Information providing device, information providing method, and program

Abstract

To provide a technique capable of displaying caller information when a call is received even on a terminal that does not have a telephone directory.SOLUTION: An information providing device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is connected to a terminal equipped with a telephone function, and includes a receiving unit that receives a request including a caller's telephone number from the terminal when the terminal receives an incoming call, an acquiring unit that acquires company information including the caller's telephone number from a memory unit in which company information including at least the company's telephone number is stored, and a transmitting unit that transmits at least a portion of the information included in the acquired company information to the terminal as caller information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information providing device, an information providing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a known technology that allows a terminal that does not have a phone book to display caller information corresponding to the caller's phone number on the terminal when a call comes in by obtaining the caller information from a phone book stored on a server (for example, Patent Document 1, etc.). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-13019 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the prior art, caller information contained in the telephone directory stored in the server is registered by the user, and caller information not registered by the user cannot be displayed on the terminal. For this reason, even if the call is, for example, a sales call or a nuisance call, only the telephone number may be displayed, and the user may end up answering the call.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above points, and aims to provide a technology that can display caller information when a call comes in, even on a terminal that does not have a phone book. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An information providing device according to one aspect of the present disclosure is an information providing device connected to a terminal equipped with a telephone function, and includes a receiving unit that receives a request including a caller's telephone number from the terminal when the terminal receives an incoming call, an acquiring unit that acquires company information including the caller's telephone number from a memory unit in which company information including at least the company's telephone number is stored, and a transmitting unit that transmits at least a portion of the information included in the acquired company information to the terminal as caller information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] To provide a technology that can display caller information when a call is received even on a terminal that does not have a phone book. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of an information display system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a user terminal according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of an information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of user telephone directory information. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of company information. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a company information update process according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of an incoming call process according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a call origination process according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of an information providing apparatus according to a second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of an incoming call process according to the second embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a call origination process according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] First and second embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In each of the following embodiments, an information display system 1 will be described that can display caller information when a call is received, even on a terminal that does not have a phone book, and can easily search for and display candidate destination information based on company names, etc., when making an outgoing call. Here, caller information refers to various information related to the caller of an incoming call (e.g., the caller's name and company name, the caller's telephone number, etc.). On the other hand, candidate destination information refers to various information related to candidate destinations when making an outgoing call (e.g., the name and company name of the candidate destination, the callee's telephone number, etc.). However, each of the embodiments described below is merely an example, and the present invention can be applied to other embodiments.

[0010] [First embodiment] First, the first embodiment will be described.

[0011] <Example of overall configuration of information display system 1 according to first embodiment> An example of the overall configuration of an information display system 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the information display system 1 according to the first embodiment.

[0012] As shown in Fig. 1, the information display system 1 according to the first embodiment includes one or more user terminals 10, an information providing device 20, and one or more company information DB servers 30. Each user terminal 10 is connectable to a telephone network 40 and a network 50, and the information providing device 20 and each company information DB server 30 are connectable to the network 50. Here, the telephone network 40 is, for example, any of various telephone networks including a public switched telephone network and a mobile communication network. Furthermore, the network 50 is, for example, any of various communication networks including an IP (Internet Protocol) network. Note that the network 50 also includes an IP telephone network and the like.

[0013] The user terminal 10 is a variety of terminals such as a smartphone that has a telephone function (or may be called a "telephone communication function" or the like). Hereinafter, the user terminal 10 is assumed to be a terminal that does not have a telephone directory or the like (for example, a thin client or the like). Note that the user terminal 10 is not limited to a smartphone, and may be, for example, a tablet terminal, a wearable device, a PC (personal computer), or the like.

[0014] The information providing device 20 is an information processing device such as a server that provides caller information when the user terminal 10 receives a call, or provides candidate call recipient information when the user terminal 10 makes a call. The information providing device 20 may be an information processing system configured with multiple servers, etc.

[0015] The company information DB server 30 is a DB (database) server or the like in which company information is stored. Company information refers to various information related to a company (e.g., "company name," "industry," "location," "telephone number," etc.). Hereinafter, it is assumed that the company information DB server 30 is an external database server managed or operated by, for example, a company information provider. Furthermore, when distinguishing between the multiple company information DB servers 30, they will be referred to as "company information DB server 30A," "company information DB server 30B," "company information DB server 30C," etc. Note that the multiple company information DB servers 30 may be managed or operated by different parties or by the same party.

