customers who have submitted a larger budget.

[0157] 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.

[0158] The present invention further discloses the following supplementary notes.

[0159] (Appendix 1) The reservation management device of the present invention includes a reservation slot setting unit in which a plurality of reservation slots prepared by a host are preset, a guest characteristic information storage unit in which characteristic information of a plurality of guests who make reservations for the plurality of reservation slots is stored, a desired reservation slot receiving unit that receives desired reservation slots of the plurality of guests, and an allocation unit that allocates reservations of each guest to the plurality of reservation slots based on the desired reservation slot of each guest and the characteristic information of each guest.

[0160] (Appendix 2) In the reservation management device described in Appendix 1, the allocation unit notifies the terminal device of a guest who cannot be allocated to a desired reservation slot of a request to change the desired reservation slot, and reallocates the guest to a reservation slot based on the desired reservation slot changed in accordance with the change request, and can repeat the notification of the change request and reallocation until reservation slots have been allocated to all guests.

[0161] (Appendix 3) In the reservation management device described in Supplementary Note 1 or 2, the allocation unit can add priority reservation information to a guest who has changed their desired reservation slot, so that the guest will be given priority in allocation to subsequent reservation slots.

[0162] (Appendix 4) In the reservation management device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 3, the guest characteristic information can be set based on an evaluation of the guest.

[0163] (Appendix 5) In the reservation management device described in any one of Appendices 1 to 4, 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.

[0164] (Appendix 6) In the reservation management device described in Supplementary Note 5, the characteristic information of the guest can be set based on the evaluation of the student or the guardian.

[0165] (Appendix 7) In the reservation management device described in Appendix 1, the guest characteristic information is a priority that has been preset for the guest by the host, and the allocation unit can allocate reservations to each guest by prioritizing the priority over the guest's desired reservation slot.

[0166] (Appendix 8) In the reservation management device described in Appendix 7, when allocating reservations to each guest based on the desired reservation slots of guests with the same priority, the allocation unit extracts guests who have specified any date and time as their desired reservation slot, selects from the extracted guests guests to whom a reservation slot is to be allocated, and provisionally allocates reservation slots based on the desired reservation slots of all guests other than the guests to whom a reservation slot is to be allocated and who have not yet been allocated a reservation, and can allocate reservations for the guests to whom a reservation slot is to be allocated based on the number of provisional allocations.

[0167] (Appendix 9) In the reservation management device described in Appendix 1, the guest's characteristic information is a priority that has been preset for the guest by the host, and the allocation unit can allocate reservations to each guest by prioritizing the guest's desired reservation slot over the guest's priority.

[0168] (Appendix 10) In the reservation management device described in Appendix 9, the allocation unit extracts guests who have specified any date and time as their desired reservation slot, selects from among the extracted guests guests to whom a reservation slot is to be allocated, makes provisional allocations to reservation slots based on the desired reservation slots of all guests other than the guests to whom a reservation slot is to be allocated and who have not yet been allocated a reservation, and can allocate reservations for the guests to whom a reservation slot is to be allocated based on the number of provisional allocations.

[0169] (Appendix 11) In the reservation management device described in Supplementary Note 8 or 10, the allocation unit can allocate reservations to guests who are reservation allocation targets by excluding the exclusion slots set in advance by the host from the reservation slots.

[0170] (Appendix 12) The reservation management system of the present invention comprises a reservation management device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 10 and a guest terminal device.

[0171] (Appendix 13) The reservation management method of the present invention pre-sets a plurality of reservation slots prepared by a host, pre-stores characteristic information of a plurality of guests who make reservations for the plurality of reservation slots, accepts desired reservation slots of the plurality of guests, and allocates reservations of each guest to the plurality of reservation slots based on the desired reservation slot of each guest and the characteristic information of each guest.