[0016] Here, it is assumed that the various information items included in the company information vary depending on the company information DB server 30, the number of company information items stored in the company information DB server 30 varies, and the geographical range of the companies represented by the company information stored in the company information DB server 30 varies. For example, company information DB server 30A stores company information for 6 million companies located nationwide, and the company information includes items such as "company name," "industry," "location," "branch address," "telephone number," "characteristics," and "name of person in charge." Furthermore, company information DB server 30B stores company information for 4 million companies located nationwide, and the company information includes items such as "company name," "industry," "location," "telephone number," "number of employees," "characteristics," and "name of person in charge." Meanwhile, company information DB server 30CB stores company information for 1.5 million companies located in a certain region, and the company information includes items such as "company name," "industry," "location," "telephone number," "number of employees," "characteristics," and "name of person in charge."

[0017] 1 is merely an example, and is not intended to be limiting. For example, at least one of the company information DB servers 30 may be integrated with the information providing device 20.

[0018] <Example of functional configuration of the user terminal 10 and the information providing device 20 according to the first embodiment> <User terminal 10> An example of the functional configuration of the user terminal 10 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the user terminal 10 according to the first embodiment.

[0019] 2, the user terminal 10 according to the first embodiment includes a telephone function unit 101, an information acquisition unit 102, and a UI control unit 103. These units are realized, for example, by processing executed by one or more programs installed in the user terminal 10 in a computing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit).

[0020] The telephone function unit 101 connects to the telephone network 40 or an IP telephone network included in the network 50 to realize various telephone functions (for example, calling, receiving, talking, etc.).

[0021] When an incoming call is received, the information acquisition unit 102 transmits a caller information acquisition request to the information providing device 20 to acquire caller information of the incoming call, and receives a caller information acquisition response representing a response to the caller information acquisition request from the information providing device 20. Here, the caller information acquisition request includes a user ID that identifies the user using the user terminal 10 and the telephone number of the caller of the incoming call (hereinafter referred to as the "caller telephone number"). On the other hand, the caller information acquisition response includes the caller information acquired by the information providing device 20.

[0022] When search criteria for searching for destination candidate information are input, the information acquisition unit 102 transmits a destination candidate information acquisition request including the search criteria to the information providing device 20, and receives a destination candidate information acquisition response representing a response to the destination candidate information acquisition request from the information providing device 20. Here, the destination candidate information acquisition request includes a user ID that identifies the user using the user terminal 10 and the search criteria input by the user. On the other hand, the destination candidate information acquisition response includes the destination candidate information acquired by the information providing device 20.

[0023] The UI control unit 103 displays various information such as caller information and callee candidate information on a display provided in the user terminal 10, and receives input from various input devices such as a touch panel provided in the user terminal 10.

[0024] ≪Information provision device 20≫ An example of the functional configuration of the information providing device 20 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the information providing device 20 according to the first embodiment.

[0025] 3, the information providing device 20 according to the first embodiment has an information management unit 201. The information management unit 201 is realized, for example, by a process in which one or more programs installed in the information providing device 20 are executed by a computing device such as a CPU. The information providing device 20 according to the first embodiment also has a user phone book storage unit 202 and a company information storage unit 203. The user phone book storage unit 202 and the company information storage unit 203 are realized, for example, by a storage area such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a flash memory.

[0026] When the information management unit 201 receives an instruction to update the company information from the company information DB server 30, it updates the company information storage unit 203. Updating the company information storage unit 203 means adding new company information to the company information storage unit 203 or changing various information included in the company information stored in the company information storage unit 203. Note that updating the company information storage unit 203 may also include deleting company information stored in the company information storage unit 203.

[0027] When the information management unit 201 receives a caller information acquisition request from the user terminal 10, it searches the user telephone directory storage unit 202 and the company information storage unit 203 using the user ID and caller phone number included in the caller information acquisition request. In addition, the information management unit 201 transmits a caller information acquisition response to the user terminal 10, which includes the caller information obtained as a result of the search.

[0028] When the information management unit 201 receives a call destination candidate information acquisition request from the user terminal 10, it searches the user phone book storage unit 202 and the company information storage unit 203 using the user ID and telephone number included in the call destination candidate information acquisition request. In addition, the information management unit 201 transmits a call destination candidate information acquisition response to the user terminal 10, which includes the call destination candidate information obtained as the search result.

[0029] The user phone book storage unit 202 stores user phone book information registered in advance by the user. An example of the user phone book information will be described later.

[0030] The company information storage unit 203 stores the company information updated in response to an update instruction received from the company information DB server 30. Examples of the company information will be described later.

[0031] <User phone book information> An example of user phone book information stored in the user phone book storage unit 202 will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of user phone book information.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 4, the user phone book storage unit 202 stores one or more pieces of user phone book information, and each piece of user phone book information includes items such as "user ID," "telephone number," and "setting information."

[0033] The "user ID" is set to the user ID of the user who registered the user phone book information. The "phone number" is set to the phone number. The "setting information" is set to any information registered by the user (for example, the name, address, company name, job title, etc. of the person using the phone number).

[0034] The user phone book storage unit 202 stores user phone book information for each user ID, and each user can only refer to the user phone book information that includes their own user ID. However, this is just one example, and there may be user phone book information that all users can refer to, or there may be user phone book information that only users belonging to a certain group can refer to.

[0035] ≪Company information≫ An example of the company information stored in the company information storage unit 203 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the company information.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 5, the company information storage unit 203 stores one or more pieces of company information, and each piece of company information includes items such as "company information ID," "company name," "industry," "location," "branch address," "telephone number," "number of employees," "characteristics," and "name of person in charge." Hereinafter, each piece of company information will refer to the company itself if the company represented by the company information does not have branches, subsidiaries, or bases, and will refer to the company's headquarters, main office, branch offices, branches, or bases if the company has branches, subsidiaries, or bases. For simplicity, hereinafter, the headquarters and main office will be collectively referred to as the "head office," and the branch offices, subsidiaries, and bases will be collectively referred to as the "branch."

[0037] In "Company Information ID," a company information ID that identifies the company information is set. In "Company Name," if the company information represents the company itself, the name of the company is set; if the company information represents a head office or branch, the name of the head office or branch is set. In "Industry," if the company information represents the company itself, the industry to which the company belongs is set; if the company information represents a head office or branch, the industry to which the company that owns the head office or branch belongs is set. In "Location," if the company information represents the company itself, the location of the company (address, postal code, etc.) is set; if the company information represents a head office or branch, the location of the head office or branch (address, postal code, etc.) is set. In "Branch Address," if the company information represents the company itself or if the company information represents a head office, nothing is set; if the company information represents a branch, the location of the branch (address, postal code, etc.) is set. In "Telephone Number," if the company information represents the company itself or a head office, the telephone number of the company or head office is set; if the company information represents a branch, the telephone number of the branch is set. "Number of employees" is set to the number of employees of the company or head office if the company information represents the company itself or its head office, and the number of employees of the branch office if the company information represents a branch office. "Characteristics" is set to a wording or the like that represents the characteristics of the company or the company that has the head office or branch office, whether the company information represents the company itself or its head office or branch office. "Name of person in charge" is set to the name of the representative or the like of the company or the company that has the head office if the company information represents the company itself or its head office, and the name of the representative or the person in charge of the branch office if the company information represents a branch office.

[0038] Here, it is possible for a single company, head office, or branch office to have multiple telephone numbers. Therefore, for simplicity, in the following, it is assumed that only one telephone number is set for the "phone number" of each company record, and that if a single company, head office, or branch office has multiple telephone numbers, there is company information for each telephone number. For example, in the example shown in Figure 5, the company information with company information ID "10001" and the company information with company ID "10002" both represent the head office of Company A, but since there are two telephone numbers for Company A's head office, "03-yyyy-yyyy" and "03-yyyy-zzzz," they are treated as different company information.

[0039] It is not necessary to set a value for all of the above items for each company information, and a value may not be set for some items. For example, in the example shown in Figure 5, no value is set for "branch address" for the company information with company information ID "10001" and the company information with company information ID "10002."

[0040] <Company Information Update Processing According to the First Embodiment> The company information update process according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the company information update process according to the first embodiment.

[0041] The information management unit 201 of the information providing device 20 receives an update instruction transmitted from the company information DB server 30 (step S101). Here, the update instruction includes company information to be updated (hereinafter referred to as "company information to be updated"). However, the items included in the company information to be updated may differ depending on the company information DB server 30. Note that the update instruction may be transmitted, for example, from each company information DB server 30 periodically or irregularly, or may be transmitted from the company information DB server 30 in response to a request from the information providing device 20.