[0172] (Appendix 14) The reservation management program of the present invention causes a computer to execute the steps of: presetting multiple reservation slots prepared by a host; prestoring characteristic information of multiple guests who make reservations for the multiple reservation slots; accepting the desired reservation slots of the multiple guests; and allocating reservations for each guest to the multiple reservation slots based on the desired reservation slot of each guest and the characteristic information of each guest. [Explanation of symbols]

[0173] 1. Reservation Management System 10 Reservation management device 11 Reservation Slot Setting Department 12 Guest characteristic information storage unit 13. Reservation Reception 14 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 storage unit that stores characteristic information of a plurality of guests who make reservations for the plurality of reservation slots; a desired reservation slot receiving unit that receives desired reservation slots of the plurality of guests; a reservation management device including an allocation unit that allocates reservations for each guest to the plurality of reservation slots based on the desired reservation slot of each guest and characteristic information of each guest.

2. The reservation management device of claim 1, wherein the allocation unit notifies the terminal device of a guest who cannot be allocated to a desired reservation slot of a request to change the desired reservation slot, and reallocates the reservation slot based on the desired reservation slot changed in accordance with the change request, and repeats the notification of the change request and the reallocation until allocation of reservation slots to all guests is completed.

3. 3. The reservation management device according to claim 2, wherein the allocation unit adds priority reservation information to the guest who has changed the desired reservation slot, so that the guest will be given priority in allocation to subsequent reservation slots.

4. 2. The reservation management device according to claim 1, wherein the guest characteristic information is set based on an evaluation of the guest.

5. 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.

6. 6. The reservation management device according to claim 5, wherein the characteristic information of the guest is set based on an evaluation by the student or parent.

7. the characteristic information of the guest is a priority preset for the guest by the host; 2. The reservation management device according to claim 1, wherein the allocation unit allocates reservations to each guest by prioritizing the priority over the desired reservation slot of the guest.

8. The reservation management device of claim 7, wherein when the allocation unit allocates reservations to each guest based on the desired reservation slots of the guests with the same priority, it extracts guests who have specified any date and time as their desired reservation slot, selects from the extracted guests guests to whom a reservation slot is to be allocated, makes provisional allocations to reservation slots based on the desired reservation slots of all guests other than the guests to whom a reservation slot is to be allocated and who have not yet been allocated a reservation, and allocates reservations for the guests to whom a reservation slot is to be allocated based on the number of provisional allocations.

9. the characteristic information of the guest is a priority preset for the guest by the host; 2. The reservation management device according to claim 1, wherein the allocation unit allocates reservations to each guest by prioritizing the desired reservation slot of the guest over the priority of the guest.

10. The reservation management device of claim 9, wherein the allocation unit extracts guests who have specified any date and time as their desired reservation slot, selects from the extracted guests guests to whom a reservation slot is to be allocated, makes provisional allocations to reservation slots based on the desired reservation slots of all guests other than the guests to whom the reservation slot is to be allocated and who have not yet been allocated a reservation, and allocates reservations for the guests to whom the reservation slot is to be allocated based on the number of provisional allocations.

11. 11. The reservation management device according to claim 8, wherein the allocation unit allocates reservations to the guests to whom reservations are to be allocated by excluding an exclusion slot that has been set in advance by the host from the reservation slots.

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

13. Hosts can set up multiple reservation slots in advance, storing in advance characteristic information of a plurality of guests who make reservations for the plurality of reservation slots; Accept the desired reservation slots of the multiple guests, A reservation management method for allocating reservations for each guest to one of the plurality of reservation slots based on the desired reservation slot for each guest and characteristic information of each guest.

14. A step of setting up a plurality of reservation slots prepared by a host in advance; a step of storing in advance characteristic information of a plurality of guests who make reservations for the plurality of reservation slots; accepting reservation slot requests from the plurality of guests; and a step of allocating reservations for each guest to the plurality of reservation slots based on the desired reservation slots of each guest and characteristic information of each guest.

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