[0042] The information management unit 201 of the information providing device 20 updates the company information storage unit 203 with the company information to be updated included in the update instruction received in the above step S101 (step S102). The information management unit 201 may update the company information storage unit 203 by, for example, the following (a) or (b) depending on whether or not the telephone number included in the company information to be updated exists in the company information storage unit 203.

[0043] (a) When the telephone number included in the company information to be updated does not exist in the company information storage unit 203 In this case, the information management unit 201 adds the company information to be updated to the company information storage unit 203 .

[0044] (b) If the telephone number included in the company information to be updated exists in the company information storage unit 203 In this case, the information management unit 201 updates, with the target company information, company information stored in the company information storage unit 203 that includes the same telephone number as the telephone number included in the target company information (hereinafter referred to as "target company information to be updated"). That is, the information management unit 201 updates the value of each item in the target company information to be updated using the value set for each item in the target company information to be updated. This makes it possible, for example, to update the value of each item in the target company information to the latest value, or to set a value for an item that has no value set. This makes it possible, for example, to complementarily supplement the values ​​of each item between company information stored in each of the multiple company information DB servers 30.

[0045] To give a specific example, assume that company information DB server 30A stores company information including items such as "company name," "industry," "location," "branch address," "telephone number," "characteristics," and "name of person in charge," and company information DB server 30B stores company information including items such as "company name," "industry," "location," "telephone number," "number of employees," "characteristics," and "name of person in charge." In this case, for company information representing the same company or its head office or branch office, the values ​​of each item can be complementarily added between the company information stored in company information DB server 30A and the company information stored in company information DB server 30B, thereby making it possible to obtain company information including items such as "company name," "industry," "location," "branch address," "telephone number," "number of employees," "characteristics," and "name of person in charge."

[0046] <Incoming call processing according to the first embodiment> The incoming call processing according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the incoming call processing according to the first embodiment.

[0047] The telephone function unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives a telephone call signal (call connection request) from a calling terminal via the telephone network 40 or an IP telephone network included in the network 50 (step S201). The telephone call signal includes the calling terminal's telephone number.

[0048] The telephone function unit 101 of the user terminal 10 holds the ringing for notifying the user of the incoming call signal received in the above step S201 (step S202).

[0049] The information acquisition unit 102 of the user terminal 10 transmits a caller information acquisition request to the information providing device 20 (step S203). The caller information acquisition request includes the user ID of the user using the user terminal 10 and the caller telephone number included in the call outgoing signal received in step S201.

[0050] The information management unit 201 of the information providing device 20 acquires the caller information using the user ID and the caller phone number included in the caller information acquisition request received from the user terminal 10 (step S204). The information management unit 201 may acquire the caller information, for example, by following steps 11 to 14 below.

[0051] Step 11: First, the information management unit 201 searches for user phone book information stored in the user phone book storage unit 202 using the user ID and caller phone number included in the caller information acquisition request as search conditions.

[0052] Step 12: If one or more user phone book entries are searched in step 11 above, the information management unit 201 acquires, for example, the telephone number and setting information contained in the first user phone book entry that matches the search criteria as caller information.

[0053] Step 13: If the user phone book information is not found in step 11 above, the information management unit 201 uses the caller phone number included in the caller information acquisition request as a search condition and searches for company information stored in the company information storage unit 203 using this search condition.

[0054] Step 14: If one or more pieces of company information are found in step 13 above, the information management unit 201 acquires, for example, the telephone number and company name contained in the first piece of company information that matches the search criteria as caller information. Note that in addition to the telephone number and company name contained in the company information, for example, the name of the person in charge may also be acquired as caller information.

[0055] In the above step 12, the telephone number and setting information contained in the user phone book information that first matched the search criteria were acquired as caller information, but for example, the telephone number and setting information contained in the user phone book information that last matched the search criteria may also be acquired as caller information.Similarly, in the above step 14, the telephone number and company name, etc. contained in the company information that last matched the search criteria may also be acquired as caller information.

[0056] The information management unit 201 of the information providing device 20 transmits a caller information acquisition response including the caller information acquired in the above step S204 to the user terminal 10 (step S205). If the caller information is not acquired in the above step S204, the information management unit 201 may transmit to the user terminal 10, for example, a caller information acquisition response including information indicating that the caller information could not be acquired.

[0057] The information acquisition unit 102 of the user terminal 10 acquires the caller information included in the caller information acquisition response received from the information providing device 20 (step S206).

[0058] The telephone function unit 101 of the user terminal 10 releases the call from the hold state in step S202 and causes the user terminal 10 to ring (step S207).

[0059] The UI control unit 204 of the user terminal 10 displays the caller information acquired in step S206 on the display (step S208). This allows the user to know the caller's company name, person in charge name, etc., in addition to the fact that there has been an incoming call. Note that the UI control unit 204 may display only part of the information included in the caller information acquired in step S206 on the display (for example, only the company name, only the person in charge, etc.).

[0060] <Calling process according to the first embodiment> The outgoing call processing according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the outgoing call processing according to the first embodiment.

[0061] The UI control unit 103 of the user terminal 10 accepts input of search conditions for searching for destination candidate information (step S301). The search conditions can be, for example, conditions for one or more items from among "company name," "industry," "location," "branch address," "number of employees," "characteristics," "name of person in charge," etc. The user can input the search conditions, for example, on a predetermined screen for searching for destinations.

[0062] The information acquisition unit 102 of the user terminal 10 transmits a request to acquire destination candidate information to the information providing device 20 (step S302). The request to acquire destination candidate information includes the user ID of the user who uses the user terminal 10 and the search conditions received in step S301.

[0063] The information management unit 201 of the information providing device 20 acquires the destination candidate information (step S303) by using the user ID and search conditions included in the destination candidate information acquisition request received from the user terminal 10. The information management unit 201 may acquire the destination candidate information, for example, by following steps 21 to 24.

[0064] Step 21: First, the information management unit 201 creates a new search condition, "user ID and search condition," from the user ID and search condition included in the request to obtain destination candidate information, and then searches for user phone book information stored in the user phone book storage unit 202 using this new search condition.

[0065] Step 22: If one or more user phone book entries are searched in step 21 above, the information management unit 201 acquires the telephone numbers and setting information contained in the user phone book entries that match the new search criteria as candidate destination information.

[0066] Step 23: The information management unit 201 searches for company information stored in the company information storage unit 203 using the search criteria included in the request to acquire destination candidate information.

[0067] Step 24: If one or more company information items are found in step 23 above, the information management unit 201 acquires various information (e.g., telephone number, company name, industry, location, branch address, number of employees, characteristics, name of person in charge, etc.) contained in the company information that matches the search criteria as candidate destination information.

[0068] The information management unit 201 of the information providing device 20 transmits a destination candidate information acquisition response including one or more pieces of destination candidate information acquired in the above step S304 to the user terminal 10 (step S304). Note that, if no destination candidate information is acquired in the above step S303, the information management unit 201 may transmit to the user terminal 10, for example, a destination candidate information acquisition response including information indicating that no destination candidate information could be acquired.

[0069] The information acquisition unit 102 of the user terminal 10 acquires one or more pieces of destination candidate information included in the destination candidate information acquisition response received from the information providing device 20 (step S305).

[0070] The UI control unit 204 of the user terminal 10 displays on the display one or more pieces of destination candidate information acquired in step S305 above (step S306). At this time, the UI control unit 204 displays one or more pieces of destination candidate information in a selectable list. This allows the user to select desired destination candidate information from each piece of destination candidate information. Hereinafter, it is assumed that a certain piece of destination candidate information has been selected by the user.

[0071] The UI control unit 204 of the user terminal 10 accepts the user's selection of destination candidate information (step S307).

[0072] The telephone function unit 101 of the user terminal 10 transmits a telephone call signal to the telephone network 40 or an IP telephone network included in the network 50, specifying the telephone number included in the destination candidate information selected in step S307 as the destination (step S308). As a result, a call is made to the telephone number.

[0073] [Second embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described, in which the information providing device 20 does not have the company information storage unit 203.

[0074] In the second embodiment, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and descriptions of components similar to those in the first embodiment will be omitted. That is, components not described in the second embodiment may be similar to those in the first embodiment.

[0075] <Example of functional configuration of the user terminal 10 and the information providing device 20 according to the first embodiment> ≪Information provision device 20≫ An example of the functional configuration of the information providing device 20 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the information providing device 20 according to the second embodiment.

[0076] 9, the information providing device 20 according to the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it does not include a company information storage unit 203. In the second embodiment, it is assumed that an update instruction is not transmitted from the company information DB server 30.

[0077] <Incoming call processing according to the second embodiment> An incoming call process according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of an incoming call process according to the second embodiment.

[0078] Steps S401 to S403 in FIG. 10 may be similar to steps S201 to S203 in FIG. 7, respectively, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0079] The information management unit 201 of the information providing device 20 acquires the caller information by using the user ID and the caller phone number included in the caller information acquisition request received from the user terminal 10 (step S404). The information management unit 201 may acquire the caller information by, for example, steps 31 and 32 below.

[0080] Step 31: The information management unit 201 searches for user telephone directory information stored in the user telephone directory storage unit 202 using the user ID and caller telephone number included in the caller information acquisition request as search conditions.

[0081] Step 32: If one or more user phone book entries are searched in step 31 above, the information management unit 201 acquires, for example, the telephone number and setting information contained in the first user phone book entry that matches the search criteria as caller information.

[0082] In the above step 32, the telephone number and setting information contained in the user phone book information that first matches the search conditions are obtained as caller information, but for example, the telephone number and setting information contained in the user phone book information that last matches the search conditions may also be obtained as caller information.

[0083] If the caller information is not acquired in step S404, the information management unit 201 of the information providing device 20 transmits a caller information acquisition request to the company information DB server 30 (step S405). At this time, if there are multiple company information DB servers 30, the information management unit 201 transmits the caller information acquisition request to each company information DB server 30 according to a predetermined order or priority until it receives a caller information acquisition response including the caller information. The order may be, for example, random order, order of the largest number of stored company information items, order according to a round robin, or any other order. As for the priority, for example, the larger the number of stored company information items, the higher the priority of the company information DB server 30, and the smaller the number of stored company information items, the lower the priority of the company information DB server 30.

[0084] The company information DB server 30 searches for company information using the caller telephone number included in the caller information acquisition request received from the information providing device 20 as a search condition, and acquires the telephone number, company name, etc. included in the company information that matches the search condition as caller information (step S406).

[0085] The company information DB server 30 transmits a caller information acquisition response including the caller information acquired in the above step S406 to the information providing device 20 (step S407). If the caller information is not acquired in the above step S406, the company information DB server 30 may transmit to the information providing device 20 a caller information acquisition response including information indicating that the caller information could not be acquired, for example.

[0086] The information management unit 201 of the information providing device 20 transmits a caller information acquisition response to the user terminal 10 (step S408). If the caller information is acquired in the above step S404, the caller information acquisition response includes the caller information; otherwise, the caller information acquisition response includes the caller information included in the caller information acquisition response transmitted from the company information DB server 30 in the above step S407.

[0087] Steps S409 to S411 in FIG. 10 may be similar to steps S206 to S208 in FIG. 7, respectively, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0088] <Calling process according to the second embodiment> The outgoing call processing according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the outgoing call processing according to the second embodiment.

[0089] Steps S501 and S502 in FIG. 11 may be similar to steps S301 and S302 in FIG. 8, respectively, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0090] The information management unit 201 of the information providing device 20 acquires the destination candidate information (step S503) by using the user ID and search conditions included in the destination candidate information acquisition request received from the user terminal 10. The information management unit 201 may acquire the destination candidate information, for example, by the following steps 41 and 42.

[0091] Step 41: The information management unit 201 creates new search conditions based on the user ID and search conditions included in the request to obtain destination candidate information, and then searches for user phone book information stored in the user phone book storage unit 202 using these new search conditions.

[0092] Step 42: If one or more user phone book entries are searched in step 41 above, the information management unit 201 acquires the telephone numbers and setting information contained in the user phone book entries that match the new search criteria as candidate destination information.

[0093] If no destination candidate information is acquired in the above step S503, the information management unit 201 of the information providing device 20 transmits a destination candidate information acquisition request to the company information DB server 30 (step S504). At this time, if there are multiple company information DB servers 30, the information management unit 201 may transmit the destination candidate information acquisition request to each company information DB server 30. Furthermore, this step may be executed even if destination candidate information is acquired in the above step S503.

[0094] The company information DB server 30 searches for company information based on the search conditions included in the request to acquire candidate destination information received from the information providing device 20, and acquires various information included in the company information that matches the search conditions (e.g., telephone number, company name, industry, location, branch address, number of employees, characteristics, name of person in charge, etc.) as candidate destination information (step S505).

[0095] The company information DB server 30 transmits a candidate destination information acquisition response including the candidate destination information acquired in the above step S505 to the information providing device 20 (step S506). If the candidate destination information is not acquired in the above step S505, the company information DB server 30 may transmit to the information providing device 20 a candidate destination information acquisition response including information indicating that the candidate destination information could not be acquired, for example.

[0096] The information management unit 201 of the information providing device 20 transmits a destination candidate information acquisition response to the user terminal 10 (step S507). If the destination candidate information has been acquired in step S503, the destination candidate information acquisition response includes the destination candidate information, and if a destination candidate information acquisition response has been received from the company information DB server 30, the destination candidate information acquisition response includes the destination candidate information included in the destination candidate information acquisition response.

[0097] Steps S508 to S511 in FIG. 11 may be similar to steps S305 to S308 in FIG. 8, respectively, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0098] [summary] As described above, the information providing device 20 according to the first and second embodiments provides caller information to the user terminal 10 when the user terminal 10 does not have a telephone directory. At this time, even if the caller's telephone number is not registered in the user's telephone directory information, the information providing device 20 according to the first and second embodiments can search for company information containing the caller's telephone number and provide various information contained in the company information, such as the company name, as caller information. This makes it possible to prevent the user from accidentally receiving sales calls, nuisance calls, etc., for example.

[0099] Furthermore, the information providing device 20 according to the first and second embodiments provides candidate destination information to the user terminal 10 when the user terminal 10 does not have a telephone directory. At this time, the information providing device 20 according to the first and second embodiments can provide not only information registered as user telephone directory information but also company information as candidate destination information. As a result, for example, even when calling a new customer who is not registered in the user telephone directory information, it is possible to easily search for and display candidate destination information by inputting the company name, industry, etc. as search criteria.

[0100] Furthermore, since the company information DB server 30 is an external database server managed or operated by a company information provider, selecting a highly reliable company as the provider makes it possible to use highly reliable and up-to-date company information. Therefore, for example, the person managing or operating the information providing device 20 does not need to maintain the company information itself, and can provide users with highly reliable sender information and candidate recipient information.

[0101] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments specifically disclosed, and various modifications, changes, and combinations with known technologies are possible without departing from the scope of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0102] 1 Information display system 10 User terminal 20 Information provision device 30 Corporate information DB server 40 telephone network 50 Network 101 Telephone Function Unit 102 Information acquisition department 103 UI control section 201 Information Management Department 202 User phone book storage unit 203 Corporate Information Storage Department

Claims

1. An information providing device connected to a terminal having a telephone function, a receiving unit that receives a request including a caller's telephone number from the terminal when the terminal receives an incoming call; an acquisition unit that acquires company information including the caller's phone number from a storage unit that stores company information including at least the company's phone number; a transmitting unit that transmits at least a part of information included in the acquired company information to the terminal as sender information; An information providing device having the above.

2. The company information includes at least the telephone number and the name of the company, The transmission unit 2. The information providing device according to claim 1, wherein information including at least a name included in the acquired company information is transmitted to the terminal as the sender information.

3. The storage unit 3. The information providing device according to claim 1, wherein the information providing device is a database provided in one or more database servers connected to the information providing device, or a memory area for storing company information stored in a database provided in the one or more database servers.

4. An information providing device connected to a terminal having a telephone function, a receiving step of receiving from the terminal a request including a caller's telephone number when the terminal receives an incoming call; an acquisition step of acquiring company information including the caller's telephone number from a storage unit storing company information including at least the company's telephone number; a transmission step of transmitting at least a part of information included in the acquired company information to the terminal as sender information; Information provision method to carry out.

5. An information providing device connected to a terminal having a telephone function, a receiving step of receiving from the terminal a request including a caller's telephone number when the terminal receives an incoming call; an acquisition step of acquiring company information including the caller's telephone number from a storage unit storing company information including at least the company's telephone number; a transmission step of transmitting at least a part of information included in the acquired company information to the terminal as sender information; A program that executes the following.

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